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Personal leadership and leadership styles
Transformational leadership model developed by Kouzes and Posner
Examples of personal leadership styles
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Recommended: Personal leadership and leadership styles
After reviewing the many different leadership styles this semester, I feel that my personal model of leadership fits most closely with James MacGregor Burns model of Transformational Leadership. Burns research focuses on how leaders can motivate and enhance working conditions to increase performance. While my experience with having a position in which I had the ability to produce leadership results has been few, the experiences I have had, have helped to shape my career and sharpen my interests. In the following pages, I will discuss my theoretical concepts that match with transformational leadership and how my professional mission, values, and goals coincide with the main principles of transformational leadership. I will also examine some examples of where I have witnessed good and bad leadership skills as well as some of my own personal leadership examples. Finally, I will discuss what my professional leadership goals are and how I aim to accomplish them.
Transformational leadership is comprised of four major characteristics, which are referred to as the four “I’s” of transformational leadership. They are:
• Intellectual Stimulation
• Individualized Consideration
• Idealized Influence
• Inspirational Motivation
My personal leadership style includes all of these characteristics. I utilize intellectual stimulation by challenging the norm or what is currently in place. I am constantly looking for innovative new ways to complete tasks that help to save time and help others complete their work more efficiently. I also believe in challenging yourself as well as others. If you challenge yourself to do better and your team or group sees your determination to finish or produce the desired results, they will follow in your example if yo...
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I believe that to be a great transformational leader you also need to be creative. You need to show your team members that you are not afraid to take risks and encourage others to do so. By showing that you encourage risk taking, you show your employees its okay if you make mistakes. When an idea does not work out the way it is intended, it is best to learn from the mistake versus pursue the option of punishment. In both my personal and professional life, I tend to use humor and sarcasm, so I make that up front with the team. I think this puts people more at ease when you can laugh at your own mistakes and let them know that you are only human and that everyone makes mistakes. It is also important to find creative ways to reward those that challenge themselves and are independent thinkers. These types of team members who are strong and are beneficial to all.
...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.
This model has been used over decades in research to chime in on the importance of knowing the behavior of leader’s and their effect on those who work for them. According to Brymer and Gray (2006), effective transformational leadership ensures a supportive culture and does not require boundaries and guidance. The concept of transformational leadership was created to bring together leaders and those who work for them, which in turn impact those in whom they serve because their personality is viewed in a positive
“..the transformational leader articulates the vision in a clear and appealing manner, explains how to attain the vision, acts confidently and optimistically, expresses confidence in the followers, emphasizes values with symbolic actions, leads by example, and empowers followers to achieve the vision (Yukl, 2002)
According to (Burns), “transformational leadership can be seen when "leaders and followers make each other to advance to a higher level of moral and motivation." the strength of the vision, transformational leaders are get followers to get their expectations, and motivations to work and achive their goals.
Also, incorporate the aspect of taking risk in changing a current practice to see if a new one works more efficiently (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). A transformational leader should foster creativity in their team members and show that even though there may be a designated leader, the team members or followers still have a voice that matters. In terms of importance, transformational leadership within my future career will be essential. I hope to be working in the field of Therapeutic Recreation as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS), which is an emerging profession in healthcare. Advocating for change and taking risks will be key as I will need to show other health professions my benefits.
Leaders will act as role models to inspire their followers. Besides, the leader will challenge the followers to take a greater ownership of their work. Transformational leaders normally understand follower’s strength and weakness so that the leader will not affect their performance when allocating task for them. Nevertheless, transformational leadership can inspire or motivate followers to achieve a better result compared to originally planned (Mihhailova, 2014).
James McGregor Burns was one of the first people to come up with a definition of transformational leadership (Bromley). Transformational leadership is great, but Burns made a quote in his book Leadership that should be recognized, “The aim of leadership is not to just reach a goal, but also transform leaders and followers into better, more self-actualized leaders” (Komives and Wagner). This quote really explains what leadership means to me, not only as a person leading a group, but also learning how to follow as well.
Coming into this major I had no idea what to expect and the same went for this course, but I did know that it dealt with leadership, something that I have been steeped in for a good part of my life. So with that, it was hard to really set any goals as to what I would want to improve in with my leadership style but I was able to pin point a few aspects that could use some work through learning about different leadership techniques and methods. By learning about how leaders are formed, different approaches to leading groups and various aspects effecting group dynamics, I could determine an individuals or my own strengths in leadership and the methods necessary to effectively lead various types of groups. Also by observing many others in facilitating the after school program it gave me much more of an opportunity to see what works and what does not, this is an opportunity very few leaders get without being thrust into a role that they are ill prepared for.
According to the “trait theories of leadership” in the textbook, six traits have been identified as being consistently associated with leadership: 1) ambition and energy; 2) the desire to lead; 3) honesty and integrity; 4) self-confidence; ...
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.
The concept of leadership as a whole encompasses different explanations, theories and leadership styles and has been popular not only from the organizational perspective but in the educational and political context as well. This essay aims to address the key concepts of Transformational leadership which belongs to the more recent approach taken towards leadership.
In today’s business world , there are several approaches and theories of leadership. This includes leadership approaches based upon a wide range of topics including traits, behavioral, situational, transformational, and other perspectives. Each of these approaches have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, making them best suited for different situations. The leadership theory that has the greatest appeal to me is the transformational leadership theory as it focuses on the greater good of the organization and its followers.
While working in a group if you have ever noticed a situation where a person or an individual emerges as a leader and inspires others with his clear vision of the goals and with his passion towards work and due to which his/her team members feel a boost in their motivation than this person can be termed as a transformational leader. The business dictionary defines transformational leadership as a form of leadership style in which the leader recognizes the desired change and then crafts a vision to steer the change using inspiration, and carries out that change with the dedication and fidelity of the members of the group. The transformational leader arouses a positive change in his disciple as not only he himself is generally vigorous, passionate, and fanatical but also because he inculcates these qualities in his followers. These leaders are not only paying attention on their goals but are also very much concerned in helping each and every member of the group for ensuring his/her individual success.
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.
A brief description of transformational leadership, according to James MacGregor Burns, is a new paradigm