Transformational Leadership: A Report

As Northouse (2015) explained, transformational leadership is a process that can change and transform the emotions, values, ethics, standard, and long term goals of the people. It also involves transforming followers to accomplish more than what is expected of them. The four factors that are closely associated with transformational leadership includes being an idealized influence or charisma leaders who act as strong role models, have a high standard of moral and ethical conduct, and deeply respected by his or her followers. A leader who can inspire and motivate their followers to be part of a shared vision of the organization. A leader who can also stimulate followers to become more creative and innovative, and provide the necessary coaches and advice to the followers (p.167).

For centuries leaders have been analyzed in order to determine what the traits and characteristics of a successful leader are. Leadership, as defined by Koontz and Weihrich (2008) is “the art or a process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals” (p. 311). Leadership plays an important role in employee’s participation, creativity, recruitment to an organization, their commitment to the organization, and productivity levels. Over the years, there have been a number of theories surrounding leadership such as the “Great Man” theory, which, according to Riaz and Haider (2010), “assumes that leaders are born and have innate qualities, therefore, leaders

A Transformational Leader is a person who assesses a country, or organization/company, and recognizes the need for a change in the entity and is able to envision what this change should be. The transformational leader not only envisions the necessary change but has the required personality and strength of character that will enable them to influence others to buy into their vision and make it their own, and hence be willing to follow the leader in the quest to bring about the vision.

This essay aims to look at the authors role (a third year student nurse on an elderly ward) in regards to a decision making scenario in which an eighty six year old lady is severely unwell and the decision to support discharge home for end of life care needs to be made.

As I take a moment to reflect on my time here, I have learned that I have traits of a Transformational Leader but that I also have room for improvement. I have highlighted areas in where I felt I needed the most improvement to become the Transformational Leader that I aspire to be. For the next three to five years, I plan to implement these changes to improve the way that I utilize the Elements of Adaptability, The Who, Stakes and Situation, Impact on Work Center Climate, and Ethical Behavior concepts. Understanding and effectively implementing these changes will make me a better leader for my subordinates, peers, and supervisors.

In order to develop strong leaders throughout the nursing industry, one must encompass various traits from all types of leadership theories. Of the many different theories, transformational leadership has a heavy impact in creating a strong and successful leader. Strengths Finder 2.0 guides individuals into focusing on developing themselves through their strengths instead of trying to fix their weaknesses. In doing so, individuals are able to develop natural talents in a way that creates a higher achieving workplace. This paper will explore the use of applying transformational leadership focused on developing strengths and how it can be applied to nursing as an industry, in personal practice,

Leadership is a process. The leader uses influence to inspire others toward a common goal. There are different types of leadership such as autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. One leadership theory is transformational leadership. A transformational leader is defined as “a leader who is committed to a vision that empowers others” (Kelly, 2012). A transactional leader is focused on day to day operations and is more task oriented. I will explore what it takes to become a transformational leader and what part they play at the organizational level. I will discuss an ethical issue, which my nurse manager assisted me with as a new registered nurse. I will research the concept of power in relation to nursing leadership. There are certain attributes a transformational leader exhibits and are required to have in order to be a successful leader. A transformational leader has many skills and attributes. They are developed through mentorship and mastered by experience. A transformational leader creates a work environment that empowers others to advance their skills and abilities. This empowerment leads to a successful and highly functioning team, that works toward a common goal for the patients, families, co-workers, and organization as a whole. To be an effective leader it is important to balance both transactional and transformational leadership styles.

A transformational leadership style along with good communication skills can be used to manage the multiples issues Hartland Memorial faces. “Transformational leadership involves anticipating future trends, inspiring followers to understand and embrace a new vision of possibilities, developing others to be leaders, and reward learners” (Hellriegal & Slocum, 2009, p. 301). Elizabeth and her associates should have the necessary qualities of a transformational leader; integrity, accountability, and motivation, so the staff can identify with them. The nurse manager could give nurses opportunities to demonstrate and experience leadership in their profession on a regular basis. Effective leadership is critical in delivering high quality care; equally

In their article, transformational leadership: a quasi-experimental study, Arthur and Hardy (2014) reported that the purpose of their article was to examine the effectiveness of transformational leadership intervention through a field-based quasi-experimental study. The authors examined the follower perceptions of their leader’s behavior and group cohesion, along with training outcomes data were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The study was conducted in an Infantry recruit training facility in the UK. The training provided for the Infantry recruit involves the conversion the recruit’s beliefs, attitudes, values, as well as developing their physical fitness and skills.

Transformational leadership. Burns (1978) is recognized as one of the earliest theorist on transformational leadership, who introduced transformational leadership over 30 years ago. Transformational leaders are perceived as leaders who uplift their employee morale, subsequently uplifting the entire organizational. Transformational leaders are known by their capacity to inspire followers to forgo self-interests in achieving superior results for the organization (Clawson, 2006). Avolio and Yammarino (2002) shared Bass’s explanation of transformational leadership as leaders who act as agents of change that stimulate, and transform followers’ attitudes, beliefs, and motivate from lower to higher level of arousal.

This paper summarizes the article written by Cam Caldwell, Rolf D. Dixon, Larry A. Floyd, Joe Chaudoin, Johnathan Post, and Gaynor Cheokas regarding the need for a new type of leadership in today’s social work environment, defined as Transformative leadership. The article itself varies in the definition, however in a broad sense Transformative leadership is maintaining good moral standing and sound business ethics among employees and individuals inside and outside the workplace. However, in order to reach this theoretical level of business related moral and ethical leadership known as

Transformational leadership taps into the motives of followers in order to reach their goals, while transactional focuses on the exchanges that occur between leaders and followers (Northouse, 2013). The branches of the military in general would be considered transactional leadership organizations. This type of leadership encourages followers to perform tasks at a high level in order to achieve advancement or increase in pay or rank. Conversely, transformational leadership would be focused on creating a connection between the leader and the followers, in order to perform tasks in such a way as to increase the feeling of morality in both the leader and the follower (Northouse, 2013). Panorama did not exhibit any behavior that tried to motivate Bailey to feel a connection to him. Instead, Panorama tried to intimidate, coerce, and punish Bailey to execute the tasks he was required to perform.

Being able to lead a group or someone is a very powerful action. Being a leader in general is very powerful. Leadership is an art that is painted, sculpted, and displayed in all sorts of ways. There are many different styles of leadership that correspond with different tasks. From transformational leadership to laissez-faire leadership, there are various styles throughout the continuum. A transformational leader is one of the best, more successful leadership style. When going down the continuum, the leadership styles only become less effective. Everyone also falls in distinctive categories when it comes to leading others. The leadership style that is displayed depends on the person leading and those who are being led along with the task.

Leadership can be defined as the action of influencing and guiding individuals and organizations. Good leadership can be accomplished through a variety of techniques and styles. Transformational leadership seeks to change and engage followers and the organization by creating a compelling vision, strategy, and culture. Ultimately a “transformational leader motivates followers to achieve their potential and the organization’s potential” (Weiss, 2015).

For this paper, we were asked if we saw ourselves as a transactional leader or a transformational leader. This was a tough question. When I held managerial positions, I would not have my worker do anything I would not do. I would work beside my workers and encourage them along with overseeing their work. Overall I feel I am a mixture of both leader styles. I will discuss why below.