Leadership Styles and Motivational Goals of Secondary School Principal in Pulau Pinang

This study investigated the relationship between leadership style of principals of secondary schools and their motivational needs, and possible relationships among
selected demographic variables (age, gender, birth order, and years of principalship experience) to leadership style. The dependent variable, leadership style was investigated along the consideration and initiating structure dimension (as measured by the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire). The independent variables were motivational goals (nAch, nAff, and nPow) as defined
by McClelland’s trichotomy of needs theory of motivation. Questionnaires were distributed to the principals of 34 secondary schools in Penang. The data were analysed by using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, one-way ANOVA, t-Test and Stepwise Multiple Regression techniques.The results of the study indicated that both dimensions of leadership style of the principals correlated significantly with their nAch. There is significant relationship between leadership style along initiating structure and the nPow. However, no significant
relationship was found between leadership style and the nAff. The four demographic variables found no significant differences at the .05 level of significance. The nAch and nPow emerged as the main predictors of leadership
style along consideration and initiating structure dimensions respectively. Another significant finding showed that the principals were high in both initiating
structure and consideration leadership dimensions. The nPow emerged as inversely related to the principal’s age. Implications of the findings and recommendations for practice and further research are presented.