| This study was to measure the frequency of which leaders at NEEDS exhibit transformational leadership characteristics at the Federal Ministry of National Planning Commission (NPC), Abuja, Nigeria. The frequency of exhibition of the transformational leadership characteristics of these leaders was measured using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X) developed by Bass and Avolio (1995).The study generated four research questions and two hypotheses. The research questions and hypotheses were answered by conducting a quantitative research methodology. The two hypotheses were tested using one-way ANOVA and using SPSS 13.0 Graduate pack for the analysis. The SPSS 13.0 Graduate Pack generated descriptive statistics that measured the mean, median, mode and standard deviation for the following demographic variables: age of respondents, gender, religion, ethnic origin, geographic origin and education of respondents. The results of the ANOVA showed that the null hypotheses were accepted.In summary, the results from the analysis of data in this study showed that leaders at NEEDS/NPC exhibit moderate level transformational leadership characteristics, which may not be effective in meeting the UN MDG goal. This result is not just from the leaders' self-perceptions but also from their subordinates' perceptions. As a result, this research has some implications and recommendation for both practice and future research. Though, the exhibition of transformational leadership characteristics of the leaders at NEEDS/NPC were determined during this study with respect to how those characteristics affect the implementation of the UNMDG goal of poverty reduction, the implication of this study is that other factors beyond transformational leadership style could be affecting the implementation of these goals. As examined in the literature, factors such as cultural, economic, socio-political and ethnic issues could mitigate NEEDS/NPC leadership team effectiveness. However, the extent to which these factors affect the realization of the UNMDG goal of poverty reduction are yet to be determined.With respect to recommendations for future practice, prior to conducting this study, the frequency of which NEEDS/NPC leaders exhibit transformational leadership characteristics was not known. It has been concluded that NEEDS/NPC leaders exhibit a moderate level of transformational leadership characteristics. Therefore, it is recommended that NEEDS/NPC leaders possess at least a moderate-high frequency of the characteristics of transformational leadership to ensure accomplishing the UN MDG goal of cutting poverty in half in Nigeria by 2015. For future research, this study recommends to conduct a mixed research. This is because, as much as an additional quantitative study could produce some desired results based on the statistical analysis of collected data, an additional qualitative study would bring in some components not covered under the quantitative arrangement. It is further recommended that a quantitative study should be conducted for all the leadership styles on the MLQ-5X's (Bass and Avolio) questionnaire. |
