Transactional and Transformational Leadership Theories - Essay Example

Case Study of a Leader Case Study of a Leader Introduction Leadership is a continuous of interest the world over especially the field of management. This is because leadership affects all the segments of the business or the corporate world as organizations can only be successful if the relationship between a leader and the followers is one that is productive in nature. This essay provides an overview of relevant leadership theories as applied by a leader in an organization that I worked in as an employee. The leader will be examined in terms of the transformational leadership theory and the transactional leadership theory that have contributed to the success of the organization. Through a review of these relevant leadership theories that are applicable to the case study at hand, a critical analysis will be carried out to determine whether the leader in the organization is an effective leader. While working at a computer and software development company, the Chief Executive Officer exercised the transformational leadership style in order to drive up the fortunes of the company. This drive helped the company to increase its production, have a motivated staff, which eventually translated into increased revenues and a competitive advantage for our organization. The leader of the organization that I worked for was instrumental in turning around the economic fortunes of the company due to the transformational leadership as well as the transactional leadership that he exercised over the human resources within the organization. The leader in the organization that I work for has ensured that he incorporates the skills and the capabilities of the followers in order to make the organization perform at its optimum ability. This is because the leader believes that by hiring the best people with the ability to drive the organization’s core vision and mission, then they are motivated to work at their best potential. Further, the leader has been instrumental in ensuring that he shares his ideas with the employees so that they are self-motivated to give their best performance and improve on the ideas. The leader has also emphasized on the vision of the company rather than the monetary benefits that the company derives, which is good for the ultimate success of the company. This underscores the fact that in the leadership of the company involve the employees in decision-making as their individual views are incorporated in the final product that the company comes up with. Through the able leadership of the leader at our company, it has collaborated with other companies involved in similar business to come up with innovative products that have led to an increase in the profitability of the company. These products that are largely popular have created a competitive advantage that makes the company a major player in the computer and phone market. The company has also improved on its image to one that could resonate with the culture of its target market. The products produced by the company under the leadership of the current leader have also enabled it to tap into the lucrative better and hip alternative to other computer brands. The applications in the products produced by the organization have also enhanced their interoperability and increase the viability of the products, while the distribution of the products has also improved to ensure that the consumers are exposed to the products through use and experience. In addition to the above achievement, the transformational and the transactional qualities of the leader has enabled the organization to have a cohesive workforce. This is because the employees within the organization work as a motivated workforce whose main aim is to achieve the general objectives and the goals set by the organization. Further, through the input of the leader of the organization, he has been able to spur innovation that has helped in the production of products that have a competitive advantage as compared to similar products and services in the market. Transactional and Transformational Leadership Theories The transactional leadership occurs when the leader approaches the followers in order to exchange or derive ideas on how the performance of the company can be improved (Bertocci 2009, p. 48). Through this, the leader hopes that he can have a control over the subordinates through offering praise, but in certain instances the leader may coerce or intimidate the followers. Here, the emphasis is on the standards required for compliance with the desires of the leader, and those who do not comply may be sanctioned or alternatively punished for their position (French and Schermerhorn 2008, p. 463). In this type of leadership, there is a focus on the exchange of ideas between the leader and the followers, and the emphasis is on the active role played by the followers. Therefore, this model of leadership emphasizes the in-ward looking and self-satisfying feeling that helps the organization to be stable in its performance and endeavours. On the other hand, transformational leadership changes the roles of the leaders, who is required to envision and implement the visions of the company in order to spur on the organizational performance (Bass 1999, p. 9). This is only achievable if the transformational leader creates an environment that is favourable to the creation of knowledge, its sharing and exploitation for the benefit of the organization. Therefore, transformational leaders use charisma in encouraging the development of the intellect of the employees, while at the same time giving each worker the attention that he deserves in the performance of their duties. From the above argument, it can be argued that the transformational leadership relies on the creation of a robust partnership between the leader and the followers in order to create some level of trust that can facilitate motivation of the employees (Eysenck 2009, p. 475). Inspiration and charisma is therefore important as it would help the followers to readily take up the new conditions created by the leader as well as the purpose of the vision that has been communicated to them. The transactional leadership exercised in the organization that I worked for therefore helped in the influencing of the followers so that the objectives of the organization are realized. Therefore, charisma, inspirational motivation and what is referred to as idealized influence are important for the achievement of the visions. Idealized influence This refers to the activities that are related to the charismatic character of the leader and involves the beliefs, values and sense of what must be achieved by the organization (Antonakis et al. 2003, p. 264). Therefore, in any organization, the transformational leader as is the case with the organization that I worked for ensures that they conduct more than they had initially envisaged carrying out or having the capacity to accomplish. In this organization, the followers identified with the leader who they respect and trust, which in turn encourages innovation within the organization (Shelton 2012, p. 17). This in turn helped in the achievement of the goals and the mission of the organization. Inspirational motivation This denotes the ability of the leader to present the goals and the values of the followers whereby they will readily accept them even if they cannot be reconciled with their own ideas (Lussier and Achua 2010, p. 350). This makes the followers to identify with the inspirational leader and put all their capacity and ability to attain the goals of both the leader and the followers. In the organization that I worked, the transformational leader used the inspirational motivation by sharing with them the goals of the organization and ensuring that the followers abide by them or improve upon them. This in turn helped in the improvement of the trust and confidence levels, hope and the optimism of the followers within the organization leading to an inspiration to perform at the highest level. Intellectual stimulation In this instance, the transformational leader must endeavour to encourage the followers to come up with new ways of solving issues or problems that they may encounter in the course of their duties (Riggio and Orr 2004, p. 51). This leads to an organizational culture whereby the followers have the liberty to question or amend previous beliefs within the organization in order to come up with better ones (Jung, Bass and Sosik 1999, p. 6). Individualized consideration In this case, the followers are recognized for their personal achievements and this is important for the transformational leader as it helps him to know the individual potential and capabilities of the employees (Miner 2005, p. 375). In the organization that I worked in, the leader paid special attention to the needs of the followers or the employees within the organization, and this helped in the mentoring of the followers. An important attribute of this strategy employed by our transformational leader was the fact that it helped in the motivation of the followers and the building of confidence to meet the expectations that the leader attached on each employee (Gagne 2014, p. 187). In order to achieve the above attributes of transformational leadership in the organization that I worked for, there were five dimensions that buttressed the transformational leadership of the leader (Rafferty and Griffin 2004, p. 329). These include vision, supportive leadership, intellectual stimulation as discussed above, supportive leadership and personal recognition as discussed under individualized consideration above. The organization that I worked for emphasized recognizing the contribution of the individual to the general well-being and performance of the organization, especially in the achievement of its objectives. This was only made possible through the transformational leadership of the leader who steered the organization to better performance. The vision epitomizes the future organizational values of the organization and encourages the followers within the organization to adopt desired behaviours that can help the entity to achieve its aims and goals (Tourish 2013, p. 65). On the other hand, the inspirational communication are the messages that are favourable and meant to encourage the followers in order to motivate them and build trust and confidence in the organization’s ideals and vision. Further, the inspiration denotes the level at which the leader will stimulate enthusiasm amongst the followers so as to motivate them and enhance their confidence (Yukl 1981, p. 121). Supportive leadership means that the leader must be concerned about the welfare of the followers and taking care of their individual needs whenever they require it. In the organization that I worked at, the leader ensured that he supported the welfare of the employees and at times offered a psychologically fulfilling work environment that helped the followers perform at their best (House 1996, p. 324). The followers were also intellectually stimulated, whereby their interest in the organization’s goals was encouraged and they were also taught to solve problems whenever they arose. This in turn helped in increasing the ability of the human resources within the organization to come up with ideas, understand and analyze the problems as they appeared (Bass & Avolio 1990, p. 232). The aforementioned was also possible through personal recognition that the leader showed all the employees within the organization that enabled the employees to achieve their set goals and targets. In the organization that I worked in, the leader was both a transactional leader as well as a transformational leader. This is because these two leadership theories complement each other and do not create any form of competition. Further, these two leadership styles help in the incorporation of the follower’s views as well as that of the leader in improving the performance of the organization. Critical Analysis The leader in the organization that I worked for was a transformational leader. This is because he was charismatic in the manner he led the followers, had a vision for the organization and encouraged the followers to be engaged in the intellectual development of the organization (Bowerman and Van 2011, p. 191). Further, the followers in the organization were more inspired and motivated that contributed to a higher level of effectiveness amongst the human resources within the organization. For example, the charismatic personality of the leader that can be attributed to the success in terms of performance is the fact that he listened to all the ideas of the employees within the organization. In addition, the zeal with which the leader ensured that the products were value-added ensured that the products could outlive its competing products in the market. This was also achievable through the vision and foresight of the leader of the organization. The leader in the organization was also a perfectionist and very ambitious in the products that are produced that informs the fact that the leadership must be transformational in nature. An important attribute of the transformational leadership that has been exhibited by the leader in the organization is that he encouraged innovation within the organization. This was achieved through the bringing of change in the thinking of the followers within the organization and the implementation of the changes with the future in mind (Mobley 2010, p. 6). This ensured that the products that were produced by the organization brought new experiences to all the customers that used the products for their daily activities. In terms of the motivation for the employees which is a key characteristic of transformational leadership, the leader in the organization that I worked for ensured that the employees were inspired and motivated to act upon the ideas generated by the leader and the followers (Neider and Schriesheim, 2002, p. 27). Therefore, the leader together with his followers was able to convert the innovative ideas generated by both into viable technological developments as seen in the end products from the organization. Therefore, the finished products produced by the organization were a manifestation of the motivation that the leader provided as seen in the structures and the systems placed in order to realize the conversion of the knowledge of all that were involved into the finished product. In addition to this, in order to foster the motivation of the employees, the leader regularly used inspiring speeches to communicate the innovative ideas and generally motivate the employees. To emphasize the perfectionist policy of the leader that ensured that the products were of the highest quality, the leader pushed the employees to perform at the best of their capacity and capability. The end result is that the there is an onward production of employees that are motivated and capable of filling voids whenever the leader departs or is not within direct management of the organization. Apart from the transformational leadership offered by the leader of the organization that I worked for, the leader also offered transactional leadership (Bass 1997, p. 130). This is because the leader at times used coercion to encourage the employees to develop systems and structures that could be sued by the company in order to guarantee future success. Therefore, the leader’s transactional style ensured that he incorporated his own vision with that of the employees in order to come up with innovative products which the employees had participated in formulation. This was achieved by the leader taking an active role in the recruitment, direction of the strategy and the management of the organization. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to reemphasize that the organization that I worked in, the leader was highly successful for exercising transformational leadership with a bit of transactional leadership. This was effectively implemented in order to derive the best from the followers in terms of trust, motivation and confidence in the tasks that they were assigned. Through the use of the universally acceptable principles of a transformational leadership, the leader offered charismatic and inspirational leadership that encouraged the employees to perform at their best. What has been found to be universal is that the organization performs at its best if there is a positive interaction between the leader and the followers. Therefore, leadership dimensions, organizational outcomes as well as the expected outcomes have a positive correlation when the transformational leadership is exercised in the right manner. From the outcome, it has been proven that the transformational leadership offered by the leader was instrumental in motivating the employees. This in turn has helped the organization to be well-run, perform well as well as increasing the annual turnover in terms of revenue. The advantage of this is that through the transformational leadership of the organization that I worked for, the leader helped in creating a competitive advantage to the organization and its products, while at the same time ensuring that the followers are satisfied and comfortable with their positions. Therefore, I believe that the leader of the organization in which I worked in is the most innovative leader I have ever worked with. References Antonakis, J., Avolio, B. J., & Sivasubramaniam, N., 2003. 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