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Literature on leadership has provided sufficient evidence that leadership styles increase satisfaction, commitment, and retention of employees. However, there are few studies on the effects of leadership styles on volunteers. This study aims to investigate the possible influence of transformational leadership style on retention of volunteers. Our first hypothesis is that if a volunteer coordinator has a transformational leadership style, there is a higher intention to remain. Our second hypothesis is that this relationship is mediated by the variables of the three-stage model of volunteers' duration of service (satisfaction, organizational commitment, and role identity). To test these hypotheses, a sample of 417 volunteers (73% women), from 17 non-profit organizations, with an average age of 44 years, was surveyed. Joint results of a multiple regression analysis and path analysis supported the proposed model (CFI, GFI and NFI =.99, RMSEA <.06). Results indicate that when volunteer coordinators have a transformational style, volunteers have a higher intention to remain and that this relationship between transformational leadership style and intention to remain is partially mediated by satisfaction, organizational commitment, and role identity. The results seem to indicate that a useful strategy when running programs to increase the retention of volunteers is to train their coordinators in transformational leadership skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this study is to analyze how organizational commitment has a mediating effect on the relation between transformational leadership and organizational trust. Therefore we developed an organization analysis based on a survey that was used to collect primary data from a sample of 58 employees. We obtained a 71% response rate and these data were analyzed using quantitative methodological techniques and linear regression. The research was conducted at the Serralves Foundation (Porto, Portugal) to empirically test the proposed research model and its hypotheses. The empirical results confirm that transformational leadership positively enhances organizational trust. However, transformational leadership and organizational trust are not significantly influenced by organizational commitment, thus not having a mediating effect on this relationship. Such results assume particular relevance because they become a basis for comparative studies in similar organizations. This study brings some theoretical contributions to the literature by analyzing the mediating effect of organizational commitment on the relation between transformational leadership and organizational trust in cultural organizations and has also some practical management implications, as it draws attention to the importance of a set of practices, job satisfaction oriented, which can effectively lead to organizational commitment intervention in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]