Key Distinctions Among Successful Transactional and Transformational Leaders - Essay Example

Traits of Leaders: Key Distinctions among Successful Transactional and Transformational Leaders By Overview of leadership traits Leadership is increasingly becoming an important managerial element in the current organizational set up. The ability of a manager to lead the subordinates in most cases defines the manager’s success. Organizations are thus spending considerable amounts of money in order to train their managers on good leadership skills. Researchers on the other hand have dedicated considerable efforts, time in researching on the most effective, and efficient leadership styles that can lead to high organizational performance and success. With the dynamism with which organizations are changing, it is mandatory for leadership in these organizations to change with the changes.in the recent past, experts and researchers in the management field have recommended two most successful styles of leadership, the transactional and transformational leadership styles. The style to apply in an organization depends on the decision of the manager. They decide on the most effective and preferred leadership style to employ from the options available. Factors to consider before adopting any leadership style include the organizational culture, the expected performance, and the ability of the manager to use the style. Discussed in this essay are the differentiating factors of the two leadership styles, transformational and transactional leadership styles. Trends in the leadership traits Research indicates that there is an increase in the adoption of the two leadership styles, especially by managers. Large organizations are increasingly spending considerable amounts of money in training their managers to be good leaders. Changes witnessed in the management concept largely contribute to these changes. More than ever, organizational managers are realizing the importance of leading their employees, rather than managing those (Kamisan & King, 2013). Leading by example for instance has replaced the era of subordination. Because of the argument that good leaders not only have an impact on their followers but also on their organizations, recent research ion the leadership theory focuses on the characteristics of successful leaders. According to Lai (2011), two of the most important, yet most preferred leadership styles are the transformational leaders. While charisma and shared vision between the leaders and followers characterize transformational leaders, transactional leaders believe that it is only through exchange that leaders and followers can establish a rapport. Characteristics of transformational leaders Transformational leaders use idealized influence in leading their followers. Idealized influence describes the charismatic style of leadership, which describes the ability of the leaders to act as role models for their followers (Kamisan & King, 2013). Further, these leaders portray solid moral and ethical values and principles while dealing with their followers (Lai, 2011). Attributes and behaviour describe idealized influence of managers to their followers. Leaders exhibiting high-idealized influence among the followers in most cases appreciate whenever other people associate with them. Further, these leaders use inspirational motivation, thereby displaying the extent to which a leader is capable of being a stimulant in the team. Such leaders represent their teams, and speak on behalf of their followers whenever necessary (Lai, 2011). They exhibit high levels of optimism and enthusiasm, and emphasise on the shared goal among the members of the organization. Transformational leaders also believe in intellectual stimulation. As transformational leadership increase the level of creativity among the followers, it establishes new ways of dealing with a problem (Kamisan & King, 2013). Such leaders believe that there are other ways of dealing with a problem, and as such, encourage independent thinking among the followers in order to come up with solutions to their concerns. Transformational leaders also allow for independence and individualism in the organizational set up. As these leaders considerably invest in the development of their followers, they couple as mentors and coaches of these individuals. Further, they consider individual needs of their followers, taking into account their desires. Characteristics of transactional leaders Various elements define transactional leadership style used by leaders in their leaders. Transactional leaders use contingent rewards in order to increase their follower efficiency and effectiveness. Contingent rewards determine the degree to which the leaders and followers are able to have an effective transaction and exchange relationship. These leaders only support followers who show dedication and results in handling their duties and show disregard to followers with low organizational output. These leaders also use management by exception, style of leadership, which defines the actions taken by leaders whenever disseminating their duties. Managers could either use active management or in other instances endorse passive management in solving problems whenever they arise. The focus of leaders Different leadership styles have different focus. While all leaders focus on the growth and development of their organizations, the approach they use in arriving at this development forms the focus of different studies. The focus of transformational leaders is the individual followers, while transactional leaders focus mainly on the organization. Transactional leaders believe that by focusing on the followers, satisfying their needs, and addressing their issues, they have better productivity compared to focusing on the output and performance. With this understanding, transformational leaders focus on developing their employees, who in turn increase their productivity. Subsequently, these contribute to the growth and development of their organizations. On the other hand, transactional leaders believe in the productivity of their followers. It is only through impressive results that such leaders address the concerns of their followers. Researchers argue that although these two leadership styles have distinct focus, the reality is that they all focus at increasing the productivity of their organization. Comparison between the strengths, weaknesses, advantages, and disadvantages of leadership traits According to researchers, transformational leadership is the most appropriate style of leadership managers should employ in their organizations. Trends in the management school of thought hold that it is only by focusing on the satisfaction of the workers that an organization can effectively achieve its goals and objectives. Since transformational leaders to satisfy their followers in an effort to increase their organizational productivity, any manager using this type of leadership style records impressive results. According to Moman (2012), the most successful organizational managers are those that focus on employees as individuals of a larger organizational group. Addressing their issues and concerns improves the followers’ level of motivation, who subsequently contributes to the high organizational performance. There are various limitations associated with transactional leadership. Moman (2012) argues that by focusing on organizational performance at the expense of employee development, leaders cannot sustain such growth for a long time. Issues are likely to emerge along the way and whenever this happens, it is unlikely for the organization to achieve its goals. Since human capital is, the most important factor in an organizational set up, leaders should invest in their employees in order to achieve its goals. Transactional leadership however disregards this argument. Transactional leaders reward only high performing employees and as a form of punishment, deny rewards to poorly performing employees. Advantages and disadvantages Leadership is an important element of organizational development and growth (Moman, 2012). Studying different leadership styles enables business leaders know the most effective leadership style to apply in their organizations. With the increase in the level of globalization and global business operations, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to adopt the most effective and efficient methods of production and service delivery in order to win global competition. Most managers have little idea on the most effective leadership methods to apply in their organizational set up. However, basic knowledge on leadership skills would reveal the most effective style that managers can use in their organizations in order to achieve their goals and objectives. Effective leadership also helps in identifying areas of poor performance, and provide ways of solving the issues inherent in the organisation for better performance. The fact that not all models of leadership are compatible in all forms of organization is the main disadvantage of leadership styles. Before leaders could adopt any form of leadership style, is important for them to understand the nature of their organizations. Since not all leadership styles are compatible in all types of organizations, and that copying a model in an organization can potentially lead to poor performance of the model, the organizational management should ensure that it develops a model that fits in the organization. The future of leadership traits research With the increased concern on the role played by leadership styles in organizational performance, researchers are likely to focus on the implementation of various leadership styles in different organizational context. Currently, managers and organizational leaders hold the duty of developing models that can perfectly fit in their organizational context. While the current research seeks to establish the most effective leadership styles, their characteristics and qualities, future research will focus on how managers can acquire these traits, and how they can fit the various leadership models in their organizations. A high likelihood is that these trends will render management studies outdated, as most organizations will focus on leadership skills rather than academic qualifications and management replaced entirely by leadership. References Kamisan, P., & King, B. M. (2013). Transactional and Transformational Leadership: A Comparative Study of the Difference between Tony Fernandes (Airasia) and Idris Jala (Malaysia Airlines) Leadership Styles from 2005-2009. International Journal Of Business & Management, 8(24), 107-116. doi:10.5539/ijbm.v8n24p107 Lai, A. (2011). Transformational-Transactional Leadership Theory, Olin College of Engineering, dessert. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.olin.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=ahs_capstone_2011 Moman Basham, L. (2012). Transformational and Transactional Leaders in Higher Education. SAM Advanced Management Journal (07497075), 77(2), 15-37. Read More