Visionary Leadership and Organizational Change: Mediating Role of Trust in the Leader

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine and explore the impact of visionary leadership on organizational change with the mediating role of trust in the leader. This study attempts to explicate and test the key role of visionary leadership in bringing and implementing change in organizations. An empirical test of the hypotheses was done using confirmatory factor analysis, process macro for mediation, and regression analysis. The data was collected from 230 managerial level employees of selected banks operating in Pakistan. Findings suggest that visionary leadership is positively related to organizational change and trust in leaders, and trust in the leader is positively related to organizational change. Employees who trust their leader positively perceive the change in the organization and they realize that their leader is well aware of their needs. So, the leader will bring change in the organization that will be beneficial for them. All the established relationships are empirically tested, theoretically explained, and supported by literature review. This study makes a significant original contribution toward the role of visionary leadership in bringing change in the organizations through developing trust. It has practical implications for managers and leaders confronting organizational change.