Full Range Leadership Model Essay

The aim of the study is to investigate what type of leadership is most prevalent in collegiate flight training programs within the context of the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM). Specifically, the purpose of this study is to identify commonality, or lack thereof, of the multiple leadership behaviors outlined in the theoretical framework. For example, transactional, transformational, passive/avoidant traits could all be found, but which type is dominant? While much research exists using this leadership model in a variety of organizational contexts, aviation and specifically collegiate flight training programs largely have been ignored by researchers. Therefore, this study is exploratory in nature meaning that there is no hypothesis to test. Rather, this is an investigation to determine how

Research Question: Using the FRLM as the framework, what leadership type is most prevalent in UNO’s collegiate flight training program?

In addition to the primary research question, the literature review/analytical framework provides certain assumptions and additional, supplementary questions. For example, literature regarding the FRLM stresses that leaders often embody several traits of leadership from across the spectrum (e.g. transformational and transactional) as opposed to simply adhering to one style. Particularly, research from Bass (1985) and Lumpe (2008) suggests that transactional leadership is an important supplement to transformation leadership. This brings up an important question to this study: Will the flight instructor group identify strongly with multiple types of leadership or will the results favor one specific type? Additionally, research implies that the most common form of leadership in the aviation context is transactional leadership. In part, this is because