Transformational Leadership Theory
As stated by Northouse (2013) "transformational leadership is the process whereby a person engages with others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower" (p. 186). The transformational leadership theory focused on bringing about organizational change through the motivation and inclusion of it 's employees. Transformational leaders attempted to bring about that change in the organization by changing and transforming employees. This leadership style encourages and influences followers and focuses on them as people, not just followers or employees.
Cooksey, Muchiri, and Walumbwa (2012) stated in their study that when transformational leaders are effective in "articulating clear standards and expectations for performance and showing recognition to work unit members for specific task or goal achievements, work unit leaders in local councils may establish a foundation that later leads to higher performance outcomes" (p. 674). With the focus of transformational leadership being on the building of relationships, it allows the follower to be able to feel as though they have a valuable part in the change process necessary within the organization. The follower feels as though they matter and their voice is heard, there is a sort of partnership created between the leader and follower to implement the change.
Strengths
The transformational leadership theory has many strengths,
Transformational leaders encourage group work, as they connect each follower’s identity and self to the project and collective identity of the corporation. They are role models for other staff and this inspires them and makes them
There are many components to being a leader; a strong leader has to be able to clearly communicate, to intensely inspire others to collaborate in bringing the vision to fruition. James MacGregor Burns a leadership expert introduced the transformational leadership concept he suggested that “the transforming leader as one with the ability to create visions and employ charismatic behaviors, they are purposeful and seek to understand the motivation and needs of their followers (Crowell, 2016). Not only does a transformational leader have the ability to empower and motivate others “transformational leadership emphasizes the importance of interpersonal relationships, and the goal is to generate employee’s commitment to the vision or ideal rather than to themselves” (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). According to Smith, (2011) the ultimate goal of transformational leadership is the leader and the follower to discover meaning and purpose in relation to their work, in addition to growth and maturity. There are four I's of transformational leadership " individualized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation" (Riggio, 2014). The transformational leader causes changes in both the system and the individual. Creating positive and valuable changes in the followers with the result creating followers who will
Transformational Leadership empowers or enables its followers. The leader engages with the follower in a way that both the leader and follower transcend to a higher level of motivation and morality (Nicholls, 1994).
In addition, Burns et al., (as cited by Lavoie-Tremblay, et al., 2015) defined a transformational leader as “a leader who can extend and elevate the interests of staff, who can facilitate the commitment of staff to the mission and values of the organization, and who can lead staff to rise above their personal interests” (p. 582). Further, Broome (2013) identified transformational leaders as “proactive and hold core beliefs about the potential for development of both individuals they work with and their organization” (p. 327). Samad et al.(2015), connecting transformational leadership to servant leadership and authentic leadership reported, “transformational leadership is also congruent with regards to fostering higher levels of motivation among the followers’ and leaders’ ability to visualize the unforeseen” (pp.
There are many models of leadership that exist across a range of fields (e.g. social work, education, psychology, business, etc.). The ability to transform an organization successfully requires a different set of attitudes and skills. Transformational leadership is an approach where a leader utilizes inspiration, charisma, individualized attention, and intellectual stimulation with their employees (Iachini, Cross, & Freedman, 2015, p. 651). Transformational leadership helps to clarify organizational vision, inspires employees to attain objectives, empowers employees, encourages employees to take risks, and advocates the seeking of alternative solutions to challenges in the workplace (Transformational Leadership, 2015). It allows the leader to engage and motivate each follower identify with the organization’s values and goals.
Transformational leadership is described as a person who has the ability to make followers into leaders and promote change (Roussel & Swansburg, 2009). Transformational leadership encourages staff empowerment (Roussel & Swansburg, 2009). It is thought that if staff feels empowered then they will work harder by collaborating with each other instead
A transformational leader will provide the staff with the support and training required to meet the new demands. Training has shown to improve employee motivation and commitment, while
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.
Transformation leadership fixates on the group's mission and gets employees to see beyond their own needs and self-intrigues for the good of the group. In other words, this gets the group to work in unison instead of everyone only worrying about themselves. Unlike this leadership, transactional leadership is when followers are rewarded if they had a good performance or punished when they do a bad performance. One difference is that with transformational the group works as one; therefore, the companies' success is essentially also the followers success. This approach is efficient to improve the company's performance. On the other hand , transactional leadership is not as efficient, since it puts to much focus on threats and discipline that it does not improve performance. Furthermore, transformation has four components which include charismatic leadership, inspirational leadership, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. These components help followers to look up to the leaders as role models, to encourage creativity and motivation, and for leaders to pay attention toward the followers' individual needs. These components help the company be successful in the long run. On the other hand transactional does not work for the long run, it is better for short
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.
Transformational Leadership can play a role in creating a successful team. It can also be the process that changes and transforms people dealing with emotions, values, ethics, and standards. Transformational Leadership is the process whereby a person engages others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower (Northhouse , 186). This applies to a team because you always have to be able to connect and motivate others
Transformational leadership is a leadership style that promotes change as well as improves performance in the organization as a whole as well as on the individual employee level (Phaneuf, Boudrias, Rousseau, & Brunelle, 2016). James MacGregor Burns first introduced transformational leadership in his book titled Leadership that he authored in 1978. Burns defined transformational leadership as leadership that stems from one’s core unchanging values and beliefs. Burns believed that transformational leaders not only bring together their followers, but also positively influence their follower’s values and beliefs in a way that brings about positive change (Humphreys & Einstein, 2003).
A TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER is a person who stimulates and inspires followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes (Robbins, 2007)It has been shown to influence organisational members by transforming their values and priorities while motivating them to perform beyond their expectations (Rowold, 2007)Increased levels of job satisfaction & reduced turnover intentions are consequences of transformational leadership. It is all about leadership that creates positive change in the followers whereby they take care of each other’s interests and act in the interestsof the groupas a whole (Warrilow, 2012)
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.