Impact of leadership styles on employee motivation

Lingampally, Ajay (2025) Impact of leadership styles on employee motivation. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

The leadership of non-profits has a major impact on the atmosphere that inspires volunteers. There is more to being an administrative executive when you run a non-profit. Its purpose is to inspire and guide those who are ambitious and self-motivated. Leaders and managers in the nonprofit sector may influence employee engagement, retention, work happiness, and performance via their leadership style.

This study aims to fill a critical knowledge gap by investigating the effects of various leadership styles on employee motivation in nonprofits. Although research on the effect of leadership on motivation is abundant in for-profit organizations, nonprofits need a different style of leadership due to their specific problems and incentive systems. An organization's leadership has a critical role to play in encouraging intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation. Creating a welcoming and inclusive work environment, recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions, and encouraging them to grow professionally are all examples of what is known as "motivational leadership" in the nonprofit sector. A systematic, closed-ended questionnaire that was supported by a computer was used to collect data from thirty respondents. To give unbiased information on the prevalence and effect of transformational, servant, and democratic leadership styles, quantitative data was descriptively evaluated. Important ethical issues were protecting participants' privacy and getting their informed consent. While the method did have some flaws a small sample size and the fact that the questions were closed-ended it did provide uniformity and clarity in the end.

This research also emphasizes the significance of people management in change management, demonstrating that investment in talent management is closely correlated with the effectiveness of change initiatives. These findings have substantial ramifications for the formulation of change strategies and the comprehension of organizations. Additionally, the data does not support the claim that transformational leadership significantly aids in the process of change management. Servant leadership also increases organizational citizenship behaviours and motivation because it creates a culture of trust and compassion. But if the leadership is too relaxed and hands-off, it may lead to operational messes and low morale. To excite personnel, executives in NPOs should be engaged and focused on the purpose. Transactional leadership works well in the short term but has hidden emotional costs. Democratic leadership boosts morale and creativity, but it can also hurt efficiency.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Supervisors:	Name Email Fox, Robert UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Performance Management > Employee Engagement H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management H Social Sciences > HM Sociology > Leadership H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Leadership H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Performance Management > Motivation
Divisions:	School of Business (- 2025) > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User:	Ciara O'Brien
Date Deposited:	08 Dec 2025 15:14
Last Modified:	08 Dec 2025 15:14
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/9013

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