Understanding transformational leadership–employee performance links: The role of relational identification and self‐efficacy

We examined how employee perceptions of relational identification with the supervisor and self‐efficacy mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and supervisor‐rated performance. Performance is used here to refer to the individual's ability to be creative, innovative, inspiring, and take on challenging tasks to achieve organizational goals for the greater good. Using a sample of 426 employees and their 75 immediate supervisors from a large automobile dealership, hierarchical linear modelling results revealed that relational identification with the supervisor mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and self‐efficacy, which was then positively related to employee performance. Implications for future research, theory, and practice are discussed.