Aside from the lack of process data to bolster the interpretation I offered,
I acknowledge as a limitation of this study the use of subjective rather than objective
ratings of team performance and the fact that I have studied only one organization.
Moreover, it is important to emphasize some of the particularities of my sample.
First,there were no considerable differences between leaders and followers regarding
qualifications and thus theoretical career trajectories. Both leaders and followers had
very high levels of education. Second, the reward systems were based on individual
rather than team-level evaluations. Third, only six of the 49 teams in the sample had a
team leader who was younger than the respective team’s mean age. Moreover, all six of
these leaders were only marginally younger than the mean age of their followers. Fourth,
at the time I conducted the study, the organization from which I drew the sample was
considered as a likely take-over target. Hence, fear of lay-offs may have been on many
participants’ minds . Further research is needed to ascertain the generaliza bility of my
finding to other organizations and other types of teams .
In conclusion, the present study shows that it is worthwhile for theorists and
practitioners alike to pay closer attention to the age relations between leaders and their
followers and to how age differences might affect the influence of a leader’s
transformational behaviours on team performance