Employees who experience meaningful work are likely to be engaged in their jobs and leadership may be key factor in providing meaningful work.

That's according to CQUniversity senior lecturer in Management Dr Michael Muchiri, who has co-authored a book chapter with Professor Fred Walumbwa and Amanda Christensen from Arizona State University in the USA.

Dr Michael Muchiri has co-authored a book chapter and been appointed to an Editorial Advisory Board ... all during the month of May

That book chapter on 'Transformational Leadership and Meaningful Work' has been included in a book entitled Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace, published by the American Psychological Association.

May has been a fruitful month for Dr Muchiri, who was recently appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board for a UK-based international journal, the Leadership & Organization Development Journal.

The LODJ is a prestigious, high impact, peer-reviewed international journal which explores behavioural and managerial issues relating to all aspects of leadership, and of individual and organisation development, from a global perspective.

Accordingly, this appointment to the LODJ's Editorial Advisory Board is a significant recognition of Dr Muchiri's contribution to leadership and management research. It is peer-reviewers like Michael who ensure that LODJ continues to publish cutting-edge, current research in leadership.

His work has already been published in the LODJ and the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, and now by the American Psychological Association.

Last year, Dr Muchiri's paper on 'Servant Leadership and Safety Citizenship Behavior: Examining Mediating and Moderating Processes' (co-authored with Prof Fred Walumbwa of Arizona State University, Prof Sam Aryee of King's College, London, Prof Lee Di Milia of CQUniversity and Prof Ray Cooksey of the University New England) was presented at the prestigious Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, USA.

In the new book chapter, Dr Muchiri and his co-authors collate empirical evidence in relation to conditions and processes underlying the relationship between transformational leadership and meaningful work.

They also review empirical evidence showing that when employees view their work as meaningful, their effectiveness and performance are enhanced at work.

The authors then assert that transformational leadership is positively associated with a 'higher purpose' in the work, as characterised by members' beliefs that they were part of a cause that was bigger than simply making money.

Thus, leaders can influence how followers perceive their work environment by using verbal persuasion, providing ideological explanations, and communicating the value of the organisation's mission, leading to intrinsically motivating, engaging, and meaningful work.

In practice, the authors suggest that supervisors need to accentuate behaviours that embody idealised influence/charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration, in order to influence their followers' self-efficacy, core job characteristics, and self-concordant goals, which, in turn, influences followers' perceptions of meaningful work.

Furthermore, supervisors need to understand how their followers view themselves and thus provide them with confidence to reach their full potential. The authors suggest that leaders should help their employees believe more strongly in their capabilities, thereby engaging their self-esteem and sense of self-efficacy which, in turn, is expected to influence their perceptions of meaningful work.

The new textbook can be viewed via http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4318117.aspx . Dr Muchiri's section is Chapter 9.