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Why is transformational leadership an exceptional form of leadership
Why is transformational leadership an exceptional form of leadership
Advantages of theories of leadership
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Introduction
Leadership is a commodity that is highly valued and highly desired. It can be described both as a trait and as a process. As a trait it has been viewed as a property or a set of possessed character traits by various people in varying levels, limiting leadership to those who are trusted to have unique talents that are inherent and natural. The process context view leadership as a phenomenon that provides a relationship linking leaders and followers availing leadership to everyone (Northouse, 2010).
Leadership process has many complexities that have gained attention of researchers resulting to different theories those that try to explain complexities associated with leadership. Such theories include path-goal theory, transformational theory, authentic leadership, and situational leadership among others.
McLeod (2007) argues that there are frames that help agents to deal with an issue using various approaches. These approaches have been summarized as Bolman & Deal’s four frames which include structural, human resource, political, and symbolic approaches. This paper closely examines transformational leadership and discusses its application using human resource framework as one of the Bolman and Deal (2008) frameworks.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is considered among the recent and most used approach that gives more attention to appealing and moving elements of leadership. It fits the needs of current work groups who, in periods of uncertainty, want to be motivated and empowered for them to succeed. It can be defined as a process that modifies and renovates people (Northouse, 2010). This type of leadership raises motivation as well as morality of both leaders and subordinates to higher lev...
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McLeod, S. (2007). Bolman & Deal frameworks. Retrieved from:
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Northouse, G.P. (2010). Leadership: theory and practice. SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd, New
Delphi. Retrieved from: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=T-
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The topic of leadership has been explored and written about by thousands of authors who are considerably more qualified than I am to write about the subject. However, I’ve always maintained that developing, evolving and articulating one’s own leadership philosophy is an essential part of a professional’s growth. Through academics and experience, I’ve concluded that leadership is a “soft” skill, more art than science, and that leadership principles can be universally applied. As a topic of discussion, leadership can be ambiguous and seldom does everyone agree on a single definition. Organizations and the people they consist of crave leadership, even if not overtly. Undeniably, strong leadership is essential to achieving
Bass (1990) states that transformational leadership is identified by different patterns of behavior. Firstly , transformational leadership delivers the charisma to be a leader in order to gain respect and trust. Secondly, the characteristics of a leader show efforts to change a purpose of the transformation process and to effectively communicate. Finally, transformational leadership proposes that leaders treat employees individually to show them attention and provide them coaching and advice to show that you care about your employees. However, Wang and Howell (2010) claim that transformational leadership is in every individual.This means an individual can develop their potential to enhance their abilities and skills to improve and overcome any weaknesses. In relation to group work transformational leadership helps to grow common values and beliefs, and to inspire group members to reach their group goals. In this type of situation, leaders treat equally towards members and to make them feel comfortable. However, on occasions problems occur during team work which puts a leader into a situation to overcome the condition. For example, if one of my team members has no belief in me to lead the group, my attitude towards the group and the member will change as they have shown a lack of confidence and interest in teamwork. According to Novicevic, Harvey, Buckley, Brown & Evans (2006) explains that authentic leadership is when a leader shows their individual responsibility in what they were responsible for in their organization. Novicevic, Harvey, Buckley, Brown & Evans (2006) discusses a particular style of leadership which is the matrix of executive leadership. This style of leadership occurs when a leader has lost confidence in them self. The
Transformational leadership consists of few components which are idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, management by exception and contingent rewards (Ahmad et al.,
There are many leadership theories that play an important role in the every day workforce. Some of the theories are successful in producing a strong and productive leader, while others lack the qualities required for the job. Out of the multitude of available theories out there, I feel that the Transformational Leadership Theory is the one that stands out as being the most successful. This theory is far from coercive and instead focuses on making a satisfied team that collaborates to form a productive work environment. An environment like this, ran by a top-notch leader, is needed for success.
A leader can be defined as a person who influences a group of people, organization, etc. in to achieving a set out or common goal. The aim of this paper is to identify the different approaches to leadership, but there is no single definition of leadership, as it can mean many different things to many people depending of their profession, environment and leadership style (Mielach, 2012).
Leadership has been written about millions of times in the past, and heading in the future, it will be the topic of many debates, books and newspaper articles asking, and in some cases answering the question, “What is leadership?” According to Peter Drucker: “leadership is lifting a person’s vision, raising his performance and building personality”.
Leaders with transformational leadership behavior can direct their organization toward effectiveness and productivity (Hur, 2011). Leaders can direct human resources toward the strategic objectives of the organization and ensure that organizational functions are in line with the external environment (Riaz&Haider, 2010). Furthermore, capabilities of effective leaders are predicting the future probabilities and planning strategies to satisfy uncertainties (Riaz&Haider, 2010). They can lead and supervise organizations to success by paying attention to changes especially environmental changes, which helps them set suitable goals and objectives.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
According to Yoder-Wise (2015), a leader can be defined as, “an individual who works with others to develop a clear vision of the preferred future and to make that vision happen” (p 35). As employees, we often have our own ideal of a good leader, which may be influenced by experiences and perception of workplace norms. While one’s opinion of an effective leader may vary, there are several recognized leadership theories. The following will focus on the transformational leadership approach.
Looking at a simple definition of each terminology, then we will know each force behind all leadership theories. To better understand the fundamental principles preceding leadership philosophy, we have to understand the theory of leadership development and its essential characteristics. Hence, some of the leadership theories are explained in this paper.
Transformational leadership is one of the most popular leadership styles. According to Kendrick (2011), “Transformational leadership involves four factors: 1. idealized influence, 2. inspirational motivation, 3. intellectual stimulation, and 4. individual consideration.” These four factors make transformational leadership have an impact on followers. The goal of transformational leadership is to cause a positive change in individuals, help motivate them, and develop a leader within each individual.
Leadership has been defined in different ways, a definitaion of leadership that would be most commonly accepted would be “the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organization…”(House et al., 1999, p. 184 as cited in Yukl, 2013, p. 19). After a comprehensive review of different leadership literature, Stogdill (1974, p. 259, as cited in Yukl, 2013, p. 18) concluded that “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept." Leadership can be viewed from two different angles one is shared influence process and other as a specialized role. Researcher who view leadership as a specialized role consider attributes as a factor in selecting a designated leader. On the contrast, theorist who emphasises on influence process considers “Leadership” as a social process or a pattern of relationship.
Smith, T. (2008). "Leadership: theory and practice (4th ed.)." Engineering Management Journal. Rolla, MO American Society for Engineering Management. Retrieved July 20, 2011 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1480702701.html
Certainly, an army would not be able to battle in the war without a commander who in charges of the whole strategy. Correspondingly, any organisations cannot function without leaders. Leader is the most substantial element of successful organizations. Becoming outstanding leaders, leadership skill is vital in order to drive the organizations forward. Several leadership principles are extensively used these days. Burns (1978) identified two types of leadership comprise of transactional and transformational leadership. Hence, leaders should be capable to indicate which theory should be applied in accordance with organization’s culture and objectives. This essay aims to evaluate the resemblances and the differences between transactional and transformational leadership as well as the feasibility to utilize a mixture of them by giving the definitions and examples followed by the supporting researches and studies.
Transformational leaders are needed to transform low performing organizations to acceptable to high performance. At other times, the leader is expected to move an organization from a crisis. In order to accomplish these tasks, the leader must overhaul the organization culture or subculture. This task is accomplished by nine ways of transforming others: 1. Raise others awareness. The leader makes others aware of the rewards and how to achieve them, i.e. pride in the job or financial incentives. 2. Help others look beyond self-interest. The transformational leader helps others to look at the “big picture” by describing an entire scenario, i.e. if we hire more employees to do x, we will have to make cuts in other areas. 3. Help people find self-fulfillment. The leader helps others not to focus on minor satisfactions, i.e. getting a job done before the deadline ...