Transformatiomal Leadership Essay Example for Free

Transformatiomal Leadership Essay Leadership is the quality of an individuals behavior whereby he is able to guide the people or their activities towards certain goals. 1. INTRODUCTION Leadership is the ability to get work done with and through others, while at the same time winning their confidence, respect, loyalty and willing co-operation. The first part of this definition is the same as for management. It is the second half, which highlights the difference between a leader and a non-leader. Managers who possess the quality of guiding and directing the subordinates in an organization to perform their jobs efficiently can be called business leaders. A leader interprets the objectives of the group and guides it towards the achievement of these objectives. Leadership means different things to different people, and sometimes the most effective leaders can appear not to be leading at all. Good leadership is essential in all aspects of managerial functions whether, it be motivation, communication or direction. Good leadership ensures success in the organization, and unsatisfactory human performance in any organization can be primarily attributed to poor leadership. Total performance is the result of a host of factors and not of leadership alone, hence can be evaluated in the light of these factors. A leader influences others by his qualities, viz. confidence, communicative ability, awareness of his impact on others as well as perceptions about the situation and his subordinates. The effect of a leaders background experiences, his communication ability, self-awareness, confidence, his perceptions of subordinates, the situation and the self are shown below: SOCIAL VALUES ECONOMIC CONDITIONS LEADER STRUCTURE FOLLOWERS POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS Fig. 5 Qualities of Leader [Source: Taken from, Prasad LM, (2006) Organizational Behavior, Fig 26.1 p 287] All these factors interact together to determine the leaders ability to influence others. 2. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP The concepts of transformation and transaction leadership was first introduced by James MacGregor Burns (1978), what was once the treatment of political leadership is now widely used in the fields of organizational psychology. Leaders who raises the motivation of followers to reach far beyond their established standards and that promotes effective change individually and holistically in organizations are all characteristics of a transformational leader. In contrast, transactional leaders are extrinsic motivators, they accepts the given goals and just do it. In order for us to better understand what each of these leadership styles have to often and how effective they are we need to examine the makeup of these concepts According to Burns (1978) the style of transformational leadership is comprise of four components: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration: 1. Idealized influence A leader who shows idealized influence is someone who is usually not affair to make very compelling conviction on a stand that they strongly believe in but not necessary the popular stand. Followers often admire idealized influence leaders as they have a clear set of values that they follow and demonstrate as a role model in which followers can identify with the leader by. This trait has a direct relationship to managing one’s own emotion in the concept of emotional intelligences (Barling et al., 2000). Leaders can serve as a respectable role model for their followers when they able to display self-control on their emotions which thereby enhances the trust of the relationship. 2. Inspirational motivation The second component of the transformational leadership style is inspirational motivation. As a visionary leader, they can articulate their vision in a powerful persuasive appealing manner that it is naturally inspiring to followers. They will consistently and optimistically communicate the meaning for the task at hand as well as challenging their followers to reach higher than the establish standards. By being able to understand and realize what a follower’s potential is, the leader can better set goals and push the follower towards success more effectively. This is directly related to the understanding of others component of emotional intelligences. 3. Intellectual stimulation The third is the art of intellectual stimulation. Leaders who are high in intellectual stimulation usually encourage creativity in their followers by setting up an aroma to permit trail and error. Furthermore, these leaders often encourage followers to take risk, follow their own instincts, and there is no such thing as a â€Å"stupid â€Å"suggestion. 4. Individualized consideration Lastly, the component of individualized consideration is the degree of the leader’s ability to listen, understand, and attend to the needs of their followers. Making sure that their followers are getting the respect they deserve for their accomplishment. Perhaps being there, as a mentor or a coach for their career advancements or to be a sympathetic support when problematic issues arise. Being able to correctly realize and understand the needs of followers a leader should be evident in the empathy component of emotional intelligences. In contrast the transactional leadership that is very often associated with laissez-fair leadership is more action oriented. It is comprised of two components: Contingent rewards and management-by-exception (Burns 1978). This type of leadership is very distinct in ways that it is very reward oriented. Leaders utilize the promises to reward for good performance and reorganizations to entice followers to perform at their best. Management-by-exception refers to a practice that leaders are there to make sure things continue to work as they are working now. The attitude around these leaders are â€Å"if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it†, they only intercept when something is going wrong. The management-by-exception leaders are leaders that are very detail oriented and are at a constant alert for things going wrong where they are quick to fix immediate problems. TRANSFORMING LEADERSHIP 3. Visionary Enabler Transforming leadership requires the leader to direct his energies outwards rather than inwards. The focus is on relinquishing the controller/ manipulator in favor of the visionary enabler. To do this, the groups full potential must be allowed to develop by always using the style congruent with their ability and willingness or one even slightly higher on the trusting side. Unfortunately, the opposite is often the case and the group is over led rather than under led. Over leading often-called macho using a style more controlling than appropriate for the groups ability and willingness. It can arise from both personal, psychological reasons and from forces in the organizational and hierarchical structure (Ahuja K, 2005, p.698). The feeling persists that management knows best and that true leadership means the exertion of authority in order to get a reluctant workforce to perform duties to which it contributes little beyond elementary, regimented skills. Managers with such an outlook consistently over lead groups by being more interventionist than necessary. The tendency to over lead is often compounded by the organizational climate. If the top management exhibits, macho, tendencies it is very difficult for a manager to pursue a progression of styles towards trust. If he does, it will be seen as weakness and an abdication of management responsibility rather than a positive process of development. 4. Organizational Constraints to Leadership Role Organizational constraints can be very powerful and, for that reason, it is important that any serious effort at leadership training should begin at the top to ensure that everyone in the hierarchy understands the philosophy and supports the new approach. Transforming Leadership is concerned with the choice of Leadership role, it is generally outward looking long term and proactive. Transforming leadership focus is on vision and values relating to individual and organization. It develops an individual and generates new ideas. It releases energy by creating a sense of belonging and excitement in the job. Visionary/Enabler is the transforming leader required in increasingly complex situation, where performance is difficult to measure directly. Visionary/Enabler creates a mental attitude in a team, creates a feeling that you can do it and ensures that things are possible and success is in all what we are doing. Visionary/Enabler creates a climate of success and a sense of belonging. Visionary/Enabler emphasis that the individual can create a feeling in them, that they will be developed. It promotes self-control and encourages the workforce by giving them responsibilities and ensuring success. Visionary/ Enabler creates a sense of excitement in the job (Ahuja K, 2005, 714). 5. Changes Transforming Leadership Due to changing technology and changing social expectations, industry and commerce is becoming increasingly complex and inter-dependent. As a consequence, work requires higher levels of individual skill and management expertise. These pressures make the, controller, style of management less and less appropriate. As the technical skill of jobs in industry increases, an increasing reliance must be placed on self-motivation of the workforce to ensure high performance. It is marginal effort that makes the crucial difference between satisfactory and outstanding performance. Whereas normal levels of output can be more or less controlled, the marginal effort, which is so crucial, is very much at the discretion of the subordinate. For this reason, the transforming leadership role is increasingly essential. Transforming leadership is required to get the best out of knowledgeable workers (Prasad, 2006, 294). In today’s, complex, knowledge based working environment it is increasingly difficult to measure the subordinates, output. Control becomes impossible and has to be replaced by trust and transforming leadership. As the world grows more complex, the individual is not able to understand it alone. Reliance has to be placed on the specialist knowledge of the team requiring creation of the right climate for that knowledge to be applied. The group must be developed to maximize learning and the increase of the knowledge base. Such a climate will also encourage synergy and the sparking of creative interactions (Ahuja K, 2005, 552). Transforming leadership is required to accelerate the shift of the point of congruence in the direction of the visionary/enabler. The transforming leader consciously fights the lure of the interventionist. He creates a sense of vision to inspire the group and place on the team members the responsibility for making decisions and solving their own relationship problems. The transforming leader adopts the visionary/enabler role and frees his followers from the dead hand of the interventionist and transactional routine. Transforming leadership concentrates on the leader in the visionary/enabler role and on avoiding the seductive alternative roles that tend to trap leaders into various forms of controller/manipulator behavior. The transforming leader acts as a visionary/enabler to develop the individual capabilities of his team members and to mould them into a fully functioning team. Above all, he is concerned to create a sense of mission, which will give the team a vision of what their job is all about. This vision carries the group beyond the narrow confines of daily routine and puts work into a context of meaning and value (Prasad, 2006, 364). The transforming leader acts-as a contributor or a catalyst, always-keeping to moderate levels of task and relationships behavior 6. Literature Review Leadership is he ability to get work done with and through others while gaining heir confidence and cooperation. Almost every aspect of work is influenced by, or dependent on, leadership. Leaders have three limiting factors- their own knowledge, and skills, their subordinate’s skills, and the work environment. Formal leaders (managers, supervisors) are appointed to groups by the organization, and group members choose informal leaders. Formal leaders aim to achieve organizational objectives, whereas informal leaders satisfy the group’s needs for friendship and recognition. There are four key sources of leadership: Legitimate power, which comes from being appointed by the organization into a leadership role; expertise or skill power, which comes from having knowledge or skills which will help the group to achieve goals; respect or affection power, where a leader who is liked and respected b subordinates, peers and superiors, will have influence over a group of people; and reward/ coercive power, which comes from the power to influence pay, promotion and recognition of followers. (Yvonne, 2003 196) There are three main approaches to understanding leadership: traits (which involves identifying traits which characterize successful leaders); behavioral (which focuses on leadership functions and style); and contingency (which focuses on situations, matching leadership style with circumstances). There are a number of factors influencing a leader’s effectiveness. These range from the leaders background, experience, and expectations, to the organization’s policies and procedures, and to the prevailing industry trends, and social norms. Bass (1978) suggested that transformational leaders exhibit three key characteristics. These are ïÆ'Ëœ Charisma ïÆ'Ëœ Individualized considerations; ïÆ'Ëœ Intellectual simulation. Transformational leaders are able to arouse enthusiasm, general energy and inspire respect. They also work towards helping others to realize their potential through attention to training and development and at the same time treating others with respect. They also stimulate the imagination of their followers and encourage them to stretch their capabilities. Transformational leadership isn’t a substitute for transactional leadership; rather it can be seen as going a step beyond transactional leadership. Transformational leaders are more likely to emerge in times of turbulence and rapid change. In today’s circumstances where we are experiencing accelerating change transformational leadership offers an opportunity for improved performance. (Yvonne, 2003 197) There is no set formula on how to be an effective leader, but research has highlighted some useful points relating to training style, nature of work and subordinates, and the need to act like a leader. 7. CONLUSION No one is a born leader. People may have certain abilities that enable them to develop into a leader, but they have to work at it. A successful leader is one who is keenly aware of those forces, which are more relevant to his behavior at any given time. He accurately understands himself, the individuals and the group he is dealing with, and the organization and the broader social environment in which he operates (Tannenbaum Schmidt, 1993, 178). However, merely understanding these factors correctly is not enough but he can be successful only when he is able to behave appropriately in the light of these perceptions and understanding. Thus,   The successful manager of men can be primarily characterized neither as a strong leader nor as a permissive one. Rather he is one who maintains a high batting average in accurately assessing the forces that determine what his most appropriate behavior at any given time should be and in actually being able to behave accordingly. Being both insightful and flexible, he is less likely to see the problem of leadership as a dilemma.† (Tannenbaum Schmidt, 1993, 178). Leadership in business is never a bossism because the leader is not synonym of the boss.   A boss depends upon his authority and as such always drives and orders, but a leader relies upon his confidence and goodwill and always believes in coaching and advising his subordinates. Leaders can enhance their performance by adopting a Transformational leadership approach. The successful leadership calls for   `The ability to comprehend that human being has different motivating forces in different situations, the ability to inspire, and ability to act in a manner that will develop a climate for responding to and arousing motivations.’ References Ahuja K. (2005) Personnel Management. Kalyani Publishers. Calcutta. 425-775 Barling, J., Weber, T. and Kelloway, E.K. (1996), â€Å"Effects of Transformational Leadership Training on Attitudinal and Fiscal Outcomes: A Field Experiment†, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 81, pp827-32 Barling, Julian, Frank Slater, and E. Kevin Kelloway. â€Å"Transformational leadership and emotional intelligence: an exploratory study.† Emerald Volume 21 Number 3 2000: 157-161. Bass, B.M. 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