Joint effects of shared and transformational leadership on performance in street-level bureaucracies: Evidence from the educational sector

Recent theories of public administration emphasize the importance of leadership as shared property. This research focuses on the role of the interaction between vertical and shared leadership in promoting agency performance. Specifically, it examines the joint effects of shared leadership and transformational leadership on team empowerment and performance in public settings. Based on field study data collected from 74 street-level bureaucracies and 423 public servants in Brazil, we find evidence that vertical transformational leadership strengthens the direct relationship between shared leadership and team empowerment as well as the indirect relationship between shared leadership and school performance through team empowerment (a moderated-mediation model). The findings of this study suggest that greater attention should be paid to the dynamics of shared and vertical leadership structures to better understand their consequences for team processes and outcomes in public settings. Evidence for Practice Agencies with higher levels of shared leadership performed significantly better due to an increased sense of empowerment among employees. Public managers enhanced the effects of shared leadership on agency performance by demonstrating transformational leadership. To harness the potential of shared leadership in the public sector, organizations should introduce managerial training that develops transformational leaders who offer clear vision, motivate, and inspire employees.