Organisational Performance and Leadership - Term Paper Example

«Transformational Leadership» 1. Introduction Leadership refers to the concepts of management, control, and guidance of people. Leadership is an ability of a person to motivate a group of people towards accomplishment of a common goal. Rampur (2010) states: “In the corporate world, leadership is undoubtedly the most important action that has to be considered if you want to get the work done collectively”. Effective leadership is very important for a group of people to achieve a desired set of goals. Without an effective leadership, it is impossible for any group of people to make a successful struggle towards achievement of a goal. A leader is a stable personality spiritually and possesses such distinguishing characteristics that make a person different from others. Some of the main aspects of the leadership roles include reward for good scientific work, increased influence over scientific processes, and tutoring and developing the colleagues (Mulec 2006). Some of the core qualities of a leader include integrity, dedication, creativity, openness, assertiveness, boldness, intelligence, visionary outlook, and good communication skills. Schwahn and Spady (1998) found that a leaders’ moral foundation reflects his personality to other people. Leadership is of many styles. Some of the most influencing leadership styles include participative leadership, authentic leadership, situational leadership, and transformational leadership. Let us discuss transformational leadership style in detail in order to understand its role in increasing the organization’s effectiveness. 2. Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership is a leadership style in which a leader inspires and motivates employees to cause a positive change in the organization’s system. Transformational leadership style, introduced by James Macgregor Burns, is one of the most influencing and successful leadership styles. The four components of transformational leadership include charisma or idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation (McCrimmon 2008). Transformational leaders have a dynamic and lively personality. Some key aspects of a transformational leader include dedication, taking care of individual concerns, addressing and analyzing crisis, giving priority to individual benefits, life-long learning ability, and showing enthusiasm towards goal achievement. Transformational leaders are the source of inspiration for their people and the people look towards them for guidance. They make their followers creative by inculcating the sense of creativity and innovation in their minds. Shakweh (2010), in an article, states that success hinges on creating an innovative culture that inspires and encourages those who embrace risks. Some of the main behavioral characteristics of a transformational leader include providing inspiration to their followers, stimulating the followers to be inventive, paying attention towards the concerns of the followers, respecting the opinions of followers, and providing them with the suitable strategy to work on. Transformational leaders want their followers to be progressive and mentally strong in order to bring a positive and desirable change in the society. Myler (2010) states, “Transformational leaders operate on a principle of perpetuating change, so they value progress over stability”. Transformational leaders not only work towards their mission on their own but also encourage the followers to show interest and commitment. “Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well” (Cherry 2010). One of the main goals of a transformational leader is to bring a positive change in the system in case of any critical situation. A transformational leader’s mind is always set on finding ways to shape the system according to the advantage of the followers, without corrupting or breaking the system altogether (Myler 2010). Their mind is set on bringing a particular change in the system while keeping the foundations of the system intact. Transformational leaders work in a sequential manner. First, they develop the vision about the future. Bertocci (2009, p.59) found that transformational leadership starts with the development of a vision and a view of the future that excites potential followers. The leaders consider those factors during the analysis, which may excite their followers. A transformational leader communicates a consistent transformation plan to the followers, maintains a clear focus on the targeted goals, and efficiently manages the external organizational changes to balance internal ones. In organizations, the senior management develops the vision by keeping in prospect the employees’ benefits and concerns. After the development of the vision, the transformational leaders sell their vision to their followers. Selling the vision means to inculcate the importance of the vision into the minds of the followers in order to make them struggle hard for their own benefits. Having trust in the leadership is critical for the success of any movement. Yukl (2004, p.289) asserts, “With transformational leadership, the followers feel trust, admiration, loyalty, and respect toward the leader”. Personal integrity, which is one of the most important traits of transformational leaders, is also a part of the vision that they deliver to their followers. Next step is to find the right direction towards goal accomplishment. Leaders find the right direction by analyzing the consequences of all available steps. After finding the right way, they make their followers follow the selected direction. Transformational leaders always keep an eye on all aspects of the selected strategy and whenever they feel that something is wrong with the strategy, they modify the strategy by keeping in mind the benefits of their followers. People view the transformational leaders as their role models. Bertocci (2009, p.59) found that transformational leadership is based on the assumption that people follow a person who inspires them. Actions and speeches of transformational leaders always reflect the opinions, concerns and demands of the public. Transformational leaders encourage and inspire their followers constantly during all phases of the movement. They know the importance of dedication and loyalty for the achievement of any goal and motivate their followers constantly during the movement. Transformational leaders are people-oriented and they believe in continuous struggle and commitment. Transformational leaders encourage creativity among the people involved in the movement. “The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn” (Cherry 2010). They want their followers to be imaginative and innovative in their ideas. They try to involve each member of the society in any movement that they start. Transformational leaders not only support the opinion of the public as a whole but also give value to the opinion of every individual participating in the movement. They promote the development of supportive and kind relationship with their followers and encourage them to share their ideas with the leaders. 2.1 Example of Transformational Leadership Let us take an example of Blue Star Marketing Firm, which is one of the top marketing firms located in Washington. Blue Star Marketing Firm is a small-sized private sector firm, which comprises of a five-member management staff and fifteen marketing employees. Some of the main challenges related to the firm were continuous decrease in the market share and low level of employee dedication. Blue Star was losing its potential customers due to ineffectiveness of the marketing campaigns that the company used to launch for its customers. The employees were not fully dedicated towards their work, as the company had implemented fixed salary system in which the employees were not given any kind of bonus for showing efficiency. Viewing the criticality of the scenario, our HR team decided to end up the contract with some of the marketing professionals as our company wanted to hire some new marketing professionals for the company. The employees of the company challenged this decision of HR team and they launched a strike against the decision. The employees demanded no employee firing cases and demanded implementation of an incentive plan for the employees. One of the employees, Mr. Mark Johanssen, was selected as the leader of the employees. Johanssen possessed all characteristics of a transformational leader. He negotiated the case with the upper management of the company and succeeded in getting the employees’ demands approved by the management. He motivated the employees to work hard for the success of the company. He also educated the importance of job commitment and dedication to the employees. He motivated the employees to work efficiently not only for their own benefits but also for increasing the business of the company. Because of his transformational leadership style, the company started to reach heights in industry of advertising and currently, Blue Star Marketing Firm is recognized as one of the top marketing firms of Washington. 3. Transformational Leadership and Organization’s Effectiveness Transformational leadership style is very beneficial for bringing an essential change in the organization’s system. In case of bringing some desired changes in an organization’s system, a transformational leader not only expresses his/her vision of the organization's future to the employees but also inspires and motivates all employees of the organization towards the process of transformation. Shakweh (2010), in an article, states that the transformation process is a critical component of the entire organizational strategy”. The stages of organization’s change include motivating changes in behavior of employees, overcoming the resistance of the management, creating awareness regarding need of change, managing transition to ensure control, maintaining friendly relationships not only with the employees but also with the management, and remaining up-front in any difficult situation. A transformational leader must possess some characteristics, which are essential to lead a movement and transform an organization efficiently and effectively. Transformation leadership plays a critical role in the success of any organization. Hacker and Roberts (2004, p.17) state that the main reason to embark the process of transformation in the organization is to increase the organization’s efficiency. It not only increases the productivity of the employees but also increases the effectiveness of the organization as the employees like to work hard if they are provided with a work environment where they feel free to raise their voice in case of any problem and where the benefits of the employees are given top priority. As in the case of Blue Star Marketing Firm, the employees started to work more efficiently than before when they saw that the management of the company was taking care of the concerns of the employees while developing any new strategy. If we talk about the success rate of transformational leadership style in increasing an organization’s effectiveness, we come to know that success rate depends on the size of the organization up to some extent. Bass and Riggio (2006, p.93) assert, “The size of the organization may moderate the effects of transformational leadership”. Studies show that transformational leadership style is somewhat more effective for smaller organizations as compared to larger ones. It is because leaders in the smaller organizations are able to communicate constantly with the employees whereas in larger organizations, it is not an easy task to have a constant communication with each employee of the organization. Transformational leaders work for the continuous improvement in the system of the organization while keeping in view the benefits and concerns of the employees. Some of the main characteristics of transformational leaders include belief in their abilities, high level of self-confidence, ability to energize and inspire the employees, ability to create and sell the vision, and ability to transform the organization’s culture in order to ensure employee productivity. These characteristics distinguish the transformational leadership from other leadership styles. Chammas (2010) states, “One of the first personal characteristics that a transformational leader must possess is confidence and a belief in their own abilities”. A transformational leader must have self-confidence in order to lead his team and the public in an appropriate way. Self-confidence, mental strength, and self-determination are those qualities of a transformational leader, which make him a role model for the employees of an organization. Three additional characteristics that are essential for a transformational leader include ability to find a need of change in the system, ability to create something new for the employees, and ability to coach the employees. A transformational leader not only leads his followers but also likes input of the followers while developing a strategy for the movement. Leblanc (2009) found in an article that transformational leaders offer guidance to the followers, participate in the group as a follower, and request input from members. This act of a leader makes the followers more responsible and motivated towards the change. Employees need to be motivated in order to work for the organization’s success with full commitment. Transformational leaders possess the ability to motivate the employees to struggle in a right direction. They present a picture of beneficial outcomes to the employees, which make the employees keen towards the change. They work hard for bringing a positive change to the organization’s system, which not only increases the efficiency of the employees but also the overall environment of the organization becomes more productive and dynamic than before. Transformational leaders inspire employees by educating them the importance of dedication and commitment towards the work. Employees always look towards a right direction and their leaders provide them with the most appropriate direction. Transformational leaders do not possess a rigid behavior. They are very flexible and change their strategies in accordance with the overall organization’s environment. Their basic purpose is to improve organization’s performance and productivity and for that purpose, they continuously motivate their followers. Johannsen (2004) states, “Transformational leadership is about implementing new ideas; these individuals continually change themselves; they stay flexible and adaptable; and continually improve those around them”. Transformational leaders view the need for change as an opportunity to grow and strengthen the employees’ productivity (Elkington 2010). Transformational leadership is all about inculcating trust and enthusiasm in the minds of the employees. Transformational leaders continuously motivate the employees to work hard for increasing the effectiveness of the organization. Lussier and Achua (2010, p.348) found that transformational leaders, at an individual level, influence their constituencies to make a shift from focus on self-interests to focus on collective interests. Transformational leaders are deeply concerned with the needs and concerns of individuals. Nayab (2010) claims: “Transformational leader treats each follower as a ‘whole’ individual rather than as an employee”. Some of the main individual considerations of transformational leadership include appreciating individual’s efforts for increasing the organization’s effectiveness, ensuring equal workload distribution among the employees, congratulating the employees to increase their self-confidence, listening to individual’s concerns, and undertaking career-counseling programs to help employees’ progress in their careers. When transformational leaders exhibit these characteristics, employees become motivated to show more dedication towards their work, which results in increasing the organization’s effectiveness. 4. Conclusion Summing it up, leadership is a responsibility, which should be given to a selected person in order to provide the followers with a right direction towards completion of a mission. Transformational leadership style is a type of leadership that is concerned with increasing the level of motivation in the followers in order to make them work hard for the accomplishment of desired goals. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate employees to cause a positive change in the organization’s system. Transformational leaders not only work towards the goals themselves but also encourage the followers to show interest and commitment. They are able to create a vision and communicate it to the employees in order to educate them about the need of change in the organization’s system. They make the employees enthusiastic and creative by injecting the sense of responsibility in their minds. One of the basic purposes of transformational leaders is to improve organization’s performance and productivity and for that purpose, they continuously motivate their followers. Therefore, we can say that transformational leadership plays a vital role in increasing the employees’ productivity, which in turn results in increasing the organization’s effectiveness. References Bass, B. & Riggio, R., 2006. Transformational Leadership. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bertocci, D., 2009. Leadership in Organizations: There is a Difference between Leaders and Managers. Maryland: United Press of America, Inc. Chammas, A 2010, Transformational Leadership – Leadership Characteristics for Organizational Success, viewed 29 September 2010, . Cherry, K 2010, Transformational Leadership, viewed 29 September 2010, . Elkington, R 2010, Transformational Leadership in Non-Profits, viewed 29 September 2010, . Hacker, S. & Roberts, T., 2004. Transformational Leadership: Creating Organizations of Meaning. U.S.A: Quality Press. Johannsen, M 2004, A Short Premier to Transformational Leadership, viewed 29 September 2010, . Leblanc, R 2009, Motivation – A Transformational Leadership Skill, viewed 29 September 2010, . Lussier, R. & Achua, C., 2010. Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. 4th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning. McCrimmon, M 2008, Benefits and Limitations of Transformational Leadership, viewed 29 September 2010, . Myler T, 2010, Are You a Transactional or Transformational Leader?, viewed 20 September 2010, . Mulec, K., 2006. Positive professional leaders: Aspects to consider in leadership development. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 27(1), pp.66-81. Nayab, N 2010, Characteristics of Transformational Leadership, viewed 29 September 2010, . 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