Falling over ourselves to follow the leader: conceptualizing connections between transformational leader behaviors and dysfunctional team conflict.

Transformational behaviors can generate dysfunctional (affective) conflict among team members even though the goals of the leader are foremost in the member's minds. Transformational leadership behaviors that emphasize esteem needs and self-concept can make team members more vulnerable to the transmission of affective conflict. Leaders should be careful about challenging team members at a personal level or evoking self-concept. Triggering higher order needs in their followers can overstimulate members and create dysfunctional conflict. Once triggered, affective conflict can significantly diminish decision quality and commitment.

Transformational leadership models contend that a good leader is a dominant leader who acts as the major source of direction and motivation for the followers. Such advice is given regarding all sorts of teams and its proponents make no exclusion for decision-making teams (e.g., Bass & Avolio, 1993). Our critical, conceptual examination is intended to add to the small but growing body of literature that has attempted to examine more closely the situational conditions under which transformational leadership achieves superior performance. It is our hope that our research propositions will stimulate leadership scholars to take a closer look at the role and impact of transformational leadership in team decision-making contexts. There is no doubt that researchers need to more fully understand how team leaders can help or hinder their team's performance via the leader's impact on team conflict.

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