Posted: October 27th, 2022

MLQ / Transformational Leadership Profile

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Instructions for ‘Your MLQ / Transformational Leadership Profile’
The purpose of this Developmental Activity is for you to use Transformational
Leadership theory to assess your leadership.
1. Download the “MLQ-5” and complete all 70 questions. You should answer the
questions as honestly as possible; they can help you to develop your leadership
and nobody else will see your answers.
2. Fill out the Answer Sheet at the end of the questionnaire.
3. On the Answer Sheet, there are seven columns labelled A – G. Each column
lists 10 question numbers. For each column, add up your answers to the 10
questions (you will get a number from 0 – 40) and then divide that number by 10;
this will give you the average score for that column. Make a note of this number.
4. Download the “MLQ Profile form” and construct your MLQ profile. Transfer the
average score from each column on the Answer Sheet to the corresponding label
on the MLQ Profile form (eg. Column A on the Answer Sheet corresponds to
Laissez-faire on the MLQ Profile form) and plot that score.
This is an example of a completed MLQ Profile form (UK norms)
5. Use the norms (see below) to determine your percentile for each score. If you
are from / work in the UK, use the UK norms. If you are from / work in Southeast
Asia, it may be more appropriate to use those norms.
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The following are norms for the MLQ. The red column labels correspond to the
components in Bass’ hierarchical model (LF = Laissez-faire, ME = Management
by Exception, CR = Contingent Reward, IC = Individualised Consideration, IS =
Intellectual Stimulation, IM = Inspirational Motivation, II = Idealized Influence). The
numbers in these columns are scores from the MLQ. Thus, a score of 0.4 in the
LF column represents the 30th percentile for Laissez-faire.
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6. You can now interpret your scores. For example, a score of 3.5 for Intellectual
Stimulation puts you in the 90th percentile (UK norms). That means that for
Intellectual Stimulation only 10% of people in the UK scored higher than you (ie.
you scored higher than 90% of people in the UK). In terms of Transformational
Leadership theory, this suggests that providing your subordinates with intellectual
stimulation is one of your leadership strengths.
Remember, that Bass did not consider Laissez-faire to be a leadership style. He
included it in the hierarchy to contrast it with his ‘legitimate’ leadership styles –
transactional and transformational. In ‘traditional’ team settings, a high Laissez faire score usually indicates a leadership weakness, but in project team settings
(depending on the nature of the task and the people you’re leading) a hands-off
style may sometimes be appropriate.
7. You should consider some of the limitations of the MLQ and the method (ie. self ratings).