Leadership attributes and their impact on work-related attitudes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the emergence of employee leadership attributes and, further, examine its impact on employee work-related attitudes in terms of the competitive context of higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach A data from a survey of 245 academic employees in Malaysian public universities were tested and analyzed on the 12 proposed hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that the emergence of employee leadership attributes, independently, has a significantly positive effect on work-related attitudes. Specifically, executive leadership has a significantly positive effect on organizational commitment, career satisfaction and job satisfaction, while innovative leadership has a significantly positive effect on organizational commitment and career satisfaction. In contrast, adaptive and effective leadership is associated when explaining organizational commitment, career satisfaction and job satisfaction, while innovative leadership is associated when explaining job satisfaction. Practical implications Academic scholars/leaders in higher education should realize that the emergence of employee leadership attributes has a positive effect on work-related attitudes, such as organizational commitment, career satisfaction and job satisfaction. Originality/value The paper extends the knowledge regarding complexity leadership theory which explains the emergence of employee leadership attributes naturally and, further, provides empirical evidence.