Copyright 2012 by Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. For reprints, call HBS Publishing at (800) 545-7685.

BH 535

Business Horizons (2013) 56, 351—360

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

t
os
www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor

rP
It’s how you frame it: Transformational leadership
and the meaning of work
Dean J. Cleavenger a,*, Timothy P. Munyon b

yo
a
College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, BA1 Office 333, Orlando,
FL 32816-1400, U.S.A.
b
College of Business Administration, University of Tennessee, 408 Stokely Management Center, Knoxville,
TN 37996-0545, U.S.A.
op
KEYWORDS Abstract Transformational leadership has emerged as one of the most important
Transformational approaches for understanding and influencing employee effectiveness. Inherent in
leadership; this approach is the belief that transformational leaders inspire employees to greater
Job and work design; levels of motivation and performance. Recent evidence has shown that this effect is
Meaning of work; accomplished by managing the meaning of work for employees, yet it is often unclear
Performance; exactly how leaders may influence perceptions of work for their employees. Conse-
Framing; quently, in this article, we present behavioral and verbal cues leaders may use to
tC

Social information enact positive change in their employees.

processing; # 2013 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All
Persuasion; rights reserved.
Employee motivation;
Self-determination;
Leader quality
No

1. Effective leadership is necessary building leadership talent as the most significant

Companies recognize the need for effective leader-
ship. The 2008 IBM Global Human Capital Study cited
lack of leadership capacity among the most signifi-
cant workforce-related issues facing organizations.
Indeed, 75% of the firms in their study reported
Do
challenge facing organizations today. These findings
are not unique. The 2009 annual Corporate Issues
Survey of Ken Blanchard and Associates reported
that the development of potential leaders is
consistently among the top challenges organizations
face. Not surprisingly, these organizations reported
leadership development as the most likely area of

training investment in future years.

* Corresponding author
At the same time, scholars have actively pursued
E-mail addresses: dcleavenger@bus.ucf.edu research on the most effective leadership ap-
(D.J. Cleavenger), tmunyon@utk.edu (T.P. Munyon) proaches, and transformational leadership has

0007-6813/$ — see front matter # 2013 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2013.01.002

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 352
emerged as perhaps the most important and influ-
ential framework for leadership (Avolio & Bass,
1988; Bass, 1985). Transformational leadership oc-
curs when leaders inspire and motivate employees
toward new ways of working and thinking. However,
the logistics of this process are often unclear, and
leaders continue to struggle with the notion of
becoming transformational.
Notably, some leadership approaches tend to
emphasize developing oneself and inspiring others
with a vision of the organization’s destiny. It is clearly
important to understand and transmit a mission
of where the organization is going. Nevertheless,
most leaders are not in the upper echelons of an
organization but rather in the trenches. They suffer
not from lack of vision but a lack of resources and an
inability to effectively motivate employees under
yo
ever-increasing demands for productivity. Thus,
leaders need tangible advice on navigating the gritty
reality of modern work and positively influencing
worker outcomes, including performance.
Rather than focusing on leader or employee
characteristics, recent research has highlighted
the role of work itself as a critical mechanism
through which transformational leaders enact
op
positive change (Piccolo & Colquitt, 2006). The
literature points to the concept of framing, which
involves influencing and managing employee per-
ceptions of the work they perform. Thus, in this
article, we explore the process through which
transformational leaders frame work to enact
positive change. We begin by introducing an ap-
tC
proach to transformational leadership rooted in
work itself followed by a discussion on the paths
a leader may take to positively influence his/her
employees. It is our hope that readers will find this
new perspective useful as they design or enhance
their leadership development programs and strive
to become transformational in their own right.
No
2. How transformational leaders
manage meaning
‘‘The first responsibility of a leader is to define
reality.’’
—Max De Pree (n.d.)
The traditional view of transformational leadership
suggests a social influence process between a
Do
leader and an employee. This premise is widely
supported by empirical research, showing transfor-
mational leaders are able to inspire and motivate
employees to greater levels of performance.
Transformational leaders realize heightened
performance by exerting personal power over
employees to share a vision of the organization,
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
D.J. Cleavenger, T.P. Munyon
encouraging them to work harder at tasks, and
t
persuading them to search for new and innovative
ways of doing their work. However, how do trans-
os
formational leaders exert personal power, encour-
age others, and persuade employees to work
harder? The evidence has shown that transforma-
tional leaders shape the meaning of work through
framing.
Framing is the process of selecting and highlight-
rP
ing certain aspects of a situation while minimizing or
excluding the importance of others such that one
meaning is accepted over another (Fairhurst & Starr,
1996). The effects of framing are well established.
For example, the direction of comparison effect
demonstrates that the order in which objects are
presented for comparison influences how people
perceive them. For instance, 45% of respondents
blamed traffic for pollution when asked ‘‘Who is
more to blame for pollution: traffic or industry?’’
However, when the direction of comparison was
reversed (i.e., ‘‘Who is more to blame for pollution:
industry or traffic?’’), only 24% of respondents
blamed traffic. Similarly, respondents reported
higher satisfaction with their current relationship
after they compared their actual partner with their
ideal partner than vice versa. Simply switching the
subject and referent in these questions was all
that was needed to make a significant impact on
comparison ratings.
Scholars have described leadership as a language
game (Pondy, 1978) and a process of symbolic action
(Pfeffer, 1981). Indeed, evidence suggests that
transformational leadership does involve redefining
the nature and quality of work for employees.
Transformational leaders use words, actions, and/
or symbols when talking about work to enhance its
significance and meaning.
All jobs require at least some activities that are
routine, monotonous, and seemingly unimportant
to the mission of the organization. Employees’
perceptions regarding the nature of their jobs are
shaped by what they see, hear, and experience at
work. Through acts of framing, leaders have the
opportunity to highlight the particular aspects of
work that enhance its meaning and minimize those
that do not.
In their book The Art of Framing: Managing the
Language of Leadership, Fairhurst and Starr (1996)
discuss how leaders may use framing to shape the
meaning of work. They discuss metaphors, jargon,
contrasts, spins, and stories as potential tools for
framing as well as high impact opportunities in
which potentially talented framers might capitalize
on special framing opportunities.
When a leader is successful in reframing a fol-
lower’s view of his/her job, the follower gains a
 It’s how you frame it: Transformational leadership and the meaning of work 353

better understanding of how his/her work contrib- generally respond with heightened levels of moti-

t
utes to meaningful outcomes for the organization. vation and performance. In addition, employees
This new view (frame) is instrumental in helping the generally engage in higher levels of helping behavior

employee understand the value of even the smallest
and seemingly trivial tasks toward accomplishing
important organizational goals.
Consider the story of a janitor who worked for
NASA in the mid-1960s. One day, as he was sweeping
the floor late in the afternoon, someone asked him
os
when core work characteristics are high. Examples
of helping behaviors include voluntarily helping
coworkers with tasks, participating in organization-
al programs that benefit others, staying late to meet
customer needs, or orienting new coworkers.
It does appear that intrinsically motivated work-

what he was doing. Without hesitation he replied,
‘‘Putting a man on the moon.’’ Someone, somewhere
along the line, had turned his attention away from
the mop closet and toward the launch pad. He saw
the big picture and knew that he played a role in
achieving it. A frame is just one particular perspec-
tive, and sometimes, perspective is everything!
Transformational leaders know this and capitalize
rP
ers engage in an ‘‘ongoing process of seeking and
conquering challenges’’ (Deci, 1976, p. 131). This
intrinsic motivation has been described as a ‘‘self-
perpetuating cycle of positive work motivation driv-
en by self-generated (rather than external) rewards
for good work’’ (Hackman & Oldham, 1980, p. 72).
Clearly, intrinsically motivated workers are a highly
valued asset for the organization.

yo
on opportunities to manage the meaning of work.
Much of the remainder of this article is dedicat-
ed to exploring a new perspective on how manag-
ers can frame the nature of work to enhance its
meaningfulness. However, before we proceed, we
need to take a new look at an old but still relevant
theory of work: the Job Characteristics Model
(JCM). The JCM (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) is
op
widely used as a framework to categorize and
classify dimensions of work. The model proposes
that dimensions of work (known as job character-
istics) impact how employees conduct work,
including the level of effort they exert to achieve
work objectives. There are five core job character-
istics (i.e., skill variety, task identity, task signifi-
tC
However, like many things, there can be too much
of a good thing with regard to core work character-
istics. At least some empirical evidence (e.g., Xie &
Johns, 1995) supports the notion that high core work
characteristics result in employee stress and strain
when the employee is a poor fit for the job. Despite
these potential negative effects, recent evidence
suggests that transformational leaders may play an
influential role in shaping the meaning of work for
their employees. For example, in two field studies
(Piccolo & Colquitt, 2006; Piccolo, Greenbaum, Den
Hartog, & Folger, 2010), researchers found that trans-
formational and ethical leaders changed the way
employees viewed core work characteristics, which
resulted in higher motivation and performance. The

cance, autonomy, and feedback), which impact
important work outcomes (i.e., job performance
and satisfaction, absenteeism, worker motivation,
and turnover). In its most fundamental form, the
JCM is a way of understanding how the nature of
work impacts an employee’s intrinsic motivation
to perform. Table 1 highlights the five core job
No
authors noted the integral role of leadership as
an important influence on employee perceptions
of work with resultant effects on motivation and
performance. Figure 1 highlights this process.
Transformational leaders know that employee
perceptions of work do not depend exclusively on
the objective characteristics of one’s work but also

characteristics and their definitions.
Several hundred empirical studies have verified
the basic tenets of the JCM (see Fried & Ferris, 1987
and Humphrey, Nahrgang, & Morgeson, 2007 for
cumulative evidence). When jobs are characterized
as high on core work characteristics, employees
on the social construction of the work experience.
Indeed, interpersonal exchanges between a leader
and an employee become transformational when
the leader is able to frame the employee’s work
experience to create a new point of reference for
understanding the meaning of his/her work. More

Table 1. Job characteristics

Job Characteristic Definition
Do

Autonomy The freedom an individual has in carrying out work

Skill Variety The extent to which an individual must use different skills to perform his/her job
Task Identity The extent to which an individual can complete a whole piece of work
Task Significance The extent to which a job impacts others’ lives
Feedback from the Job The extent to which a job imparts information about the individual’s performance
Source: Hackman and Oldham (1976)

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 354
Figure 1. Leadership and the meaning of work
Transformational
Leader Influence
Employee Work
Perceptions
Heightened
Motivation and
Understanding
Improved
Performance
yo
Positive
Perceptions
of Leader
Quality
specifically, transformational leaders promote (i.e.,
shape) subordinates’ perceptions of work by influ-
encing their perceptions of key job characteristics.
op
The ultimate result of the process is that workers
feel more intrinsically motivated by their work, and
as described earlier, this intrinsic motivation creates
a somewhat self-fulfilling cycle in which success
in achieving a meaningful task creates intrinsic
rewards of its own.
For example, in a series of field experiments,
tC
Grant (2008) found strong evidence concerning
the positive effects of managing the meaning of
employee work. In the first of three experiments,
university fundraisers who read accounts concern-
ing the importance of the job to others raised
significantly more money than fundraisers in the
control condition. In a second experiment, life-
No
guards who read stories about heroic lifesaving
encounters were significantly more likely to help
others and exhibited more positive perceptions of
the social impact and worth of their jobs. Finally,
fundraisers who received task significance cues
from supervisors performed significantly better
during their first week on the job than those who
did not receive such cues.
Two inferences may be drawn from this series of
experimental studies. First, the meaning of work is
Do
malleable, which suggests that leaders can shape
the meaning and significance of work for their
employees. Second, employees respond more
positively to work that benefits others. Hence,
there is reason to believe that leaders can influ-
ence follower perceptions of the meaning of work,
and such perceptions may positively impact
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
D.J. Cleavenger, T.P. Munyon
performance. It also seems likely that high satis-
t
faction with work will be more consistent with
perceptions of transformational leadership.
os
2.1. Examples of transformational
leadership and framing
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, is
known for her deep passion for eliciting the best
rP
from her female sales force by providing opportu-
nities to excel in a workplace that had little room for
women at the time. She was often heard making
statements like the following:
God didn’t have time to make a nobody, only a
somebody. I believe that each of us has God
given talents within us waiting to be brought to
fruition. (Fowler, 2009, p. 42)
An average person with average talents and
average ambition can outstrip the most brilliant
genius in our society; if that person has clear
focused goals. (Nippard, 2011, p. 194)
Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn’t be
able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that
so it goes on flying anyway. (Stone, 2001, p. 3)
In her unique way, Mary Kay changed the way her
sales force viewed the meaning and significance of
their work. She often spoke about the potential in
each person, highlighting the value of their work to
the organization but even more so to other sales
agents who were searching for their own inspiration
though the success of others. More than anything
else, her mantra was ‘‘You matter and your work
matters.’’ The structure of her sales organization
also allowed for a great deal of autonomy for her
consultants, something that she often emphasized as
a key component of the company’s success. Conse-
quently, she redefined what it meant to sell cosmet-
ics. No longer was this a second-rate hobby for the
stay-at-home mother. Rather, the job was a viable,
respectable, valuable, and profitable opportunity to
join the ranks of professional women in the work-
force. She enabled this change by not only creating an
organization uniquely designed to fulfill her consul-
tants’ needs but also by talking about and celebrating
the unique skills that each employee possessed.
Similarly, Jack Welch, the past chairman and
chief executive officer of General Electric, is often
cited as one of the great American corporate leaders
of the last century. Though many have criticized
his cut-throat practice of firing the bottom 10% of his
management ranks each year through a process
sometimes referred to as ‘‘rank and yank,’’ he
remains an iconic figure in corporate leadership.
Welch’s leadership philosophy seemed to imbibe a
 It’s how you frame it: Transformational leadership and the meaning of work
value for all workers’ autonomy. As these notewor-
thy quotes point out, one consistent and overarching
message he expressed to the members of his orga-
nization was that every individual could make a
significant impact on the corporation’s performance
and that a good corporate culture should capitalize
on this reality:
If you pick the right people and give them the
opportunity to spread their wings and put com-
pensation as a carrier behind it you almost don’t
have to manage them. (Maxwell, 2007, p. 267)
Giving people self-confidence is by far the most
important thing that I can do. Because then they
will act. (Levy, Parco, & Blass, 2010, p. 103)
A manager should make them (employees) feel
yo
good about whatever they are doing, give them
the confidence and make them feel that they
are contributing in a big way to the company.
(Slater, 2001, p. 4)
Listen to the people who actually do the work
and nurture the employees who share the com-
pany’s values. Managing less is managing bet-
ter; create a vision and get out of the way.
op
(Slater, 2001, p. 4)
Inherent is these statement about the responsibili-
ties of a leader is an emphasis on autonomy and rich
feedback for every worker, which are seldom pres-
ent in the corporate governance of a large, mecha-
nistic, multinational corporation. Welch also
tC
insisted that his managers express the significance
of contributions of all employees to the company, in
effect linking the individual contributions of every
member of the organization to a larger purpose–—
namely, achieving organizational goals.
2.2. Want to be transformational? Start
No
with work!
The process of social influence, which we call trans-
formation, is generally defined by the subsequent
outcome–—employees’ perceptions. However, fol-
lowers’ attributions are based on perceivable be-
haviors, and such behaviors are seldom the focus
of transformational leadership studies. Dimensions
of transformational leadership (i.e., intellectual
stimulation, inspiration, idealized influence, and
Do
individual needs) emphasize the end state of
employees’ perceptions of a leader but do not
prescribe the specific leader behaviors that shape
the meaning of work (and the subsequent attribu-
tions that employees make for the transformational
nature of a leader). Accordingly, a primary way
through which leaders earn the status of being
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
355
transformational is by talking about the nature
t
and meaning of work. Hence, the value of this
prescriptive approach is that it is possible to identify
os
actual behaviors (i.e., words and actions) shaping an
employee’s attribution that a leader is transforma-
tional rather than describe the perceptual outcomes
that follow. Since behaviors are controllable (and
trainable), this approach is a more direct and useful
focus for leadership training.
rP
2.3. Five ways leaders transform the
meaning of work
According to the JCM already discussed, skill variety,
task identity, and task significance contribute to the
meaningfulness individuals experience from work.
To experience meaningfulness, the employee must
perceive that his/her work is worthwhile or impor-
tant by some accepted system of values. Since
leaders are responsible for establishing and support-
ing the values of the organization, they are in an
ideal position to influence employees’ perceptions
of their work through this mechanism.
2.3.1. Skill variety
Skill variety requires employees to use more than
one skill in their work. Leaders often choose to
assign more challenging tasks to an employee when
this will enhance the organization’s performance. In
other cases, an employee is most valuable to the
organization doing work that is relatively routine
and well within his/her skill set. However, when
even a single skill is involved, there is at least a seed
of potential meaningfulness in the work. This seed is
what the leader should focus on. When changing the
job scope is not prudent, the leader can use his/her
influence to shape the employee’s perceptions of
skill variety by focusing on the complexities of a task
that the employee may take for granted. For exam-
ple, a bricklayer might perceive that his/her job
requires relatively few skills, is repetitive in nature,
and demands little more than rudimentary motions.
However, a leader can redefine this job by noting
that there are actually many skills required for this
work (i.e., mixing mortar, troweling, laying brick,
edging, leveling, and pointing) and that the com-
plexity of this work is much greater than it might
appear. All jobs require a set of skills that must be
utilized effectively. Transformational leaders talk
about and redefine work by emphasizing the broader
scope and complexity of skills for employees.
2.3.2. Task identity
Task identity is the degree to which an employee
perceives that his/her tasks represents a whole and
identifiable piece of work. For example, a master
 356
carpenter would have a high level of task identity
because he/she is involved throughout the process
of crafting lumber to creating a saleable good. In
today’s complex and highly competitive business
climate, specialization of work is common. As a
consequence, it is challenging for employees to
identify how their work contributes to broader or-
ganizational goals. This means that many workers
struggle to find the meaningfulness of their work
because they cannot see the scope of their contri-
butions. This is the classic paradox of not seeing the
forest through the trees.
Like skill variety, a leader could choose to broad-
en the scope of employees’ work by enlarging their
jobs. However, expanding a job can lead to perfor-
mance deficits as the number of tasks involved in
work increases beyond that which can be mastered
yo
by one employee. Therefore, a leader may instead
redefine the meaningfulness of work by emphasizing
the relationships between the work that an employ-
ee does and the important organizational outcomes
that depend on this work. There are many ways of
doing this, but perhaps the most fundamental means
of enhancing task identity (except changing the
actual scope of work) is to simply show employees
op
the consummation of their work efforts and how
they have contributed to the completion of a whole
and identifiable product or service. For the man
producing microprocessors at an electronics firm,
this might be as simple as showing him how the
components he produces are a necessary part of the
consumer products they are created for.
tC
2.3.3. Task significance
While task identity concerns the ability to relate
tasks to a meaningful whole, task significance con-
cerns an employee’s perception that a job has a
substantial and perceivable impact on the lives of
other people whether this is in the immediate or-
No
ganization or the world at large. All too often,
employees fail to see the full implications of their
work. Of all the job characteristics dimensions, a
leader’s influence over employee perceptions of
task significance is arguably the simplest, most
direct, and most powerful way to influence the
meaningfulness of work. Employees rely on leaders
to provide direction and assign meaning to their
work. The antithesis of being told by a leader ‘‘Be-
cause I told you to’’ is ‘‘Because it is critical
Do
that....’’ Enhancing the task significance of employ-
ees’ work should be a central focus of redefining the
meaning of work because it addresses the most
critical question: ‘‘Does my work matter?’’
Fortunately, redefining work by enhancing em-
ployees’ perceptions of task significance is quite
simple. Leaders only need to identify how a worker’s
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
D.J. Cleavenger, T.P. Munyon
tasks add value to the important outcomes of the
t
organization or some larger context. Most organiza-
tional tasks have a relatively immediate and con-
os
spicuous value that the employee can easily
identify. However, a leader can enhance the mean-
ing of work by stressing how these task outcomes
contribute to other farther reaching, less discern-
ible outcomes. Leaders are often privy to contextual
information about the nature of tasks of which
rP
employees are not aware. For instance, a sales
manager may see greater value in his/her staffing
efficiency if he/she knows that payroll expenses are
the strongest predictor of store profitability and the
primary means of sustaining a competitive advan-
tage over rival firms. Likewise, a teacher or a police
officer can easily identify the value of their work in
educating youth and enforcing laws. While our soci-
ety does recognize and celebrate the work of these
individuals, the deeper, more far-reaching social
value of this work is less apparent to employees
when their leaders do not use social influence to
continually shape the greater meaning of these
jobs. Many who choose careers of public service
are motivated by a sense of benevolence toward
society and the greater good. However, even the
noblest of motives to serve others can be thwarted
by the daily routine of grading papers or writing
traffic citations. Transformational leaders recognize
this and know that their employees need ongoing
reinforcement about the significance of their work.
Such leaders respond with frequent and sincere
entreaties regarding the deep and meaningful im-
pact employees have on other people and important
societal or organizational outcomes.
An example highlights this point well. A
manufacturing company was struggling with unac-
ceptable attrition (hovering around 28% annually)
and a workplace incident rate double the industry
average. The firm brought in consultants to discuss
the problems. One of the key issues was a discon-
nect between the company’s mission and employee
perceptions of work. The company is a supplier for
one of the most successful equipment manufac-
turers in the United States and directly contributes
to American industry competitiveness and exports.
When questioned about how work is framed, the
organization’s managers noted that most work is
focused on extrinsic outcomes (i.e., getting paid,
doing a good job, staying safe) not related to the
company’s role and significance in society. The
consultants provided ways of framing this impor-
tance and are now helping employees realize the
significance of the work they perform.
Although skill variety, task identity, and task sig-
nificance enhance the meaningfulness of work, both
autonomy and feedback play a role in motivating
 It’s how you frame it: Transformational leadership and the meaning of work
employees and should result in greater employee
satisfaction with leadership. Autonomy encourages
personal responsibly for successes and failures. To the
extent that autonomy is high, employees are more
likely to feel that work outcomes depend more on
their individual efforts than on leaders’ direction or
on following a set of standard procedures. For em-
ployees with a high need for growth, autonomy is
intrinsically satisfying and likely to result in higher
motivation.
2.3.4. Autonomy
In organizations, autonomy is usually the result of
delegating responsibility for tasks to employees. To
the extent that employees are ready for these
responsibilities, successful delegation is a positive
organizational outcome and the result of mutual
yo
trust between a leader and an employee. However,
a leader may not feel that an employee is willing
and/or able to take on actual decision-making au-
tonomy. In such cases, though the leader may not
choose to delegate the responsibility of a task to
his/her employee, the leader can still shape the
meaning of work by enhancing perceptions of what
is referred to as self-determination.
op
Self-determination refers to the attitudes and
abilities required to act as the primary causal agent
in one’s life. It encompasses concepts like free will,
freedom of choice, independence, personal agency,
self-direction, and individual responsibility. A self-
determined person is one who sets goals, makes
decisions, sees options, solves problems, and
tC
speaks up for him/herself. Individuals’ actions
are self-determined if they regulate their own
behavior, initiate and respond to events in a
manner indicating psychological empowerment,
and behave in a manner that is self-realizing.
Self-determination theory is based on the as-
sumption that people have inborn tendencies to
No
grow and develop psychologically, to strive to mas-
ter challenges in the environment, and to integrate
experiences into their self-concept. These human
tendencies are fully expressed only within a sup-
portive social context. Self-determination is not
achieved simply because an individual has certain
requisite knowledge and skills; it is also important
that key people and institutions in the person’s life
provide a context conducive to self-determination.
Therefore, even when the act of delegating tasks
Do
(i.e., creating true decision-making autonomy) is
not deemed advantageous, a leader can talk about
an employee’s work in terms that draw attention to
the self-monitored and self-regulated processes for
which the employee is responsible.
Although delegating responsibilities to employees
is not always prudent, employees do desire some
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
357
degree of autonomy at work. Recognizing this, a
t
leader can stress the self-regulated aspects of work.
Leaders can do this by focusing on aspects of
os
self-determination, such as personal growth (i.e.,
highlighting the extent to which an employee has
grown professionally and personally over time), self-
monitoring and self-regulating behaviors (i.e.,
highlighting the extent to which an employee effec-
tively identifies and responds to changes in the work
rP
environment), and the quality of voice (i.e., the
extent to which an employee constructively speaks
about issues relating to work). Although greater
decision-making autonomy may not be appropriate
at the moment, fully delegating responsibilities is
most often a leader’s goal. Hence, leaders can en-
hance the meaningfulness and reward value of work
by accentuating a sense of self-determination and
highlighting the elements of the workplace that are
under employees’ control. Although employees’ en-
hanced sense of self-determination is not equivalent
to decision-making autonomy, it will enhance the
richness of their jobs, enhance their sense of self-
destiny, and produce greater intrinsic rewards. To the
extent that a leader is seen as the catalyst for
enhancing work, followers are likely to attribute
the transformational qualities of leadership to
him/her.
2.3.5. Feedback
Finally, Hackman and Oldham’s JCM predicts that
feedback will enhance employees’ knowledge of the
actual results of their work activities and will con-
sequently lead to greater work performance. Feed-
back is most powerful when it comes directly from
the work itself. However, direct communications
from a leader to an employee can be a rich form
of feedback as well. Since the scope of this article is
limited to leader influence (notwithstanding actions
taken to change the actual nature of work), our
focus here is limited to the ways a leader can talk to
employees about their work that will enhance the
richness of feedback. However, before we prescribe
these feedback behaviors, we will discuss one study
to help clarify these recommendations.
During the 1964—1965 academic year, Harvard
scholar Robert Rosenthal and his colleague con-
ducted an experiment involving teachers’ expecta-
tions of grade school student performance
(Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968). In the experiment,
teachers were told that the students in their class
had been tested using an instrument called the
Harvard Test of Inflected Acquisition, which purport-
ed to predict future academic performance. The
teachers were given a list of a handful of students
who would supposedly become smarter in the up-
coming year. In reality, these students had been
 358
randomly selected from the teachers’ rosters. The
students were not told by the researchers or their
teachers how they scored on the test. In the forth-
coming year, those students who had been identified
as early bloomers and whose teachers expected to
become smarter outperformed students who were
not included in the list. Rosenthal’s research find-
ings indicated that there were four factors that led
to the superior performance of those students
whose teachers expected to do well:
1. The climate factor–—Teachers were warmer to-
ward those students for whom they had higher
expectations both in terms of what they said to
them and in terms of non-verbal communications.
2. The input factor–—Teachers taught more materi-
yo
als to and had higher expectations for those
students for whom they had more favorable
expectations.
3. The response opportunity factor–—Teachers gave
these students greater opportunities to respond.
They called on these students more often and gave
them more time to provide detailed answers to
op
questions.
4. The feedback factor–—Teachers offered more
positive reinforcements to these children for
correct answers but also provided more differ-
entiated information for wrong answers and
led them to the correct reasoning for solving
tC
problems.
The lessons from this research shed light on the type
of feedback transformational leaders should strive
to provide to their employees. Such feedback ought
to be characterized by (1) a warmer and safer
environment for communicating, (2) more material
No
information about their work performance, (3) more
time to fully respond to questions about work, (4)
more positive reinforcement for positive work out-
comes, and (5) more highly differentiated informa-
tion from the leader that allows the employee to
come up with his/her own solutions to problems.
Leaders who provide this type of rich feedback will
increase employee satisfaction, enhance the intrin-
sic value of work, and result in greater satisfaction
with leader behavior.
Do
3. Putting it all together
The goal of this article was to describe how trans-
formational leaders shape the meaning of work
through the behaviors and language they use when
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
D.J. Cleavenger, T.P. Munyon
interacting with employees and when talking
t
more broadly about work. We have tried to simply
and clearly describe both how and when a leader
os
should use his/ her social influence to shape the
meaning of work. More specifically, we extended
the findings of current research indicating that the
dimensions of Hackman and Oldham’s JCM serve as
a good foundation for understanding how this
influence process works (Table 2).
rP
To be sure, the process of transforming employ-
ees from obedient workers to vested partners is not
simple. The social influence process will take place
over a relatively long period of time and will be the
result of many direct and indirect interactions with
the employee. However, if the process we have
described here seems at all overwhelming, consider
the synergy that will likely occur when a leader
engages in any one of the many influence behaviors
we have mentioned in this article. For instance,
when a leader enhances the meaningfulness of work
by talking with employees about how their work
contributes to a valuable organizational outcome
(i.e., enhancing perceptions of task significance),
he/she is likely to do so in a way that also empha-
sizes the skill that was required to make this con-
tribution (i.e., enhancing perceptions of skill
variety). In this same encounter, the leader is also
likely to provide rich feedback concerning these
important work outcomes.
Given the dynamic and multifaceted nature of
the leader-member relationship, leaders need to be
diligent in managing employees’ perceptions. In
some cases, leaders’ efforts to socially reconstruct
employees’ work experience will be immense. By
reframing their work experiences and creating a
new point of reference for understanding the mean-
ing of their work, transformational leaders stimu-
late the intrinsic satisfaction that work can provide.
They do this by influencing employees’ perceptions
of the meaningfulness of work (through skill variety,
task identity, and task significance), control over the
outcomes of their work (through autonomy or self-
determination), and the quality of feedback. This
intrinsic motivation creates a self-fulfilling cycle
through which success at achieving a meaningful
task creates intrinsic rewards of its own. Moreover,
the resulting transformational relationship between
leader and employee will be characterized by per-
ceptions that the leader is an intellectually stimu-
lating, inspirational, idealized influencer who is
considerate of each individual employee’s needs.
3.1. Leader effects
Thus far, we have devoted our discussion primarily
to understanding how transformational leaders may
 It’s how you frame it: Transformational leadership and the meaning of work
Table 2. Ways to enhance the meaning of work
Job Characteristic To Enhance the Meaning of Work
Autonomy Accentuate responsibility and the
ownership of ideas by employees.
Talk in terms of ‘‘we.’’ Listen more.
Give credit to employees for
contributions, and celebrate
team ‘‘wins.’’
Task Significance Highlight how the organization
contributes to others and society.
Link the contribution of functional
units to bottom-line metrics. Note
the importance of each individual
and the contribution each makes.
Skill Variety Highlight complexities of a task
yo
that employees may take for
granted. Routinely solicit feedback
from employees on ways to improve
processes in other departments.
Feedback Provide feedback characterized
by a warm and safe environment,
material information about
op
performance, time to respond,
positive reinforcement for
outcomes, and differentiated
information that enables creative
problem solving.
Task Identity Emphasize the contribution of an
employee’s work to the
tC
organization’s products and services.
Discuss how each functional unit
helps the organization achieve its
objectives. Broker relationships
across functional areas. Develop
experts, not employees.
No
manage the meaning of employee work. However,
we would be remiss if we failed to address the likely
effects that will accrue for the leader as a result of
this process. Indeed, there are several benefits
leaders will experience as a result of this process.
First, in addition to increasing followers’ produc-
tivity, enhancing the meaningfulness of work should
highlight the significance of leadership. Hence,
Do
these leader behaviors, primarily for those motivat-
ed by a desire to highlight the value of subordinate
work, will also serve to strengthen the credibility of
leadership, contributing more toward attributions
of transformational leadership.
Second, in order to shape the nature of work,
leaders must understand what their employees
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
359
t
To Avoid Diminishing the Meaning of Work
os
Avoid ‘‘my’’ and ‘‘I’’ statements regarding
work. Talk less and listen more. Be open to new
ideas even from unexpected sources. Try to
make decisions only after hearing from others,
and justify the decisions you make. Make your
presence about support rather than command
and control.
rP
Do not minimize the importance of work tasks
that are ‘‘small’’ or ‘‘routine.’’ Try not to focus
excessively on details but rather big picture
implications. Reframe negative discussions to
emphasize the implications of work to others,
including employees.
Do not minimize the complexity or intricacy of
work. Note when others are able to work
effectively because of the employee’s
contribution. Note interdependent processes
even if jobs are simple.
Avoid feedback that is punitive and remedial.
Do not assume that failure is a result of the
employee–—it may be caused by legitimate
reasons outside his/her control. Seek input
from employees on processes and outcomes
that work and those that do not. Try not to
answer your own questions.
Avoid discussions of work and jobs but rather
emphasize each employee’s domain expertise.
Enable employees to see how they connect with
other employees’ work.
actually do. Thus, the process of managing the mean-
ing of work exposes the leader to the day-to-day
activities of his/her employees, which enables the
leader’s heightened responsiveness to potential
problems. Thus, the leader gains knowledge through
this process and is better able to manage and under-
stand employee concerns and problems.
This natural process also reduces the perceived
distance between a leader and his/her employees
by providing them with greater access to one
another. Work is no longer an us-versus-them game
between employees and leaders but rather a col-
laborative process in which leaders and employees
collectively discuss and take ownership over the
work they perform.
 360
Work relationships play an integral role in shaping
how employees adapt to work, procure and use
resources, and coordinate activities (Ferris et al.,
2009). Overall, we anticipate that leaders who
actively help frame employee work will experience
heightened relationship quality with employees.
Therefore, it is in the interests of leaders to develop
and maintain high-quality connections with employ-
ees, and framing the nature of work has the poten-
tial to precipitate quality connections.
4. Conclusion
Leadership is critical for organizations. In a time of
scarce resources and increasing demands for pro-
ductivity, it is equally important to consider ways
leaders can transform and enhance the nature of
yo
work for their employees. This article has presented
some tangible ways leaders can transform the mean-
ing of work to better motivate and educate their
employees. Our hope is that leaders will use this
advice to improve the quality of work in their own
organizations.
op
References
Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (1988). Transformational leadership:
Charisma and beyond. In J. G. Hunt, H. R. Baliga, H. P. Dachler,
& C. A. Schriesheim (Eds.), Emerging leadership vistas
(pp. 29—49). Lexington, MA: Heath.
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expec-
tations. New York: Free Press.
tC
Deci, E. L. (1976). Notes on the theory and metatheory of intrinsic
motivation. Organizational Behavior and Human Perfor-
mance, 15(1), 130—145.
De Pree, M. (n.d.) Max De Pree quotes. Retrieved from http://
www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/831.Max_DePree
Fairhurst, G. T., & Starr, R. A. (1996). The art of framing: Managing
the language of leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ferris, G. R., Liden, R. C., Munyon, T. P., Summers, J. K., Basik,
K. J., & Buckley, M. R. (2009). Relationships at work: Toward
No
a multidimensional conceptualization of dyadic work rela-
tionships. Journal of Management, 35(6), 1379—1403.
Do
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Regina Taylor, Creighton University until July 2017. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
D.J. Cleavenger, T.P. Munyon
Fowler, F. C. (2009). Jewels in your crown: Mining the treasures
t
within. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.
Fried, Y., & Ferris, G. R. (1987). The validity of the job char-
os
acteristics model: A review and meta-analysis. Personnel
Psychology, 40(2), 287—322.
Grant, A. M. (2008). The significance of task significance:
Job performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary
conditions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 108—124.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the
design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and
Human Performance, 16(2), 250—279.
rP
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Work redesign. Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
Humphrey, S. E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007).
Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design
features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension
of the work design literature. Journal of Applied Psychology,
92(5), 1332—1356.
Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Talent is never enough: Discover the
choices that will take you beyond your talent. Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
Nippard, W. J. (2011). The teamwork ladder: 8 steps to maximum
success for you & your organization. Bloomington, IN: West-
Bow Press.
Piccolo, R. F., & Colquitt, J. A. (2006). Transformational leader-
ship and job behaviors: The mediating role of core job
characteristics. Academy of Management Journal, 49(2),
327—340.
Piccolo, R. F., Greenbaum, R., Den Hartog, D. N., & Folger, R.
(2010). The relationship between ethical leadership and
core job characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior,
31(2/3), 259—278.
Pfeffer, J. (1981). Management as symbolic action. In Cummings,
L. L., & Staw, B. M. Eds. Research in organizational behavior.
Vol. 3 (pp.1—52). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Pondy, L. R. (1978). Leadership is a language game. In M. W.,
McCall, Jr. & M. M. Lombardo (Eds.), Leadership: Where else
can we go? (pp. 13—34). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom.
New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Slater, R. (2001). Get better or get beaten: 29 leadership
secrets from Jack Welch (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Publications.
Stone, S. (2001). Swings hanging from every tree: Daily inspira-
tion and reflections for foster/adoptive parents. Bethany,
OK: Wood ‘‘N’’ Barnes Publishing.
Xie, J. L., & Johns, G. (1995). Job scope and stress: Can job
scope be too high? Academy of Management Journal, 38(5),
1288—1309.