Future directions
This paper provides one of the first empirical accounts of what many suggest is a new type of
leadership. By no means, however, is the task complete. Further comparisons of the ELQ
dimensions with others in the leadership literature is needed. For example, some of the behaviors
identified by the ELQ (e.g., Showing Concern/Interacting with the Team) may be similar to those
identified in the transformational and/or charismatic leadership literature (e.g., Providing
Individual Support) (see House, 1977; Podsako et al., 1990). In addition, future studies investigating
the predictive validity of the ELQ in empowered and traditional environments is needed
as well.
There is also a need for the continued refinement and validation of the scale. Future research
relating the ELQ behavior constructs with measures of empowerment (e.g., Spreitzer, 1996) and
effectiveness would be a useful next step. In addition, future studies of empowering leadership
need to examine the role of organizational characteristics in shaping and constraining leader
behavior. This research should also explore theoretical and empirical relationships between this
instrument and other processes and outcomes of empowered teams. A nomological framework
that relates leadership, organizational structures, empowerment, and work outcome variables
should be empirically examined. This process of construct validation would improve our
understanding of the effectiveness and potential use of the leader behavior inventory. A greater
understanding of empowering leadership would have implications for both the theory and
practice of management.