Beyond Laissez-Faire: Differentiating the Relationship Between the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) and Employee Well-Being and Effort in the Greek Hotel Sector

The hospitality sector is an environment where leadership quality significantly impacts organizational performance and employees’ well-being. However, research on leadership styles in the Greek hotel industry remains limited. Using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), this research explores the connections between transformational, transactional, and passive leadership styles, as well as the employees’ outcome (extra effort, effectiveness, satisfaction). The survey was conducted among 211 hotel employees from the major Greek tourism areas. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported the MLQ structure, and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the hypothesized relationships. The findings indicate that transformational leadership is the primary factor positively associated with all three employee outcomes, with idealized influence and individualized consideration being the strongest predictors. Contingent reward (transactional leadership) is positively associated with several employee outcomes. Laissez-faire leadership has significant negative associations with extra effort, effectiveness, and satisfaction, while passive management-by-exception demonstrates some positive associations, making the situation difficult to interpret. These results verify the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) as a viable theoretical framework in the Greek hotel sector and offer a plethora of research-based guidelines to leadership program schedulers.