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- Practice New Mental Models. Leading transformational change involves helping the organization transcend its current positioning, performance, and capabilities.
- Work the Edges of the Organization. Transformational leaders are continually thinking about what their organizations should become, anticipating how employees and customers will react and change.
- Share Leadership More Systematically. Successful transformation requires harnessing the leadership team’s and organization’s collective intelligence, energy, and experience.
- Make Empowerment Live Up to Its Promise. Transformational leaders, especially of organizations steeped in bureaucracy, often promise their people “empowerment.”
- Overview
- History of Transformational Leadership
- Components of Transformational Leadership
- Transformational Leadership Traits
- Effects of Transformational Leadership
- How to Become a More Transformational Leader
- Transformational Leadership vs. Transactional Leadership
- Potential Pitfalls of Transformational Leadership
- A Word From Verywell
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Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can inspire positive changes in those who follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate. Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process, but they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed.
Transformational leaders take control of situations by conveying a clear vision of the group's goals. These leaders have a marked passion for the work and an ability to make the rest of the group feel recharged and energized.
Transformational leaders focus on helping members of the group support one another and provide them with the support, guidance, and inspiration they need to work hard, perform well, and stay loyal to the group. The primary goals of transformational leadership are to inspire growth, promote loyalty, and instill confidence in group members.
The concept of transformational leadership was initially introduced by leadership expert and presidential biographer James MacGregor Burns. According to Burns, transformational leadership can be seen when "leaders and followers make each other advance to a higher level of moral and motivation."
Through the strength of their vision and personality, transformational leaders are able to inspire followers to change expectations, perceptions, and motivations to work towards common goals.
Bass also suggested that there were four different components of transformational leadership. The four main elements of transformational leadership are:
1.Intellectual stimulation: Transformational leaders not only challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity among followers. The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn.
2.Individualized consideration: Transformational leadership also involves supporting and encouraging individual followers. To foster supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer immediate recognition of the unique contributions of each follower.
3.Inspirational motivation: Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they can articulate to followers. These leaders can also help followers experience the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals.
4.Idealized influence: The transformational leader serves as a role model for followers. Because followers trust and respect the leader, they emulate this individual and internalize their ideals.
Groups led by this type of leader tend to be both successful and loyal. They give a lot to the team and care deeply about the group's ability to accomplish its goals. Turnover tends to be relatively low as transformational leaders can inspire a great deal of commitment in their followers.
So what are some typical signs of a transformational leader? Common characteristics of transformational leaders include:
•Able to encourage others to communicate and participate
•Active listening skills
•Adaptability
•Authenticity and genuineness
•Creativity
In their classic text, Transformational Leadership, authors Bass and Riggio explained that these leaders inspire people to achieve extraordinary results. Group members are not just encouraged to participate; they are also inspired to become leaders themselves.
Transformational leaders can accomplish this by being responsive and empowering. The individual's goals become better aligned with the purposes of the entire group so that each group member's success furthers the organization's goals.
Researchers have found that this style of leadership can have a positive effect on the group. Some of these effects include:
•Better performance: Those led by transformational individuals have better performance and are more satisfied than those in groups with different types of leaders.
•Better well-being: Employees who identified a higher level of transformational leadership in their employers also reported higher levels of well-being. The effect stayed significant even after researchers controlled for factors linked to well-being, such as job strain, education, and age.
•Sense of empowerment: This is attributed to the fact that transformational leaders believe that their followers can do their best, leading group members to feel inspired and empowered.
Becoming a more transformational leader may provide many benefits. Researchers believe that such results can help companies develop leadership training programs that can be used to teach transformational leadership skills.
Acquiring communication skills such as resolving workplace conflicts and recognizing employees' needs are important parts of transformational leadership. Such programs can serve as essential parts of health promotion efforts in the workplace to help improve employee well-being.
What can you do to become a more transformational leader? Leadership experts suggest that a robust and positive future vision plays a critical role. Not only is it essential to believe in this vision yourself, but you've also got to inspire others to buy into your vision as well.
You can also develop your transformational skills by being:
•Genuine
•Passionate
Transformational leadership is often contrasted with transactional leadership, which is a style that is essentially the opposite of transformational. In the transactional approach, leaders motivate their subordinates through the use of rewards and punishment.
While the transformational approach focuses on communication, inspiration, and positive reinforcement, transactional leaders supervise, monitor performance, and create routines to maximize efficiency. While the transactional approach can be effective in some situations, it does not foster loyalty, innovation, or creativity.
While transformational leadership is often viewed as one of the best approaches to leadership, that doesn't mean that it is necessarily right for every situation. For example, when group members need more guidance and direction, it can be more effective to utilize a more transactional approach.
The transactional style can help improve group cohesion and commitment, but it can also contribute to burnout when group members feel constantly pressured to give up all of their time and effort to support the goals of the group.
The transformational style of leadership can be highly effective when used appropriately, but it might not necessarily be the best choice for every situation. In some cases, groups may require a more managerial or autocratic style that involves closer control and greater direction, particularly in situations where group member are unskilled and need a lot of oversight.
One way to improve your own leadership skills is to assess your own current leadership style and think about ways in which your strengths can benefit the group you are leading. By evaluating your own skills, you will be better able to play to your strengths and work on improving your areas of weakness.
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1.Allen GP, Moore WM, Moser LR, Neill KK, Sambamoorthi U, Bell HS. The role of servant leadership and transformational leadership in academic pharmacy. Am J Pharm Educ. 2016;80(7):113. doi:10.5688/ajpe807113
Transformational Leadership is when you, the leader, motivate and inspire your team to exceed usual expectations and performance levels. You achieve this through various ways: communicating a compelling vision, fostering creativity, and building strong, respectful relationships with team members.
Jan 11, 2024 · Transformational leadership promotes positive change within individuals, teams, and companies. Here’s how to embody this approach.
2 days ago · Transactional leadership is largely based on exchanges: “If you do this, I’ll reward you with that.” For example, a manager might promise bonuses if a team meets its targets. It’s all about short-term motivation. On the other hand, the transformational leadership style aligns individual goals with the organization’s overarching mission.
Feb 25, 2022 · Transformational leaders are often charismatic visionaries, inspiring followers to achieve higher levels of performance by attending to their needs and appealing to their values and beliefs, rather than influencing them with external rewards.
Transformational leaders always look ahead and think about what they need to do to achieve the organization’s goals. They inspire their followers to do the same by setting challenging yet achievable common goals that motivate everyone to work together towards a shared, clear vision.
