Development of an Instrument to Measure Leadership Excellence

Development of an Instrument to Measure Leadership Excellence

Annette Twahirwa Kirabira | 2020

Abstract

The study focused on developing an instrument to measure leadership excellence. There is a need to see leadership excellence globally, but in Uganda or East Africa particularly, there are no assessment tools to measure this construct (Cooper, 2001; Dorfman, Javidan, Hanges, Dastmalchian, & House, 2012; Gutterman, 2009; Kiggundu, 1989, 1991). Leadership excellence is defined as being a result of exceptional performance in four dimensions—personal qualities of a leader, managerial behaviors of a leader, organizational demands, and environmental influences (Kanji & Moura E Sá, 2001; Selvarajah, Meyer, Nathan, & Donovan, 2013). DeVellis’ (2003, 2017) eight steps for scale development were followed in developing the instrument. A literature review was conducted, out of which 111 items were generated. The items were reviewed by a panel of experts and reduced to 87 items. An online survey with a 5-point scale was created and administered to 530 participants who scored the items based on the extent to which they described leadership excellence based on their leadership experiences/encounters. The sample size was in alignment with DeVellis’ (2003) recommendation of a minimum of 300 participants for scale development. Factor analysis was conducted on 406 participant results after cleaning the data; a two-factor model emerged, accounting for 66% of the variance. Factor optimization resulted in a two-scale instrument; the two scales were labelled leader qualities and leadership behavior. The process generated six items per scale of The Leadership Excellence Instrument with Cronbach’s alpha of .947 and .949 for each scale, respectively. The Leadership Excellence Instrument can be used in hiring, organizational development, and future research to inform how leadership excellence may be assessed in various settings and cultures.