Self-efficacy beliefs and leader potentials as predictors of leadership effectiveness in a managerial position

Abstract

The study examined the impact of self-efficacy beliefs and leader potentials on the leadership effectiveness of employees in managerial position. Data was collected through a survey of 164 managers (102 males and 62 females) in service and manufacturing organisations in Ibadan, Nigeria. Results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that control variables jointly contribute a significant percentage of the variance (R² = .33, P<.01) in leadership effectiveness in the first equation. When self-efficacy beliefs and leader potentials were introduced in the second equation, R² increased from .33 to .89 (P<.01), indicating a significant change (ΔR² = .56, P<.01) in leadership effectiveness. Independently, self-efficacy beliefs and leader potentials account for a significant proportion of the variance (β = .79, P<.01 and β = .56, P<.01 respectively) in leadership effectiveness. These findings emphasise the importance of the predictor variables in leadership effectiveness and underscore the need for intervention programmes. It is recommended that further research with objective measures from a wider domain be carried out.

Keywords: self-efficacy beliefs, potentials, leadership effectiveness, managerial position

African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol. 8(1) 2005: 88-101