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The leader follower relationship
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Both transformational leadership and leader-member exchange leadership theories have been an issue of discussion for many scholars. The majority of authors agree that transformational leaders ‘have qualitatively different and quantitatively greater effects on their followers than the effects of exchange leaders’ (Gupta & Krishnan 2004, p.7). This essay builds on the existing literature about these two theories and will try to draw a parallel between LMX and transformational leadership, i.e. it will reveal the different and similar qualities of supervisor-subordinate relationships. Specifically, the essay focuses on the mechanism that each style of leadership uses in developing these relationships. That will actually help to find out some differences and similarities. This paper initially revisits the main aspects of transformational leadership and LMX leadership theories and then discusses them in relation to their capacity to develop differing qualities of supervisor-subordinate relationships.
In ‘Leader-Member Exchange, Transformational Leadership, and Value System’ Krishnan (2005) noted that according to Burns, ‘the result of transforming leadership is a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and convert leaders into moral agent’, which means that both leaders and team members offer one another. In this case, leaders serve their followers, create conditions for their further development, and make them feel free and independent in their work. Burns also claimed that ‘leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation’, i.e. the transformational leadership is possible because of both, the team members and leaders, become better and improve each other (Gupta & Krishnan 2004, p. 14). Bass further expanded the theory proposed by Burns and introduced it into the organizational context. He defined transformational leaders as leaders who motivate followers to do more than they expected to do initially. Transformational leaders are attentive to the team members needs; however, it takes time to develop strong emotional bonds between them. Nevertheless, leaders always encourage their followers to give their best. The leaders help people to look beyond their self-interest for the good of the whole group, organization, or society. They also help followers understand the need of emotional and intellectual change; commit to greatness that lies down in aspiration for business effectiveness ‘such as profits and high stock value, as well as impeccable ethics’(Dubrin et al 2006, p. 107). Owing to leaders, the team members know the goals and the ways to achieve them.
According to Bass’s (2003) conceptualization, transformational leadership consists of charisma, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration.
...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...
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
Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (Eds.). (2013). Transformational and Charismatic Leadership:: the Road Ahead. Emerald Group Publishing.
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...
Yukl, G. (1999). An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 285-305.
“With transformational leadership, the followers feel trust, admiration, loyalty, and respect towards the leader, and they are more motivated to do more than they originally expected to
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.
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.
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.
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.
Based on the changes in focus from those explored in traditional leadership theories to those promoted in new genre theories, along with pertinent leadership skills as pointed out by Bennis (2015), relevant and dynamic new genre leadership models contributing to the field of leadership consist of authentic leadership, transformational leadership, and leader-member exchange theory. Both the transformational leadership theory and the leader-member exchange theory have been explored in this paper, so this paper will now investigate the relevance of authentic leadership. In comparison to traditional leadership models that built on the importance on a single individual, authentic leadership, as well as transformational and leader-member exchange theories, embraces the concept of a more comprehensive nature, inclusive of multiple participants like the leader, followers, peers, and supervisors (Avolio et al., 2009). Thus, the authentic leadership theory fits both the category of a new genre model and a theory significant to the field of
Northouse (2001) recognizes the underlying strengths and weaknesses of the theory of transformational leadership as strengths and weaknesses are inevitable dimensions of any leadership premise. Strengths of Transformational Leadership include widely researched with instances of eminent leaders, successfully impacting followers at different levels ranging from one-on-one level to the entire institution and robustly accentuating requirements and values of the associated people. Weaknesses of Transformational Leadership encompasses issues like containing extremely wide-ranging contents, considering the concept of leadership more as a character attribute than as a taught act and most importantly possessing the risks of power misuse. Prior researches
The followers idealize the leader as their role model and their mutual level of trust is strengthened. A leader with idealized influence also represents ethical and moral integrity which leads to a greater degree of trust (Tracey & Hinkin, 1998). An important part of a transformational leader’s inspirational role is the development of a shared vision with the followers. This visionary approach helps the followers to formulate a futuristic view and helps to align the personal values and interests for the overall benefit of the organization (Jung & Avolio, 2000). The leader is ready to take and share risks with the followers which also helps to instill the leader as an ideal figure in the minds of
...in situations. The contingency models concentrated on the fit between personality characteristics, leader behaviors, and situational variables, but did not make clear which ones or what grouping of these determine effective leadership. The theory approach to leadership supports the argument that effective leaders are able to address both the duties and human characteristics of their organizations (Brown & Trevino, 2006). Leadership remains to be recognized as a complex enterprise, and as recent research suggests, effective leaders are more than managers (Swanson et al., 2012). They have vision, develop a shared vision, and value the contributions and efforts of their subordinates in the organization. Transformational leadership holds promise to further an understanding of effective leadership, in particular the leadership required for the ever-changing organization.