There is an interest in realizing leadership characteristics among minority managers in the federal government, understanding the diverse personal and professional situations that these leaders face, and how our present government agencies influence those situations. There is a great deal of competition with the private sector and other government agencies in recruiting and retaining highly qualified and skilled minority leaders. This contributes a major problem for the federal government. The purpose of this study is to explore whether minority managers in the federal government display transformational leadership characteristics described by Bass and Avolio. In order to determine this factor, this study attempts to answer 3 questions, which are the following: Is there a link between transformational leadership characteristics, as described by Bass and Avolio, and minority federal government managers in California?; How do minority federal government managers describe their leadership experience?; and Do the minority federal government managers' leadership experiences differ based on gender?

This study uses a qualitative design involving a phenomenology study while employing a narrative approach. The researcher used a purposive sample of participants that meet the specific criteria for this study. Data were displayed through a variety of forms, including text and tables.

The interviews and the responses from the questions revealed significant amounts of data pertaining to the following four concepts: (a) Idealized Influence, (b) Inspirational Motivation, (c) Intellectual Motivation, and (d) Individual Stimulation. The findings showed that there is a link between transformational leadership characteristics and minority federal government managers in California, with supporting statements from the participants' responses to the research and interview questions. As a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the future and current leaders within this specific federal government agency and other organizations, this federal government agency can formulate policies and training programs to train leaders at all levels of the organization on transformational leadership.