Personal Relationships and Professional Results: The Positive Impact of Transformational Leaders on Academic Librarians

Transformational leaders use the “Four Is” - individualized consideration, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation - to excite, challenge, and build deep relationships in an organization. This study investigated the benefits of transformational leaders, and how they impact the lives of academic librarians. Interviews with three academic librarians who worked with transformational leaders revealed the interviewees valued the mentoring, visioning, and generosity those leaders provided. The overarching theme of three participants' stories was the personal relationships these transformational leaders were able to build and the lasting impact those relationships had on the participants' careers.