Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: André de WAAL
Author-Name-First: André
Author-Name-Last: de WAAL
Author-Email: andredewaal@planet.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: HPO Center
Title: High-Performance Managerial Leadership: Scale Development and Initial Validation of an Integrated Leadership-Management Behavior Framework
Abstract: Purpose – Although leadership research has expanded, HRM still lacks a behaviorally specific framework clarifying what managers must do daily to implement HRM systems and sustain high performance. This paper develops and provides initial validation evidence for High-Performance Managerial Leadership (HPML), an integrated leadership–management behavior framework. Aims – The study identifies the behaviors that constitute HPML and examines whether they form a coherent construct related to organizational performance. It also investigates whether theorized leadership-oriented and managerial-oriented behavior pairs are positively associated and translates HPML into an HRM-actionable framework for selection, assessment, and development. Design/methodology/approach – Ten recurring managerial behaviors were derived from two decades of longitudinal high-performance organization case research and organized into five complementary leadership–managerial behavior pairs. A 63-item instrument was refined through expert review and pilot testing, then administered to 152 managers from the Netherlands and other countries. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, reliability tests, correlations, and structural equation modeling. Findings – Most leadership and all managerial behavior sets were positively related to perceived comparative organizational performance. Each leadership behavior set strongly correlated with its paired managerial behavior set. Structural equation modeling supported HPML as a single latent construct positively associated with organizational performance. Limitation – The cross-sectional, single-respondent design limits causal inference and may involve common method bias. Performance was self-reported, the sample was purposive and geographically uneven, and some validity indices could not be calculated. Further research should use larger, multi-country, multi-source, objective, and longitudinal designs. Practical implications and originality – HPML offers an HRM-ready framework for managerial selection, appraisal, and development. It contributes a novel, empirically examined integration of leadership and management into a unified behavioral framework for sustained high performance.
Classification-JEL: M12, M54, C38
Keywords: High-Performance Managerial Leadership, High Performance Organization, Leadership Behaviors, Managerial Behaviors, Organizational Performance, Leadership Development
Journal: Journal of Human Resource Management
Pages: 93-115
Volume: 29
Issue: 1
Year: 2026
File-URL: https://www.jhrm.eu/93-high-performance-managerial-leadership-scale-development-and-initial-validation-of-an-integrated-leadership-management-behavior-framework/
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:cub:journl:v:29:y:2026:i:1:p:93-115