Transformational Leadership and Change, Essay Example

Transformational leadership is the type of leadership that distinguishes itself through the creation of positive change in its members or the organizations employees. The leaders who practice this type of leadership are called transformational leaders and they encourage and motivate people to look out for each other as well as live harmoniously besides looking out for the organization as a whole. It is also a very important tool in team building as well as the leader functioning as a motivator as well as boosting the general morale of the team (Bass 1994). Transformational leadership plays a major role in that the leader serves as a motivation as well as a guiding light in setting pace as well as direction in which all members of the teams as well as the organization moves.   Transformational leaderships ensure high performance and sustain it through a change in the management style and this is achieved through the bosses turning to servants or what is called servant leadership (Greenleaf R, & Spears L, 2002. This means that transformational leadership is a key way to promote team motivation.

Transformational leadership is known to have four main characteristics. These characteristics include the leader having empathy for the various team members. This ensures that he has a personal touch towards every member. The other characteristic is that such leaders stimulate their members intellectually through challenging their ideas. Similarly the also inspire their teams through appropriate articulation of views. Finally, the leaders are also known for providing visionary direction and act as role models ( Bass 1998).  Transformational leadership is very essential during the introduction of new standards and measures in the organizations. Since people are known to resist change, transformational leadership is very useful when introducing changes in an organization.

The area of the organization that requires change is the communication process for team development. Communication is very vital in shamrock organizations that use randomly assembled teams based on task. The organization needs to ensure that they keep a good communication system to ensure that their employees are up to date with the latest developments to ensure that they are ahead of the competition. The best organizational psychology model that is best suited for the purpose of team development is the custodial model. The employees who are members of the team are viewed as economic resources and they have plenty of time and space to wiggle and give direction to the matters of the team. This ensures maximum productivity of the team. This model therefore fits best in a team that is dependent on all team members contributing towards the development of the team. Poor communication leads to low team morale and hence the teams are unable to share ideas and hence the cohesion at work is highly reduced. The participants in the desired change are all the employees of the organization since transformational leadership is an all inclusive leadership method.

Communication can serve as a very effective tool for dealing with philosophical discontinuity. Most important is the process of 360 degrees feedback as a tool of communication in passing forth information in an organization. This method ensures that information flows up and down the hierarchical ladder of the organization. Holding regular meetings with personnel of all cadres helps in ensuring that all information is passed ford between the different levels of management as well as the implementing arm (McNamara 2008). This ensures that there is no feeling of exclusion among any members of the organization and therefore forestalling the possibility that a wide philosophical gap will develop between the employees. Decision making on the other hand is other vital strategy that can utilised in combating philosophical discontinuity. First is the use of strategic development sessions. This ensures that every participant is given an opportunity to voice their ideas as well as their criticism on the plans of others. The resultant culture of consultation heightens respect and openness between the different members of the business management. By restoring communication and effective sharing of information between members of teams, the level of awareness is enhanced between the different team members and therefore ensuring that team conflicts are avoided.

References

Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industrial, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bass, B.M. & Avolio, B.J. (Eds.). (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Greenleaf, R.  & Spears, L. (2002). Servant Leadership: a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press.

McNamara, C.  Basics in internal organizational communications. Retrieved November 7, 2008 at: http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm