Character for Leadership: The Role of Personal Characteristics

Chapter 5 – Discussion 
This study was conducted to examine the differences between low and high 
levels of character on effective leadership behaviors for potential ministry leaders. 
Specifically, this study evaluated differences between levels of the character traits 
of self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence on visionary 
leadership behaviors. This chapter discusses research results and the implications 
for the study of transformation and visionary leadership; the distinction between the 
leader’s character, values, ethics, and morality; character and its components; and 
leadership for religious contexts. Also discussed in this chapter are the limitations 
and broader implications of this study as well as suggestions for future research 
into these concepts. 
Research Results 
Leadership, as a self-regulatory process, involves the selection of 
appropriate behaviors as determined by the beliefs of the leader in a desire to affect 
specific outcomes. The character traits of a leader are those fundamental beliefs 
that drive the selection of specific behaviors. Transformational leadership is well 
defined as a behavioral construct with significant links to follower affect, follower 
development of trust, and overall measures of organizational effectiveness. At its 
core is the focus on the heart of a leader as he or she attempts to lead others toward 
personal and organizational transformation. In fact, what defines transformational 
leadership as transformational is positively developing the values and beliefs of 
followers (Burns, 1978). However, what has been missing in this discussion, 
though implicit within the theory itself, is consideration of the character of the 
leader that forms the foundation for the transformational behaviors that in turn 
transform followers.
Visionary Leadership 
VLT (Sashkin, 1986; Sashkin & Rosenbach, 1996; Sashkin & Sashkin, 
2002) emerged through research streams similar to those considering 
transformational leadership function but arrived with an explicit acknowledgement 

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Character for Leadership 
63 
 
of the character of the leader in the motivation to enact transformational leadership 
behaviors. Unfortunately, the concept of character within VLT still has not been 
defined well. Additionally, neither literature nor specific studies were found that 
explicitly tied a psychological formulation of character to the ideals of both 
visionary leadership and, by extension, transformational leadership. This study has 
expressed a foray into this key area of interest, demonstrating that the character 
components of VLT, specifically confident leadership and follower-centered 
leadership, function differently for those leaders who possess higher levels of