Title: Development and validation of the inspirational leaders survey

Authors: John Pates; Yasuhiro Kotera; David Clancy

Addresses: HE Sport, Hartpury College, Hartpury House, Hartpury, Gloucester GL19 3BE, UK ' Online Learning, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB, UK ' Business Education Research Group, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, UK

Abstract: The inspirational leaders survey (ILS) was developed to identify the behaviours and characteristics of inspirational leaders. The ILS aims to help businesses recruit inspirational leaders. Our literature review identified 75 inspiring behaviours. The items were examined through the exploratory factor analysis of 212 workers; and a confirmatory factor analysis of 248 workers in various industries. Two factors with nine items emerged as the best approximation of the population covariance matrix of the three models tested from the results. The factors were called 'individual behaviours (five items: desire to achieve success, determined to achieve goals, passionate about work, committed to achieve success, and hardworking)' and 'relationship behaviours (four items: ability to instil confidence in people, inspire others, offer hope to others, and offer stability and direction to others)'. The ILS can be used, especially by human resources in organisations, to identify and recruit inspirational leaders into their workforce.

Keywords: inspiration; leadership; management; recruitment; management behaviours; human resources; characteristics; recruiting survey; leaders survey; goal achievement; relationship behaviours; workplace enhancement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWI.2017.091424

International Journal of Work Innovation, 2017 Vol.2 No.2/3, pp.172 - 192

Accepted: 09 Nov 2017
Published online: 30 Apr 2018 *

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