Transformational & Transactional Leadership Essay

The leader demonstrates to the followers loyalty, trust, respect and admiration, with these the qualities of the transformational leader, they tend to work harder than originally expected that tends to have a link between effort and reward. These outcomes occur because the transformational leader offers followers something more than just working for self-gain; they provide followers with an inspiring mission and vision and gives them an identity. They believe in the organizational culture they find and specific methods of performing tasks. Transactional leaders are effective in getting specific tasks completed by managing each portion individually. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, transactional leaders focus on the lower levels of the hierarchy that is the very basic levels of need satisfaction. One way that transactional leadership focuses on lower level needs is by stressing specific task performance (Hargis et al, 2001). They are more concerned with processes rather than revolutionary ideas hence under their leadership change is least expected. Unlike them, transformational leaders end up changing existing organizational cultures by implementing new ideas.

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.

The third article discusses the idea behind transactional and transformational leadership and how they determine the ability of management to push and organization forward. Transactional leadership looks at how to keep the status quo or keep the organization afloat, while transformational leadership looks at ways to improve the organization and help it move to the next level. The authors discuss how important it is for successful leaders and organizations to employ a blending of the two styles to create the best leaders. Those managers that are concerned for the well-being of the company, as well as the well-being of the employees, are going to help the organization progress and be successful. This blending is also important with the advances in technology, globalization, policies and procedures, cultural competencies, structures, and role definitions. The more that we become a global community the more the blending of transactional and transformational leadership becomes necessary to stay abreast of the issues surrounding global diversity and global competition.

Leadership development is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States and Europe. This essay discusses the difference in transformational and transactional leadership styles and provide examples. Transformational leadership is developmental and usually begins with a transactional approach. First, transactional leader's behavior approach is management- by-exception. This leader puts out fires by taking corrective actions to solve the problem. Additionally, he/she uses contingent reward behavior: rewards an employee for doing a good job. Both concepts have proven to be effective. Something as simple as a pat on the back brings about a greater

As a result, they foster inspiration and anticipation to put extra labor to achieve common goals” (Zareen, Razzaq, & Mujtaba, 2015, p 535). Transactional leadership does not offer many opportunities to help bring along or promote others, but still has a meaningful place in certain situations. More transformational leadership is needed in my organization, my colleagues and I are seeing more of our leadership, saying many transformational taglines, but their actions are incongruent with their words. “Transformational leaders are not afraid to take personal risks; they emphasize progress, change, and innovation” (Hamstra, et al, 2014, p 644). I am hopeful that what I am learning and my gaining passion to become a more influential leader using transformational leadership techniques. Knowing where my strengths and preferences lie, will allow me show what can be accomplished with mutual respected and shared expectations rather treating people like they are unthinking unfeeling robots. Mixing multiple leadership styles depending on the situation the leader is encountering appears to be the most well rounded option, yet a leader still must have a base preference where they start and return, mine is clearly in the transformational leadership

The transformational leader, according to Burns (1978), is one who” raises the followers level of consciousness about the importance and value of designated outcomes and ways of reaching them; gets the followers to transcend their own self-interests for the sake of the team, organization, or larger polity; and raises the follower’s level of need on Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy from lower-end concerns for safety and security to higher-level needs for achievement and self-actualization.” The transactional leader use rights a reward/punishment paradigm to entice meeting the agreements and standards. Transactional leaders emphasize the exchange between leader and follower (Bass) where reaching objectives are rewarded and failing to reach objectives are punished, which is then reinforced by the leaders. The two factors which emerged reflecting the punishment/reward is contingent reward and management by exception. This type of leadership was the core of leadership theory up until 1970’s when transformational leadership theory was introduced as different from transactional (Downton, 1973). In 1978, James MacGregor Burns wrote Leadership which contrasted these styles which was followed by Bass’s work in 1985 in which he empirically demonstrated the positively correlated dimensions which represented a shift in the study of Leadership. (Bass).

The domain of leadership theory and research has had many conceptualizations proposed over the last few years (Avolio & Bass, 2003). These conceptualizations seem to have generated recent interest in the distinction among transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership research (Bass, 1990). Yukl (1998) noted that transformational leaders get followers to do as they desire by transforming them or changing the followers themselves. According to Barlow, Jordan, and Hendrix (2003), a transformational leader generates an image that awakens trust from subordinates and develops relationships that enable subordinates to move toward goal attainment using their knowledge, skills, and material resources to accomplish that end. Unlike transformational leaders, transactional leaders pursue a cost benefit exchange approach that does not change subordinates and uses portion or organizational resources to meet subordinates needs in return for contracted needs rendered by the subordinates (Bass, 1990). Although these forms might appear diametrically opposed, most theorists agree with Bass that they are not mutually exclusive. While transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant leadership are conceptually distinct, the same individuals on a continuum might display these leadership behaviors by different amounts and different intensities (Bass & Avolio,

Transactional leadership (Tomey, 2009) focuses on management tasks and trade-offs to meet the goals by exchanging rewards for performance, and in maintaining the normal flow of operations (as cited in Marquis & Huston; Ingra, 2016). Transformational leadership is inspirational leadership that promotes employee development, attends to the needs and motives of follower, inspires through optimism, influences changes in perception, provides intellectual stimulation, and encourages follower creativity (Tomey, 2009), that goes beyond managing day-to-day operations (Ingra, 2016). Both leadership styles are needed for an organization to succeed in this modern age, due to diversity of workers and customers we have.

The transformational leadership theories first arose late in the past millennium when existential factors caused different organizations to re-invent and establish themselves. Many of such attempts deemed to result in widespread failure, however; those who actually succeeded in transforming these structures received great attention for their efforts. Transformational leaders are individuals who possess an innate ability to create changes in the audience’s thinking, thereby, creating a shift in their behavior as well. It is a process in which the leader attends to the needs of their followers so that the interaction raises each to high levels

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).

Transformational leadership theory creates a positive change in their followers. This type of leadership takes care of the organizational interests and acts in the welfares for overall group as a whole. With this type of leadership, the leader increases the motivation, self-esteem and performance with their team (Kovjanic et al., 2012). Transformational leadership theory exceeds transactional leadership and rather than explaining a set of particular behaviors; it charts a continuing process by which "leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation" (Antonakis & House, 2014). Transformational leadership theory is based on leadership with morals and significance, and a purpose that exceeds short-term objectives

The concepts are more broadly focused on what the leader does versus other models. This researcher also suggests the following weaknesses; lack of conceptual clarity, validity concerns, the trait effect, solid facts that this theory has actual transformed organizations and the follower with the potential for use abuse (2016). Researcher Bass suggests that ones’ morals, ideals, attitudes and goals define the transformation process (1998). Supported by author Conger who suggest that transformational leadership happens when there is a vision, motivation, commitment, support and patience as it relates to the implementation of the process

Leaders are aiming to control and surveillance employees through sensible and thrifty intention (Bass, 1985). It simply requires an agreement between leaders and followers toward organization goal (Burns, 1978). In transformation leadership, leaders focus on changing followers’ moral sensibilities and potentially increasing their motivation beyond self-interest (Kezar & Eckel, 2008, p. 381). It needs more associated with outcome criteria than transactional leadership (Rowold & Rohmann, 2009, p. 42). Transformational leadership helps to build positive relationship among staff and raising their morale. In contrast, transactional leadership helps to build the fundamental structure of the organisation (Kezar & Eckel, 2008, p. 383).

From all the insights and valuable information gathered, the author later presents a Leadership Questionnaire on the last part of this book. The questionnaire was hopefully become a measuring tool for self-appraisal and evaluation of both transactional and transformational traits. Ethical The author did mention on the morality issue. As quoted by Burns (1978), transformational leadership has moral whereby the leader is guided by ethical principles such as respect for human dignity and equality of human rights. A moral leadership will serve the organization‟s well-being better in the long run. That is, the transformations that deals with fulfilment of real needs, proven benefited to the organization. The personal values goes hand-in-hand with the integrity of leaders and will somewhat influence how he lead and run the show.

While the transactional leadership can be seen as simple contract trade based on the interest of greed, which sometimes get confused with what we call the manager’s task. The transformational leadership seeks to satisfy high need of its subordinates, commit to aspiring human dimension to a process of stimulation and mutual development in which the selfish interests are transcended in favor of the common good.