Leadership Styles : Transformational Leadership

After thoroughly studying the book Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse, I have come to a conclusion that transformational leadership style is the one that appeals to me the most (Northouse, 2013, p.185). Transformational leadership is about changing and transforming people, it is concerned with all the possible aspects involved in such process: employees' emotions and motives, satisfaction of their needs and explanation of the long-term goals. Transformational leadership handles equally well one-on-one interactions as well as influencing organizations as a whole. Transformational leadership factors are idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration

Have you ever had a leader that inspired you to develop your own leadership traits? “A leader is someone who demonstrates what’s possible” (Mark Yarnell, 2015). There are numerous leadership styles. Each of the numerous leadership styles can be beneficial if utilized in an appropriate means. I have chosen three leaders and their unique leadership styles to discuss in this paper. The unique styles that will be discussed are situational leadership, transformational leadership, and laissez-faire leadership. I will also discuss each leader’s approach, their fundamental leadership principles, and how each leader used their style within their profession.

Other forms of leadership styles that are known to exist derive from the Leadership Style Inventory (LSI) developed by Rowe, Reardon, and Bennis (1995). The inventory identifies four basic styles; commanding, logical, inspirational and supportive. The differences in style used by leaders are based on the following two questions: How adaptive are leaders when dealing with the issues they face? How do leaders communicate with, persuade, and energize employees in the process of change?

Johnson and Dipboye (2008) proclaimed, “Transformational leadership style mainly focuses on transformation of values and beliefs of followers by inspiring them” (As cite by Zareen, Razzaq, & Mujtaba, 2015). Connectedness, mutual respect, and collaboration on goals and responsibilities are what I see as the hallmarks that transformational leadership affords

Transformational leadership comprises four components: inspirational motivation, idealized influence, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation. The transformational leadership style can create positive outcomes for followers, which is a positive reflection of their leadership style. The transformational leadership style also has its dark side. Schuh, Zhang, & Tian (2013) describes two types of transformational leadership style, the first type of transformational leadership focus on altruistic goals and common good and behavior characterized by high moral and ethical standards. The second type of transformational leadership style is self-centered, focuses on their own status, authority, power, and position at the expense of

Transformational leaders’ focus is on the relationship of the leader with subordinates through encouragement, understanding, enthusiasm, and spur, while considering the individual. The leader motivates, possesses

However, can deploying the differences between the two methodologies of leadership styles using evidence-based best practices incorporating employee needs analysis's, capability frameworks and refined communication designs alter negative consequences to followers. In conclusion, this research will investigate the relationship between transformational leadership's effectiveness, ability to increase the productivity of followers and the intensity of their investment in the degree of such output.

Leadership is much more complex than most individuals tend to realize. Most people hear the word leadership and automatically think management. But leadership encompasses more than just an authoritative role. There are many different leadership styles which a leader could choose to model. The type of leadership which seems to be most effective is transformational leadership. Transformational leadership inspires followers to challenge themselves, rather than having one person dictate the process.

Leaders are often described as being prepared with different approaches, a plan and the desire to direct their teams to accomplish future goals. Both leadership styles are needed for leading a successful organization. Transactional leaders provide different advantages through their capabilities of addressing small effective details quickly (De Oliveira Rodrigues & Ferreira, 2015). Transactional leaders also handle all details that come together to build a strong name, while keeping employees productive at all times (De Oliveira Rodrigues & Ferreira, 2015). Different management styles are best suited for different situations. Transformational leadership inspires leaders to advance each another to higher levels of motivation (Mathew & Gupta, 2015).

Effective leadership is a key enabler as it provides the vision and the rationale for change. Different styles of leadership have been identified, for example coercive, directive, consultative and collaborative. These different styles may each be appropriate depending on the type and scale of change being undertaken. For example, when there is a large-scale organisation-wide change a directive style has been identified as most effective.

When I think about the type of leader I would like to be, there is one supervisor that always comes to mind because of the positive environment she cultivated. In researching the different leadership styles for this assignment, I believe that this is the style that she used with her staff. I was interested in learning more about transformational leadership and how I can cultivate this style in the way that I lead my current team as well as the way in which I lead future teams.

Transformational leadership is a leadership style that emphasizes change and inspiration by motivating employees through visions and values. It fosters openness to new approaches and personal growth due to intellectual stimulation, individual coaching and support. Transformational leadership comprises four dimensions namely idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration. Idealized influence reflects the degree to which the degree of the leader is perceived as a charismatic role model from employees. Inspirational motivation can

The impact of leadership style in the change process of an organization influences the performance; Leadership as stated by Martin, Liao and Campbell (2013) remains one of the most consequential contextual influencers of employee performance. Latson (2014) elucidated that some leaders may have the best intentions, but the impact will not be in alignment with the intension. But leadership trait is the ability to inspire, motivate and engage the followers to make the inspired vision happen beyond their normal capabilities (Mendez, Munoz & Munoz 2013). A change is the most frequent phenomenon of today's reality and a good understanding of how to manage the change process is very essential; Change is translation from one state into

There are many leadership styles that can be employed to be effective in business. Examples of these include but are not limited to autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, path-goal theory, bureaucratic, transformational, transactional, charismatic, authentic, servant, etc., all of which have their own attributes and limitations (Mindtool Editorial Team, n.d.). In some cases a combination of leadership styles are combined for a desired outcome. In the case of Howard Schultz, a combination of transformational and authentic leadership was used (Coulson, 2016).

A leader’s style can be classified as transactional, transformational, or what is considered level 5. A transactional leader creates a very structured environment. Those leaders employing transactional leadership create clearly defined responsibilities for employees and subordinates. Transactional leadership details the rewards for success; unfortunately, transactional leadership also encompasses an element of punishment for failure. The punishment can be something as simple as a reprimand for small infractions up to termination for more serious infractions; the consequences are usually well documented as a formal policy. The transformational leadership style goes far beyond transactional leadership. A transformational leadership style is characterized by high energy, sensibility, clarity in direction, and empathy. Transformational leaders inspire subordinates to go beyond the norm and achieve goals on a greater scale than they thought possible. The transformational leader promotes a mentoring relationship rather than a monitoring relationship. Which leadership style is better? The answer would be neither, both have their place. The culture and potential problems facing a company are factors that determine which leadership style works best. While the leadership style is important, the leader is just as important. Anyone can be a manager, but what does it take to become a great leader? What sets level 5 leaders apart from