IntroductionTherehas been a blast of interest in leadership. There are many stories which comeup in the daily newspaper discussing examples of effective leadership and alsothe notable failure of leadership. Sometimes these stories concern world-classpoliticians and governors, CEO officers of businesses, executives of thegovernment and so on.
Leadership is possibly amongst the most important aspectsof management (Weihrich et al, 2008) and this is due to the fact thatleadership is a significant factor which contributes immensely to the overall wellbeingof organizations and countries. There are different styles of leadership whichare as follows: Laissez-faire, Autocratic, Participative, Transformational andtransactional leadership however in this article, the main focus will be ontransformational leadership and whether its’ advantages outweigh the risks. Twoof the most leading leadership theories are transformational and transactionalleadership theories.
Since the 1980’s theories of transformational andcharismatic leadership have been ascendant. Transformational leadershipversions have been proposed by different scholars, including Bass (1985). Manyauthors concur that transactional and transformational leadership aredistinctive ideas and in practice, many authors presume that transformationalleadership remarkable expands transactional leadership which gives rise to highlevel of a person, group and organizational performance (Bass and Avoilo,1994). Regardless, some others think that transactional leadership is a subsetof transformational leadership (Weihrich et al, 2008). As indicated by Bass,these leadership styles are not the model of opposite ends of a specific field,he also mentioned that transactional and transformational leadership are notequivalent ideas. After Bass’ intensive research in this area, the results thatwere noted were that there are three dimensions of transactional whereas thereare four dimensions of transactional leadership and a nonleadership dimension(Timothy, 2014). TransformationalleadershipTransformationalleadership according to bass is when a leader turns his/her objectives far fromindividual interests and security towards accomplishment and self-actualization(Weibler, 2004).
Apart from a leader being a role model, he/she urges thefollowers to challenge the current order, the revolutionary being a distinctiveexample of this. With the leader having the democratic motives in mind he/shecan assume a transaction leadership style at the same time that is, guiding thefollowers to get things done (Bass, 1985). Burns (1987) defines transformingleadership as a kind of leadership which arises when at least one personengages with others in a way that ‘leaders and followers raise one another tohigher levels of motivation and morality’ (p.20). Therefore, the essential tasksof transformational leaders are to raise the understanding and awareness oftheir followers to more elevated stages of behaviour and virtue (Mulla andKrishman, 2009). Simonla et al (2012) explained transformational leadership asa kind of leadership in which communications among people are built ‘around acollective purpose’ in a way that ‘transform, motivate and enhance the actionsand ethical aspiration of followers’. It can be inferred that our behaviour iscoordinated by the basic system of moral values so that transformationalleadership can be viewed as a leadership style that prompts goodtransformations and changes of the followers through the effect of thestructure of the organization (Jovanovica and Ciricb, 2016).
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Bassand Avoilo (1997) went further to refine Bass theory of transformationalleadership by viewing this type of leadership as an expansion of transactionalleadership with the employment of the Four I’s dimension which can be seenbelow in figure 1.1 (CULCGOODA, 2014)Thefirst dimension is an idealized influence. This is depicted as a behaviour thatoutcomes in follower appreciation. It includes risk sharing with respect toleaders, a thought of followers need over own needs and ethical conduct. Thesecond dimension is inspirational motivation. This characteristic is reflectedin conduct that gives significance and trial to followers’ work. It includesbehaviours that express clear assumption showing commitment regarding generalorganizational objectives.
Also, team spirit is aroused by passion andconfidence. Leaders who have inspirational motivation challenge followers withhigh expectations, express enthusiasm about future objectives and giveimportance to the job that needs to be done. Followers should have a solidsense of purpose when they are moved to act. Purpose and importance gives thestrength that drives a team ahead.
The visionary parts of leadership are upheldby communication abilities that make vision reasonable, specific, intense andengaging. Generally, inspirational motivation comprises of idealistic talkingabout the future, passionate speaking about what should be done, expressing agood point of view of the future, showing the certainty to the fact that theobjectives will be met, drawing a picture of what ought to be considered, andundertaking challenging issues (Moghali 2003, p.70). Intellectual stimulationis the third dimension. Leaders demonstrating this kind of characteristic seeknew thoughts and creative solutions from their followers, as well as permit differentand unique ways to deal with work performances. They sustain and developindividuals who think independently.
For such a leader, learning is seen as avalue and unforeseen circumstances are viewed as opportunities to gainknowledge. The last dimension is an individualized consideration. This is whenleaders listen carefully and pay close attention to their followers’accomplishment and improvement needs. He/she gives compassion and assistance,permit wide communication and places challenges before the followers. Thislikewise incorporates the need for respect and celebrates the personalcontribution that each follower can offer to the team.
The followers have thewill and passion for self-development and inherent motivation for their works. Byexplaining the characteristic of transformational leadership Burns then wentfurther to define this type of leadership as a moral leadership. Yuki (2002)mentioned that mainly those individuals who appeal to the high standards, moralesteems and necessities of followers can be called transformational leaders (Jovanovicaand Ciricb, 2016). Onegood example of a transformational leader is Colin Marshall who changed Britishairways from a weak organization into the worlds’ favourite airline in the1980’s.
He was able to make this happen by welcoming the opinions and concernsof the people inside and outside BA environment to have an idea of what companyvalues, beliefs, attitudes and behaviour required to develop and replace for BAto become successful. He then looked at his findings to show the broadimprovements (Heifetz and Laurie, The work of leadership in Harvard businessSchool Review, 1998). Relating this to the characteristics of transformationalleadership, it shows that Colin Marshall made good use of the second dimensionwhich is inspirational motivation (Michael, 2007). Another greattransformational leader is Jack Welch who was the former CEO of the U.S GeneralElectric (GE) Corporation, whose change of GE led to the improvement of aproductive global player possessing top markets spots in a lot of its’ business(Morden, 2017). He emphasized that leaders need to be very interactive withtheir staffs and it is important to make sure that people do not just see thevision but they should use it. Gene Kranz from the Apollo 13 movie in a’failure is not an option scene, shows another example of a good leader whopossess great listening ears and close attention to his followers and withthis, there was great team spirit generated. He showed the third dimension ofintellectual stimulation which means that he took ideas and opinions from hisfollowers before making a final decision.
The last example will be about thelate Nelson Mandela who fought for South Africa’s freedom. Mandela introducedan example of reconciliation and vision for his countrymen and later let themknow that he required them to live up to it (Schoemaker, 2017). He was ready tomake ANC members and his followers understand that their sacrifices and choiceswould lead South Africa to ‘freedom’ (Mansa-Owusu, 2017).
Mandela was preparedto articulate his vision of a bright nation and united the entire nation ofblack and white behind the realization of his vision. Thereare positive effects that a transformational leadership can have on his/herfollowers. Transformational leadership influences subordinate job satisfaction(Al-hussami, 2008; Korkmaz, 2007). Al-hussami (2008) researched the connectionbetween transformational leadership and job satisfaction and discovered thattransformational leadership connects absolutely with job satisfaction and it isa predictor of job satisfaction. Nursing staffs working in Florida nursinghomes were observed to be happier working with transformational leaders and themore a leader perceived the principal as showing transformational leadershipbehaviours, the higher the teacher’s job satisfaction level. It is importantfor every organization to train their employees if it wants effective results. Havingtransformational leaders accountable for corporate learning can help to enhancethe outcomes of current employees and prepare new employees for productivework. A transformational leader brings expanded effectiveness to staffs whenhe/she takes part in corporate learning and this can have a distinct advantagefor any organization.
According to different authors, transformational leadersare especially great and culture building, giving intellectual stimulation andindividual help, displaying positive behaviours, vision-building, and holdingsuperior achievement expectations for employees. Transformational leadership isessentially interactive. Leaders and followers achieve a high level ofconnection from which they can accomplish the desired changes (Burn, 1978).Transformational leaders endeavour to sustain the best in their employee andwork-groups by demonstrating genuine interest and regard for people. Leadersdevelop an organizational culture of joint effort in light of values such ashonesty and integrity. Transformational leaders improve innovation within theorganization.
To make it possible for organizations to change, it is importantfor leaders to make use of inspirational motivation and intellectualstimulation (Elkins and Keller, 2003). They may also create specific parts ofthe framework process like conflict settlement, group communication and union(Donnie et al, 2004). For instance, a leader who has a consideration behaviourimproves the official and non-official communication paths among team members,while a leader with transactional behaviour produces just tight and officialcommunication. Hence, transformational leadership may enhance relationalconnections among team members and make better performance accomplishment(Yusuf et al, 2017). Thereare wide examples and advantages of transformational leadership, however, italso has its’ risks.
Misuse of influence could be a big issue for organizationsusing transformational leaders. Transformational leadership is strong yet notused morally every time. In spite of the fact that times of Nelson Mandela andMartin Luther King Jr are frequently connected with the term transformationalleadership but not all who motivate and empower fit the definition. AdolphHitler and Osama Bin Ladin are examples of ‘pseudo-transformational’ leaders.
Theterm ”pseudo-transformational’ has been introduced to unite leaders who showtransformational behaviours but satisfy their personal self-interest first (Bassand Riggio, 2006). Genuine transformational leadership involves moral,benefits, character a guarantee to the benefit of all (Travis, 2017). Byorganizing an environment made up of workers working towards a mutual vision,transformational leaders motivate their subordinates by leading with energy.Showing your followers how different groups gain success tends to influenceyour team members as well as urge them to make the dedication needed towards avital objective. Presenting a positive perspective on the future, yourfollowers have the tendency to react with power. Efficiency increases.
However,team members can lose inspiration if outrageous deadlines continue for longperiod time (Duggan, 2017). Transformational leadership can also be time-consuming.The leaders must put in time and vitality to building trust and persuadingfollowers to trust in a common vision. By having a transformational leader,some organizations wanting to gain fast results tend to be frustrated becauseof how long it would take to convince and motivate employees (Travis, 2017). Followerdependency is another risk of transformational leadership.
Some previousliterature referred to it as the most elementary side effect of high transformationalleadership. Basu and Green (1997) discussed that transformational leaders maycontrol followers’ critical and non-conformal perspectives and thoughts thatdiffer from their own, whereby causing follower dependency and reducinginnovativeness. Tourishand Pinnigton (2002) mentioned that transformational leadership characteristicsare closely linked to that of the traits of cultism which can be seen inAppendix A. A principle definition given by the premier research defines a cultas ‘A group or movement exhibiting great or excessive devotion to some person,idea or thing, and employing unethical manipulative or coercive techniques ofpersuasion and control . . . designed to advance the goals of the group’sleaders, to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families or thecommunity’ (American Family Foundation, 1986: 119–20). Within cults, theimportance of leadership behaviour is routinely overstated as well.
Forinstance, the vast majority of a cult’s main documents are prepared by theleader, who additionally makes the essential talks at cult meetings and is inevery way admitted to by a great passive and uncritical followership (Tourishand Wohlforth, 2000). Such followers can strongly be penalized if they disagreeand this increases the contribution of false ideas. Regardless of the statementmade, they do not suggest that the application of transformational leadershipwill automatically turn host organizations into cults, on a level with theMoonies, Scientology or organizations like Heavens’ Gate cult, any more thanone would claim that one scene of tipsiness suddenly makes someone analcoholic. Nevertheless, they argued that the main characteristics or traits oftransformational leadership have the ability to move organizations more alongthe cult sequence than is desirable, and this trend turns out to be marked whentransformational leadership thoughts are mixed with the drive towards improvingspirituality in the organization.
Increasing spirituality in the workenvironment is to proclaim that the individuals who disagree from the ideology arenot part of the environment (Tourish and Pinnigton 2002).
