Xavier's Labour Relations Intitute

Study on leadership and its effects on self-concept of followers

This paper has been written with the objective of understanding leadership and self-concept. Theories, outcomes and causes of both leadership and self-concept have been discussed. Research on the effects of leadership on self-concept is reviewed. Recent theories from the field of leadership have proposed that leaders influence followers by addressing their self-concept, leading to a transformation in needs, values, and aspirations of followers from self-interest to collective interest. Though the theories have much conceptual appeal, only a few empirical studies have directly studied the above-mentioned model. Nevertheless, some studies have shown how leadership affects self-concept and the available evidence suggests it results in important organizationally relevant outcomes. The paper draws from these to bring out implications for organizations.