Transformational Leadership Assignment, 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. Transformational leadership is also very vital in employee on boarding training.  The transformational leaders are therefore very useful in ensuring that an organizations vision is clearly embedded in the new employee’s minds. Transformational leadership differs from transactional leadership in that, while transformational leadership aims at motivating people towards achieving of set goals and maintaining a given culture, transactional leadership aims at short term gratification to achieve its target. The other difference is that transformational leadership makes people gain momentum hence maintains high spirits while transactional leadership uses punishment and rewards to achieve results.

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.