Transformational Leadership
Is their a difference between leadership and management? Can managers lead and can leaders manage?
These are perennial questions in the field of leadership development and the answers vary depending on who you talk to.
The concept of a leadership pipeline is that as we start supervising/managing we will be more transactional (performance management) and as we move up through the organisation we will become more transformational (visionary/inspiring).
In reality the modern manager must be adept at both transactional and transformational leadership and the the earlier s/he can do both the more successful they will be.
Transactional Leadership is classic management – organising people and resources towards agreed corporate goals. The four elements of transactional leadership are:
- Goal Setting – creating specific, measurable, acheivable targets that focus effort in line with the corporate vision.
- Monitoring Performance – making sure goals are achieved. Providing regular performance reviews either in a structured or fluid fashion.
- Providing Feedback – letting people know how they are doing relevant to the target/benchmark. Good feedback must be understood, believed and accepted.
- Developing Careers – By demonstrating genuine interest in others needs, interests and desires. Being able to connect individual aspirations with the needs of the organisation.
Transformational Leadership style is where the manager engages with others in such a way that the leader and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and purpose. The three elements of transformational leadership are:
- Creating a Vision – motivating, inspiring and influencing others to see a new possibilities for themselves and the company. A clear vision creates passion, commitment and focus.
- Stimulating the Environment – creating a positive and challenging work environment that causes people to think, re-examine their ideas and find creative alternatives. Such an environment breeds imagination and innovation.
- Treating People as Individuals -making people feel valued and encouraging them to contribute. Recognising that people have unique talents, strengths and weakness and allowing for these differences without judgment.
Burns (1978) first introduced the concepts of transformational and transactional leadership in his treatment of political leadership – and I wonder what you think of the graphic I chose and the difference in style between former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama?
At Self Leadership International we use the transactional/transformational leadership concept with it’s seven competencies as part of executive coaching and leadership development programmes. We are based in Singapore but work in Australia, Malaysia, India and the Middle East.
We have a public workshop – Leadership for Managers in Singapore, April 2009.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Transformational Leadership is not a new topic. Adjustment and Improvement of the Leadership is widely discussed in the business world. Recently, I studied an article by Med Yones, which was addressing this issue the article was well-written and explained the leadership performance in an easy-understandable way. In his material he covers the major areas such as Strategic Alignment, Best Practices for Curing Bad Politics, etc. For additional information follow the link below.
http://www.iim-edu.org/associates/medyones/executiveeeducationleadership.pdf
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:08 am
Great material on Transformational Leadership!
Hugh Ballou
The Transformational Leadership Strategist
June 30th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Leadership
Senior health managers talk of the importance of good leadership and the need for training to support their managers, but are they right? Can we teach leadership? So often we see money thrown down the drain as manager’s return unable to implement the learning’s from the courses attended. So what makes a good leader? Traditional theory related leadership to IQ supported by academic achievements and the prestigious facilities attended, all contributing to a great C.V. But what good is a certificate on a wall if the person lacks the ability to apply into practice. Contemporary views are that leaders require emotional intelligence, the ability to engender excitement and motivation of a team, to self regulate and have self awareness, to have social skills that entice desired responses and the ability to be empathetic of those around you (Goleman 1998). Interestingly an American study identified that over half of employee’s lacked motivation to keep learning and improving in the job, (Harris Education Research Council, New York 1991), certainly a consideration when investing in our health managers. We should explore the personal motivations and drivers with our managers prior to venturing a fruitless road of training for a more cost effective strategy.
Charles Handy (1999) describes organisations as being “full of fascinating people” he goes on to describe the challenge as how to make them productive communities. Stephen Covey (2005) describes, that since his published book in 1989 “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” the world has profoundly changed. Our lives more complex, relationships with family, friends and work are significantly different, I think most would agree. I feel we can further add to Handys suggestion that organisations are now full of even more fascinating and complex people. Coveys more recent publication “The 8th Habit” not an additional habit more complimentary of the existing 7 Habits is about the central challenge of the new Knowledge Worker Age. Covey describes the 8th Habit as the voice of the human spirit, full of hope and intelligence, resilient by nature, boundless in its potential to serve a common good, this voice being the soul of organisations.
Covey states, “human beings are not things needing to be motivated and controlled, they are 4 dimensional – body, mind, spirit and heart”. Our organisations leaders must be able to inspire people to see their own ability to be able to make choices. When reflecting on motivation as one of the major factors of an emotionally intelligent person, if we do not offer opportunity for motivation or empowerment as people we will be unfulfilled and unsatisfied. This is then critical for health care leaders to draw out the greatest talent, initiative and creativity to ensure our staff is fulfilled as people and in doing so we create a dynamic community and engender a sense of belonging. For the health leaders out there who made the choice to lead we must care for our people and in return our people will work with us to make our organisations a better place.
Caron Hill Director Leadership Advantage
June 30th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Great article on Transformational Leadership