Leadership specialist and presidential biographer James MacGregor Burns was the one to first establish the idea of transformational leadership. Burns says that transformational leadership happens when “leaders and followers make each other advance to a higher level of morality and motivation. In addition, we will be taught an example of transformational leadership as well as its style and theory. Also, we will explore transactional vs transformational leadership.
Transformation Leadership
Transformational leadership is a management theory that encourages and inspires employees to come up with new ways to grow and improve a company’s future success. Using this practice, bosses delegate decision-making authority to trustworthy staff while also encouraging fresh problem-solving ideas.
Transformational leaders are passionate about their job and the mission of the company, and they want everyone to succeed. Another important trait is that they can figure out which business processes no longer work and work to streamline or change them as needed.
Transformational leaders can frequently be admired, but they don’t look for praise or admiration because they are focused on doing what’s best for their company. Taking risks is calculated based on what the team members tell the leader and the leader’s own feelings and experience. When decisions are made, the organization’s beliefs, vision, and goals are taken into account.
Read Also: LEADERSHIP STYLE: 7 Most Effective Styles 2023!!!
Example of Transformation Leadership
With this in mind, we’ve made a list of examples of the most successful transformational leaders and how this style of management has helped them grow their organizations, no matter what the situation.
#1. Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
According to a recently discovered 1999 interview with the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos has always understood the importance of putting the customer first in order to run an effective business. In fact, despite the reporter’s objections in the clip, Bezos gives a bold vision of what he wants the world’s biggest online store to become and how he plans to get there. In many ways, Amazon is the perfect example of transformational leadership. It shows that by building on a number of short-term goals (the company started out as a bookseller), it is possible to reach bigger goals.
#2. Billy Beane (Major League Baseball)
Billy Beane, who is the executive vice president of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, is a leader in changing long-held ideas about systems and processes. Beane and his fellow coaches were able to find possible players to sign with the Athletics that their rivals had missed or undervalued. They did this by using a now-famous method called “Moneyball,” which is based on advanced analytics. Beane’s methods have been said to have changed the way people think about professional sports and revolutionized the use of data analytics. They may also be beneficial in the business world.
#3. John D Rockefeller (Standard Oil)
John D. Rockefeller was without a doubt a transformational leader. He was one of the most important and influential businessmen of the 19th and 20th centuries. The country was no longer dependent on whaling because of his investments in kerosene, and he unified and changed the US’s young oil and gas industry. Rockefeller was often called a “robber baron,” but he was also a very successful businessman. His philanthropy was one of the first examples of social responsibility in action for businesses.
Read Also: LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES: The Top Key Strong Attributes that Make a Good Leader
Transformation Leadership Style
When working on these seven traits of a transformational leader or any other style of leadership, it’s important to remember that “the ability to get things done is a skill that can be improved just like any other.” The transformation leadership style is as follows:
#1. Openness to New Thinking
Transformational leaders are always open to new ideas, no matter where they come from. They look for ways to do things differently all the time and are always open to new ideas, no matter where they come from. Henry Ford got the idea for his assembly line while he was at a plant that processed meat. Ford’s open-mindedness allowed him to visualize the step-by-step disassembly of animal carcasses and envision the process in reverse, altering construction procedures so that each laborer was responsible for assembling a single component. In just six years, his company went from making 32,000 cars per year to 735,000 cars per year.
#2. Talent for Broadening Minds
Transformational leadership often means changing people’s ideas of how things should work. To do this, it’s important to understand why people think the way they do and how to change their minds. The transformational leader needs to know where people are coming from and convince them to leave their comfort zone. This takes two different skills: understanding and the ability to make people trust you.
#3. Commitment to Active Listening
Transformation leaders can’t just ask for ideas or even try to spark them. They also need to make their coworkers and team members feel brave enough to share these thoughts.
Transformational leaders listen to ideas without judging them and react without making a decision. They vow to use active listening methods so that each member of their team feels seen, understood, and respected. With these tools in place, they encourage other people to say what they think without limiting themselves.
#4. Tolerance for Intelligent Risks
There is always a chance of failure during a change. A transformational leader must be able to think about these risks and what they might mean for the organization’s future. If the benefits of an idea are greater than the risks, the leader should be ready to move forward with it if it seems possible. The boss must also know when the risk is too high and a different strategy is needed.
#5. Willingness to Accept Responsibility
Anyone who goes into uncharted territory must be willing to take responsibility for the effects, whether they are good or bad. No one will trust a boss who wants others to take the blame when an idea doesn’t work. Transformational leaders are responsible for every choice they make, even when they give the go-ahead to the plans of others.
#6. Trust in Team Members
People need the freedom to come up with new ideas and shape them. Transformation leaders know this and trust their team members to figure out their own steps to success.
Take Netflix’s CEO, Reed Hastings. Hastings permits Netflix workers to take as many vacations as they want, as long as their work is good and the team’s health doesn’t suffer. The endless vacation policy at Netflix started in 2003. Just four years later, the business launched a streaming service that changed the industry.
Read Also: CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP: Benefits of Charismatic Leadership
Transformation Leadership Theory
Each of these four theories is important to the style of leadership and makes the people who follow it better and more effective. When these things come together, they help transformational leaders improve the lives of the people they lead in a big way.
#1. Inspirational Motivation
In this theory, Transformation leadership is based on making sure that everyone in the group has the same vision, purpose, and set of values. Their vision is so strong that they always know what they want from a conversation. Transformational leaders lead by giving their followers a sense of purpose and a challenge. They work with a lot of energy and hope to build a spirit of teamwork and dedication.
#2. Intellectual Stimulation
These kinds of leaders push their followers to think of new ways to do things. They urge their followers to come up with new ideas, and they never criticize them in public for the mistakes they make.
Leaders pay attention to the “what” of problems and not the “who’s to blame” part. They don’t think twice about getting rid of an old rule if it turns out not to work.
#3. Idealized Influence
They think that a leader can only influence followers by doing what he says. Followers look up to the stars and try to be like them.
People always trust and respect these kinds of leaders because of what they do. They usually put the needs of their people ahead of their own, give up personal gains for them, and act in a way that meets high ethical standards. When these leaders use their power, they want to get people to work toward the organization’s goals.
#4. Individualized Consideration
Leaders guide their people and reward them for being creative and coming up with new ideas. Depending on their skills and understanding, the followers are treated in different ways. They have the power to make choices and are always given the help they need to put those decisions into action.
Transactional vs Transformation Leadership
Transactional leadership is based mostly on processes and control, and it needs a strict framework for management. Transformation leadership, on the other hand, is focused on getting others to follow, and it takes a lot of coordination, communication, and cooperation.
The distinction is as follows: transactional leadership focuses on getting things done, whereas transformational leadership focuses on motivating people to achieve things. If you are a leader in your area of work, you may be curious about how these styles of leadership work in real life. In the end, they are not enemies but rather a continuum.
Characteristics of a Transactional Leader
In 2015, the International Journal of Science and Research released an article about organizational leaders. It said that transactional leaders have the following traits:
- Replace a leader’s desires with those of a follower.
- Focus on growth when making goals, guiding them, and trying to control what happens.
- Can make choices that matter
- Have a strong character
When talking about transactional leadership, the perks and rewards of uncertainty are often brought up. Workers who understand the contingency of their rewards are aware that it depends on them finishing the duties given to them. So, the leader must set clear standards that the worker can understand. If this transactional process isn’t clear, an employee might think a leader is using coercion if they don’t share shared goals and tasks with them.
Transactional leaders often use “manage by exception,” which means that if everything goes as planned, they won’t make any changes or get involved. Negative cases, like missing sales goals or quality goals for production, are looked at right away. This type of leadership can be seen in different ways, depending on goals and vision.
Characteristics of a Transformation Leader
Transformational leaders, according to psychologist Ronald E. Riggio, have four characteristics:
- Idealized influence: Leaders have, share, and show core beliefs and trust.
- Inspirational motivation: Leaders inspire their workers by giving them a sense of purpose and confidence.
- Individualized consideration: Leaders care about people’s feelings and wants.
- Intellectual stimulation: Leaders give people chances to be creative and try new things. They also help people learn, grow, and try new things.
These four parts, known as the “Four I’s,” have a big effect on a leader’s ability to make both the company and the individual better. Riggio says, “Transformational leaders have high hopes for their people and believe they can do their best. So, they motivate, empower, and excite those who follow them to do better than usual.”
What Is the Role of Transformational Leadership in Success?
The results confirmed the hypotheses and showed that transformational leadership and three factors (idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, and individual-based consideration) have a strong relationship that affects progress and, in the end, the success of a project.
Why Is It Called Transformational Leadership?
Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that changes both the people and the processes around them. In its best form, it makes good changes in the people who follow it, with the goal of turning them into leaders.
What Is the 4R Model of Transformational Leadership?
The Theory of transformational leadership: Inspire & Motivate
Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that focuses on getting a group of people to work together to achieve success as a whole. By boosting a team’s morale and sense of self-worth, the team can then work toward a shared goal or vision. This goal must be clear from the beginning, though, for it to work.
Who Is an Example of a Transformational Leader?
James Burns, an expert on leadership, said that transformational leaders try to change current ideas, methods, and goals for better results and the greater good. Burns also said that transformational leaders pay attention to the most important needs of the people they lead.
What Skills Does a Transformational Leader Have?
Transformational leadership is about being able to get followers, workers, and students excited and motivated. It’s one of the newest ways to lead, and most people agree that it’s one of the best.
References
- LEADERSHIP TRAITS: Top 7 Qualities of an Effective Leader
- LEADERSHIP THEORIES: What Every Leader Needs To Know.
- BOOKS ON MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP: Top Free and Paid Books
- SHARED LEADERSHIP: Overview, Model, Examples, Theory
- WHAT IS MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION?
.
