Leaders’ Positive Expectations and Subordinate Performance:A Study of Academic Professionals

The present study attempts to examine the effect of authentic leadership and its dimensions on academic optimism and its dimensions. It aims to bridge the gap existing in the literature and explores the impact of leadership over stimulating academic optimism. The study also analyzed the mediating role of organizational commitment between the authentic leadership and academic optimism. Data was collected from 34 leaders/heads/seniors and 128 teachers of private educational institutions of Uttar Pradesh, India. The hierarchical regression analysis and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that authenticity in leaders (seniors/heads) are useful for encouraging optimism in teachers and can induce teachers to trust their students and parents, have a higher degree of collective efficacy and give more emphasis on academic success. Organizational commitment was found to partially mediate the effect of authentic leadership on academic optimism. Principal with better self concepts rated their teachers more optimistic than those who were not. The study extended the ongoing researches and provided a novel approach of stimulating faculty’s academic optimism.