B.M. Bass developed a study in 1985 on leadership in the western world which focused on western leaders and how they influenced their subordinates. What he found was that leaders across organizations shared similar attributes. He referred to this style as “transformational leadership”. Through this style, leaders “inspire followers to transcend self-interest for the good of the organization and can have an extraordinary effect on their followers” (Robbins & Judges, 2012:188). Bass discovered that cultures that used this leadership style placed importance on the development of individual’s work performance within organizations. Using his research, Bass was able to organize the behaviors of what he deemed transformational leadership into four categories: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual consideration, and intellectual stimulation. Each category is a different form of influence that the leaders have over their followers which allow them to affect diverse groups of people. Since the theory was based on a study of western leaders, the transformational leadership theory can be viewed as bias in a western context. In other words, this style of leadership may be more effective in western organizations than eastern organizations due to the differing cultural values. However, there are examples of transformational leaders in each culture.
Martin Luther King Jr. is one example of transformational leadership in the west. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood in front of a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people where he delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. He touched the crowd with his passion and charisma, which created a vision for those people to strive towards. That vision he created is an examp...
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...selbein and Cohen, “organizations that take the time to teach leadership are far ahead of the competition. By becoming familiar with the transformational leadership approach and combining the four I's, managers can become effective leaders in the business world.” (1999, p. 263). Transformational leadership can be applied in one-on-one or group situations. Using this approach, the manager (leader) and the associates (followers) are “transformed” to enhance job performance and help the organization be more productive and successful. All of these leaders have the attributes mentioned here. History will decide the greater impact they had on society as it is being written every day. Therefore, the qualities of transformational leadership make the essence of transformational management and the key to successful management of transformational organizational changes.
Leadership is a topic of great importance not only in military or organisational settings but all most in all settings which involves people. It’s a universal activity evident in humankind (Bass,1990). It is a wide and diverse field of knowledge. Leaders are individuals who help their followers or subordinates to carry out a particular task in an efficient and an effective manner. Researches on the topic of leaders and leadership have been taking place for past many decades. One of the more recent styles of leadership which has been considered to be very effective is the transformational leadership. It’s a concept explained by James McGregor Burns in 1978 who was influenced by the work of German sociologist Max Weber. The concept was then further refined and developed by Bernard.M.Bass. The whole concept of transformational leadership talks about how leaders can transform their followers into doing a task better than what is expected from them and how it can help in the betterment of the organisation and the followers. The purpose...
Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist who played a very important part in the American Civil rights movement. Martin Luther King’s work still continues to serve as a superb example of leadership. Some leadership qualities he demonstrated were being able to persuade others without force. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to convince millions of people to support his dreams through nonviolent protests and speeches. He gave people something to believe in. Another leadership quality that Dr. King Jr. was to embrace fear. He taught people it is better to admit your fears so you are able to be courageous in spite of it. Getting everyone involved was another leadership quality that he displayed. Martin King Jr was able to involve so many people because they all felt they were part of a bigger
The title or term, Leader, and the name Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are synonymous in the minds, hearts, and souls of millions perhaps billions across the globe today and for many years to come. Not only was Dr. King an effective visionary leader, he accomplished enormous feats applying appropriate ethical principles along the way. As the focal point for the Civil Rights Movement from December 1955 through April 1968, Dr. King was able to successfully lead a movement that garnered more results for the equality of African Americans in the United States than the previous 3.5 centuries had produced. As the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Southern Baptist Ministers, Dr. Kings up-bringing and religious faith provided a solid foundation of values and structurally sound ethical practices that aided and guided him along the journey he embarked on that would inevitably change the American landscape and transform the lives of every person that was fortunate enough to call America home ("The King Center", 2014). His overarching vision for the future of an equal and level playing field for all and the peaceful pursuit of such a climate in America is regarded as one of the most significant accomplishments in our countries great history. The first area we will explore in this paper speaks to how Dr. King was effective at using transformational leadership in leading the Civil Rights Movement. We’ll also look at how Dr. King was effective at aspects of Team Building. Being ethically sound was pertinent given the climate in America back then, so we’ll also dive into some of Dr. King’s practices and how they were ethically apt. Finally, looking back over the tools Dr. King used, we’ll explore how his leadership ability and ethical principles ...
Our world is filled with many successful leaders. The gift of being a leader can be learned; however some individuals have a natural born talent to be a leader. Each leader has his or her own unique leadership style. The gift of being a leader can be learned. Certain individuals are born with a charismatic style and can easily be a leader. A successful leader is one who can inspire and motivate people towards a goal. Martin Luther King Jr. was an individual with a born gift to lead people. The following paper will discuss how Martin Luther King Jr. was able to inspire and motivate people with his effective leadership style.
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It was here that King made his famous “I Have a Dream’ speech, emphasizing his belief that someday all men could be brothers.” Therefore, Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech resulted in change in America. For all these reasons, Martin Luther King, Jr used leadership to strengthen the Civil Rights
The transformational leadership theory was deemed an appealing based on individual beliefs regarding employee-leader relationships. With a focus on communication and motivation, transformational leaders promote positive change within
McShane, Steven L.; Von-Glinow, Mary Ann: Organizational Behavior 6th Ed. Copyright 2013. McGraw-Hill Irwin. New York, NY.
In this time of transition and uncertainty, research suggests that transformational leadership is highly effective (Straight, 2006). Leadership research has drifted from emphasis on the competence of leaders to “manage change” to the ability to “transform” organizations. Transformational leaders have attributes and behaviors needed to successfully motivate and empower employees. According to Bernard Bass (1990), transformational leadership occurs when a leader transforms, or changes, his or her followers in three important ways that together result in followers trusting the leader, performing behaviors that contribute to the achievement of organizational goals, and being motivated to perform at a high level. Transformational leaders can achieve greater performance by stimulating innovative ways of thinking and transforming follower’s beliefs and aspirations. Maxwell (Maxwell, 2007) articulates that most of the time, influence is more important than formal power or authority. I agree with him. Influence is very important in organizational and co...
And then we have Martin Luther King Jr. – a man of wondrous dreams. His ‘I Have a Dream’ speech from the March on Washington in 1963 is wildly popular among all nations even today, and perhaps that is why he is recognised as one of the greatest orators ever to be a part of American history. Arthur Ashe once said that true heroism is something that is defined by the need to serve others, rather than surpass them. King is a shining example of such true and pure heroism. While his actions were wrought
Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge in "Organizational Behavior", 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2005, p. 407
As per Bernard M. Bass theory of transformational leadership, transformational leaders harvest trust, respect and high regard from their followers. He recommended four different components of transformational leadership.
Initially, transactional and transformational leadership are different in terms of implementation and its outcomes. However, transformational leadership was developed from transactional leadership (Downton, 1973). Bass (1985) defined transactional leadership as an exchange activity that leaders execute to motivate subordinates in order to achieve their tasks by giving out reward or punishment correspond with their performance. Additionally, active and passive management by exception are taken into account when it comes to misconception and faults. Bass (1985) stated that transformational leadership emphasizes the value of subordinates, encourages them to perform extra effort, and assures their comprehension on organization’s goals and objectives. Besides, idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulatio...