Abstract :

Transformational leadership is a process in which leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation, creating significant changes in the lives of people and organizations. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of individualized consideration style on organization performance in private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The objective that guided the study was to: establish the influence of individualized consideration on organizational performance in private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study used Transformational Leadership Theory by Burns (1978) and the conceptual framework was based on the relationship between individualized consideration style and organizational performance. The sample comprised of 288 lecturers and 7 Deans of Academic Affairs of the chartered private universities, and questionnaires and interview guides were used to gather data. Validation of the questionnaires was through Cronbach’s Alpha and the use of expert judgement. The coefficient value was 0.879 at alpha = 0.05. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, and the regression analysis showed a strong relationship between individualized consideration and the performance of private universities. The results revealed a positive and significant relationship between individualized consideration (β = .370, p<.05). It was concluded that offering leadership support and advice, mentorship, career development, and solving individual needs among their employees influences performance. The following recommendations were made: the management of private universities ought to offer leadership support and advice to their employees as this is important in improving their performance. Furthermore, they should realize that in order to realize higher performance for their institutions they need to ensure that the leaders in the institutions act as both mentors and coaches for the employees and recognize their contributions to the organization. The Deans of Academic Affairs need to attend seminars and training in transformational leadership so that they can be well-versed in transformational leadership skills, responsibilities, and characteristics.

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Keywords :

Individualized consideration, Leadership support, Mentorship, Organizational Performance, Private universities, Transformational Leadership

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