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Transformational Leader: A Must For Any Leadership Style

By Russell Nicometi

Leaders in politics, business and schools are faced with a plethora of decisions that need to be made for the sake of society. A good leader, no matter the level or situation must possess the skills necessary to make sure a school or the like run as smoothly as possible towards attaining an agreed upon mission and vision. The most efficient way to make sure this happens is to lead with a transformational or communal leadership style.

History

The concept of a transformational leader came about in the 1970’s by James MacGregor Burns. He wrote about transforming leaders to look beyond their own self-interests and empower others (Burns, 1978). Burns had a vision that would allow leaders to make his/her employees think creatively and critically. Allowing leaders to exchange ideas can motivate them to become excited about their role as a leader.

Another synonym of transformational and communal leadership style is democratic. Allowing the constituents to have input can and does go along with possession and a worker having a say in policy. Democratic leadership style has its origin with ancient Greece. Greece attempted to have a society and government where all members were allowed to voice their opinion by voting. A parallel can be drawn between Greece and a transformational leadership style. It allows a leader from all levels to become members of the decision spectrum and to be involved in the choice making process. Today leaders, especially in education, must encourage others to achieve and lead in their own way with the possible help of their friends, family or faith.

Transformational leadership happens when employees are motivated to perform beyond their expectations. It is the leader's job to stimulate and inspire them to work towards a common mission and vision. To achieve that commonality a leader must earn respect and confidence. The employee must be stimulated intellectually by encouraging constructive questioning. That can mean to question a supervisor; however, doing so would be with the assumption that it was to obtain a common understanding, not to question a superior. A leader must totally believe in their employee and show their enthusiasm that a team vision is attainable. A transformational leader provides an environment for a vision to take place.

Is Transformational Leadership the New Socialism?

In the middle 1800’s Karl Marx had a vision for a society where all would work together for the good of the whole (Marx, 1848). He was a socialist philosopher who envisioned a society creating a sense of community where opinions are heard and people work together for the good of the mission within a society. Transformational leaders like Karl Marx speak of trust, possible failure and a collective purpose; nevertheless, their similarities are far and few between.

Marx for one was a product of the Industrial Revolution when workers in factories were being exploited. His thought processes made him question why workers are getting a small wage for a product, yet without that worker the product has little or no value (Marx, 1848). Marx wanted the workers to unite and overthrow the ungodly ruler to establish a Socialist society. In a transformational society the ruler or leader would work cohesively with another, not looking to remove someone from power.

Besides, socialism cannot work on a large scale. Not all are interested in working for the good of the whole. A transformational leader gets all to work towards the same vision. That is where the breakdown occurs in socialism and communism steps in. Someone needs to make sure the population is working for that common goal. A good communal leader does that.

Knowing When to Change

Leading organizations is like hiking (Zimmerman, 2004). This metaphor captures a trait of what a good transformational leader must be able to do – adapt and change to be successful. A leader must be prepared for anything that may come (e.g. – disgruntled employees) and have the correct equipment to keep the staff on task, all the while making sure they work. Throughout the leadership journey a leader must be prepared to take steps along the way to keep encouragement up, even during discouraging times.

Sometimes transformational leaders need to make large scale changes. Progress at any level of leadership sometimes needs a new scenery (Schmoker, 1999). Small change is easier to implement, especially in the short term; however, large change is sometimes needed to provide stability for the future. Democratic leaders need to take risks or listen to risky propositions knowing that the unknown can be scary.

Transactional as Little as Possible

Knowing when to become a transactional leader is difficult. When in doubt, asking for help is not the mission of a transactional leader. Transactional leaders seek to transform their vision by promoting efficiency and organizational maintenance (Burns, 1978). Being a transactional leader is a necessary evil leadership style. An example of a necessary evil is when time does not exist to seek input and when a prompt decision is needed during wartime. Leaders are needed to make swift judgments for the good of the whole. Doing so, leaders understand that the decision might not be very well received but that is okay, as long as a leader is transactional when necessary and transformational whenever else it is possible.

Ethics and Transformational Leadership

Whether transformational leadership is moral or not has been questioned since James Burns penned his thoughts. Those who dismiss a transformational leader as being unethical need to look not just at the accomplishments of that person but their ethical and moral thoughts as well. Doing so would show that being a transformational leader is indeed moral.

Adolph Hitler/Saddam Hussein

Transformational leaders have concern for themselves and others and they engage and collectively pursue the leaders’ vision (Bass & Steidlmeier, 1998). Saddam Hussein and Adolph Hitler both fit that profile and therefore they must wield some type of transformational leadership qualities. Opponents of transformational leadership would argue that they were both immoral and unethical. Those qualities in and of themselves allow a leader to prey on one's emotions and weaknesses while pretending to collectively pursue a good for the greater cause (e.g. – Hitler and the extermination of Jewish people and Hussein and the annihilation of the Kurdish people).

As a result of people taking a stake in a decision making process, manipulation is possible. A good leader would not prey on someone’s trust and lead him or her to do unethical things. People who dismiss transformational leaders as people who prey on weak minded people are not true leaders. These types of leaders are known as pseudotransformational leaders.

Pseudotransformational Leadership

Being a transformational leader is a must in society today. However, communal leaders need to avoid changing to a pseudotransformational leadership style. Pseudotransformational leaders are often charismatic and looking to enrich themselves by preying on those who are looking for change. Consequently, one leader must look to enlighten and touch all equally. Instead of relying on a charismatic leader with a vision to make all the decisions, it would be in his or her best interest to share responsibility with the community.

Businesses

In a business, the ultimate goal is usually to make a difference with something, someone or someplace. It does not always focus on money. That difference can center on a common good through civic virtue. Through civic virtue a good well-rounded employee can emerge.

To achieve such an outcome, people that work with one another must reach some sort of consensus on values, societal choices and one's interest. This is only possible by the virtue of cooperation from all co-workers through participation. A good transformational leader goes beyond his or her self-interests for the sake of the organization. Notice that money is not the ultimate issue, but instead is survival as a business. If the workers sacrifice their own individual wants and needs and do what is best for the company, the future and value of their work would be more than just monetary. Job security and feeling good about the direction of your company or organization is priceless. Being a transformational leader is value centered with a mix of trustworthiness, respect and togetherness.

Gender

Female roles in transformational leadership have been growing steadily over the past few years. Even though their influence is rising, their skills as leaders are still being questioned (Carless, 1998). For generations women in leadership roles have been looked down upon because of their gender. The truth is they can lead just as well, if not better, than the opposite sex.

Studies

That question goes in contrast to several studies on the difference in leadership styles between men and women. Actually, no statistical difference exists (Bass, Avolio & Atwater, 1996). If being a transformational leader seems to be unquestionably applicable, then why are women still being questioned?

Women are just that, female (Carless, 1998). As a result of their gender difference, a predisposition exists that women would be too easy caring and nurturing to be leaders of any sort. Also, men view it as a status difference. Some feel that women are subordinate and are not cut out to be organizational leaders. This is of course absurd and once women occupy a position, they are just as equal as men in making an organization's vision and mission collaborate.

Community

Ultimately transformational leadership styles should foster a sense of community where its members have the opportunity to negotiate change. As you increase the involvement of other people it improves the implementation of the decision process (Vroom, 2001). Community spirit creates a democratic culture. A good transformational leader will need to find out what the culture of the school and/or business is - its history, values, traditions and go about to strengthen or reshape aspects of its culture. In order to reshape a school or business, a good leader will need to start with the past. This can build a connectedness with the community by building upon what the school once had, or does have. Creating a sense of value for history and traditions would please existing members and the community.

All members of the community must be empowered and engaged to maintain a state of transformational leadership. This empowerment can and usually does happen primarily through dialogue and reflection of a community’s vision. The purpose of this dialogue is to help the community develop a sense of collectively.

Problems with Community

Communities are microcosms of the city they inhabit. They, too, must be communities of virtue built on a solid frame. This frame arises from a business or school's set of core beliefs and its driving mission. A good transformational leader builds a collaborative work culture, but knows when the community vision shifts from a collective universal one to a personal vision and puts a stop to it. The bottom line is to seek input but not so much as to overwhelm the leaders.

Conclusion

A leader is a vocabulary word that can have many different meanings and/or one's interpretation. The nature and importance of leadership can be understood by looking at the leadership style of any leader at any level. The most effective type is one that reflects a transformational style. A key paradoxical meaning to try and sum it up would be involvement. Get as many people as possible involved, listening to many views points on all issues, but not so many opinions as to create conflicts from everyone who has a thought. There is not one best way to be a leader, yet transformational is the best for all situations. These leaders can and do promise the opportunity for change to advance politics, education, business and society.

References:

Bass, B., Avolio, B., & Atwater, L. (1996). The transformational and transactional leadership of men and women. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 45, 5-34.

Bass, B & Steidlmeier, P. (1998, September 24). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational Leadership. Retrieved June 14, 2006 from http://cls.binghamton.edu/BassSteid.html.

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. San Francisco: Harper and Row.

Carless, S. (1998). Gender differences in transformational leadership: An examination of superior, leader, and subordinate perspectives. Retrieved June 14, 2006 from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_11-12_39/ai_53590324.

Golman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78-90.

Marx, K. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. New York: Penguin Group.

Schmoker, M. J. (1999). Results: The key to Continuous School Improvement.

In Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Arlington, VA.

Vroom, V. (2001). The Vroom Leadership Model. APS Quarterly, Summer, 1-3.

Webb, P & Neumann, M. (2004). Politics, School Improvement, and Social Justice: A

Triadic Model of Teacher Leadership. The Educational Forum, Volume 68, 254-262.

Zimmerman, J. (2004). Leading Organizational Change is Like Climbing a Mountain.

The Educational Forum, Volume 68, 234-242.

About the author:

Russ teaches high school history and is a doctoral student in Educational Administration at the University of Alabama @ Tuscaloosa. He began writing his dissertation last fall on the attrition and dropout rate of students, with interest in extracurricular activities and minority thoughts. Russ can be reached at rlnicks@peoplepc.com

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