Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire© (MLQ) Bernard Bass and Bruce Avolio developed the
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire© (MLQ) to determine the degree to which leaders exhibited
transformational and transactional leadership and the degree to which their followers were satisfied
with their leader and their leader's effectiveness. The MLQ measures a broad range of leadership
types from passive leaders to leaders who give contingent rewards to followers to leaders who
transform their followers into becoming leaders themselves.
Transformational Leadership
Idealized Attributes
Idealized Behaviours
Inspirational Motivation
Intellectual Stimulation
Individualized Consideration
Transactional Leadership
Contingent Reward
Management-by-Exception (Active)
- Passive – Avoidant Behaviours
Management-by-Exception (Passive)
Laissez-faire
Idealized influence (attributes and behaviours) include the degree to which the leader instils pride in
others, displays power and confidence, makes personal sacrifice or champions new possibilities,
considers the ethical or moral consequences of decisions and talks about the importance of having a
collective sense of mission.
Inspirational motivation means the leader's ability to articulate a compelling vision of the future, set
challenging standards and take a stand on controversial issues.
Intellectual stimulation concerns those behaviours that increase followers’ understanding of the
problems they face in the current situation and contrast them with their vision of the future.
Individualized consideration concerns the extent to which leaders treat followers as individuals and
how much of a mentoring or coaching orientation leaders have for their followers.
Contingent reward concerns the extent to which leaders set goals, make rewards contingent on
performance, obtain necessary resources, and provide rewards when performance goals have been
met.
Management-by-exception concerns the degree to which managers intervene when mistakes
occur. Active management-by-exception occurs when managers closely monitor follower
performance and keep track of mistakes. Passive management-by-exception occurs when managers
are unaware of performance problems until brought to their attention.
Laissez-faire leaders avoid responsibilities, fail to make decisions, are often absent when needed or
fail to follow up on requests.
The MLQ also measures the outcomes of leadership in terms of extra effort, individual, group and
organizational effectiveness and satisfaction demonstrated by followers
