Leadership and Teams
Envision a workplace where positivity exudes from its leaders; where integrity and ethics are the cornerstones of the organization. A place where you will be encouraged to excel and grow and your efforts will be recognized. Places like this do exist. These are the places where the Transformational leadership style has been adopted. Transformational leaders help to navigate organizational endeavors through positive influence, maximization of strengths, and the alleviation of pitfalls.
Influence
Leaders are tasked with managing team boundaries and facilitating the team process. (Robbins, Decenzo, & Coulter, 2013, p. 313) Transformational leaders challenge current practices and introduce new ways of thinking to their organizations. These leaders also promote improvements of the team members themselves. They truly have a vested interest in their followers bettering themselves in order to become more valuable workers. Often, due to their obvious efforts on their team members’ behalf, close relationships are developed as a result. Transformational leaders focus on the behaviors of their group. The leader himself behaves in a specific way in order to motivate his employees to emulate his illustration of how good employees conduct themselves.
It is of the utmost importance that a transformational leader has a high level of emotional intelligence. They must understand and be able to channel their emotions. Relying on their own characteristics to set the example, transformational leaders inspire teams to emulate portrayed behaviors. Because of this, leaders must have a high level of integrity and be able to display it proudly. This sense of pride is contagious among a well formed group and furthers the e...
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... a genuine transformation can occur. One might say that the transformational leader has implemented the use of the golden rule as a guide for organizational success.
Works Cited
Brown, F. W., & Reilly, M. D. (2009). The myers-briggs type indicator and transformational leadership. The Journal of Management Development, 28(10), 916-932. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02621710911000677
Colorado State University-Global Campus. (2013). Module 3 – Leadership and Teams—What Makes Us Effective at Work? [Blackboard ecourse]. In MGT-300 – Principles of Management (p. 5). Greenwood Village, CO: Author
Robbins, S., Decenzo, D., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Tucker, B. A., & Russell, R. F. (2004). The influence of the transformational leader. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 10(4), 103-111.
...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.
Transformational leaders exhibit personal and professional qualities that other want to emulate and follow. These leaders advance the mission in combative environments. Transformational leaders propel the growth of the team through communication. Finally, transformational leaders leave a legacy that instills pride, moral, and determination for future success.
This is where transformational leaders excel in their roles as motivators and change agents; however, one characteristic that resonates most with followers is the leader’s ability to define vision and mission. Ballou (2015) used the analogy of an orchestra conductor possessing the musical score that provides the details for every participant in the ensemble. The ability of the leader to bring clarity to the vision enables followers to understand the ‘why’ of their hard work. While seemingly autocratic, followers accept direction from transformational leaders because they demonstrate selflessness and are most interested in the team’s success, not their own. These highly regarded traits can alleviate tension in diverse groups by focusing on the vision, not individual differences. While there are similarities between the servant and transformational leader, there are important differences as well. In the book, The Leadership Challenge (2002, p. 153), the authors suggested that transformational leadership affects not only the followers, but the leader as well, by raising each other to achieve the higher purposes of motivation and morality. Another vital component of transformational leadership is the fostering of participation when making decisions. It is never the intention of the leader to inject his or her opinion, especially at the onset of the process. This ability allows followers to arrive at consensus by encouraging team participation, which invites involvement and buy-in of the vision, while decreasing the likelihood of inter-team conflict. The true transformational leader inspires the team because they have achieved a high level of self-actualization, which allows them to encourage and recognize the achievements of others without feeling threatened. When followers are fortunate enough to be led by a transformational
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
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.
Pertaining to my future career I would want to become a transformational leader by empowering the interdisciplinary team as well as patient’s to meet their goals. Essential behaviours and attributes that a transformational leader should include the four principles charisma or ideal influences, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration (Ruggieri, 2015; Judge & Piccolo, 2004). Speaking to the four principles of transformational leadership charisma or ideal influences that I could display to identify myself to the team as a leader could include taking a stand and promoting new ideas to the group while also acknowledging followers needs at an emotional level (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). Charismatic leaders want
Transformational leadership is the optimal style for a leader in an organization to have due mainly to its prominent characteristics such as being influential, innovative, motivating, proactive, and having the ability to both responsibly and reasonably delegate tasks. These aspects specific to the style of transformational leadership are essential to positive organizational function, environment, and advancement because they are characteristics that all hold power and constructive properties individually. When combined they are significantly capable of producing progress, change, and a healthy organizational environment.
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Management (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
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.
Yukl, G. (1999). An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 285-305.
In my search for the meaning of transformational leadership outside of coursework, I found multiple definitions of this title. There happened to be one that I enjoyed reading most because it embodied the full significance of what a transformational leader is. Business dictionary (n.d.) specified that, “Transformational leader is a style of leadership in which the leader identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the members of the group”. In this essay I will discuss elements that have been transformational to myself, changes that I have made and intend to make in my life/workplace. As one continues
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.
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...
Lopez-Zafra, E., Garcia-Retamero, R., & Landa, J. M. (2008). The Role of Transformational Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, and Group Cohesiveness on Leadership Emergence. Journal of Leadership Studies , 37-49.
Transformational leaders are needed to transform low performing organizations to acceptable to high performance. At other times, the leader is expected to move an organization from a crisis. In order to accomplish these tasks, the leader must overhaul the organization culture or subculture. This task is accomplished by nine ways of transforming others: 1. Raise others awareness. The leader makes others aware of the rewards and how to achieve them, i.e. pride in the job or financial incentives. 2. Help others look beyond self-interest. The transformational leader helps others to look at the “big picture” by describing an entire scenario, i.e. if we hire more employees to do x, we will have to make cuts in other areas. 3. Help people find self-fulfillment. The leader helps others not to focus on minor satisfactions, i.e. getting a job done before the deadline ...