Introduction
A leader is a person who orders a group of people. Mostly, leaders direct people on the things they should do and how to face situations within their surroundings. Leaders employ different leadership styles depending on their personality and their background .For instance, some leaders prefer transformational leadership while others prefer charismatic leadership. On the other hand, some choose a transactional approach to leadership. Charismatic leaders allure large number of people and motivate them to work. They usually have strange capabilities to influence the people. Moreover, Transformational leadership occurs through leaders who are willing to work with their juniors to identify the change that is needed, develop a vision for the change through motivation and to enforce the change together with his group. Leaders that use this kind of leadership assume that people will follow those who motivate them. Additionally, transactional leadership includes the use of gifts and punishments to gain consent from followers. The followers are responsible for their actions and their competence is measured using their performance. Evidently, Leaders choose leadership styles that work best for them.
Charismatic Leadership
Charismatic leaders have extraordinary personalities that attract followers who find them as motivation. Moreover, they get people around them to be more devoted in developing the organization or community (Conger) . During crisis, they show dedication and expertise in their fields. Additionally, charismatic leaders are sensitive to their surroundings and the desires of their employees or supporters. Charismatic leadership also includes walking the talk and setting examples to the juniors. These leaders exude confidence in themselves, their workers or followers and usually have high expectation of them. Furthermore, their followers are able to identify with them, are loyal and believe in their mission (Conger) . These leaders not only have expertise but also the ability to change the attitudes of their followers. To add to that, charismatic leadership also includes service and the leaders willingly work for their juniors. To couple with that, in charismatic leadership, the leaders value the greater good. They usually use their good communication skills to appeal to the motions of their followers or employees .They are good listeners who pay attention with interest. In charismatic leadership, the leaders monitor themselves because they are aware that their followers are watching .Great leaders such as Mother Teresa, Sir Winston Churchill and Jack Welch chose this form of leadership (Conger) . However, charismatic leadership can easily be abused since the leaders have approval and can easily come up with plans without being opposed. Likewise, this form of leadership can lead to monopoly of perspective. The followers of the leaders have the same ideas as their leaders which may destroy some minority views that may be smarter. Charismatic leadership also makes the followers dependent on their boss. This approach of leadership is among the best approaches.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Travis Kalanick is not a charismatic leader. Firstly, he does not care about the desires of his employees. For instance, he designed a new logo for Uber after rejecting the ones brought to him by the chief designer despite the fact that he was not a designer. Unlike charismatic leaders who attract employees, Travis Kalanick was largely disliked with many of his employees quitting Uber. Moreover, charismatic leaders usually have good communication skills which Travis did not possess. He once harassed a driver over fares. Charismatic leaders always monitor their actions since they believe in setting examples for their employees (Luthans, 2015) . On the contrary, Travis did not mind his action. Evidently, Travis does not use charismatic leadership.
Transformational Leadership
In this form of leadership, the leader works with their juniors to identify the need for change, create a vision for change and execute the change together with their employees. The leaders change their values, beliefs and their desires for their followers (Minja & Kirimi, 2010) . Additionally, transformational leadership includes the use of energy, enthusiasm and passion to motivate and elevate their subordinates. The leadership is mutual and both the leaders and the followers work to raise the other to higher levels. Normally, these leaders recognize themselves as change agents and are willing to execute the change (MacGregor, 1978) .Moreover, they develop a vision for whatever change they dream of after which they sell the vision to their people and find the best way to convince them to join them. The leaders then come up with the way forward either themselves or by the help of their followers. They then lead their followers or employees in accomplishing their mission. Furthermore, transformational leaders are usually considerate to each of their followers and willingly give support. Similarly, they are able to promote creativity, could their followers to think in a different way. The main aim of transformational leadership is to continue a collaborative lifestyle, develop the staff under a leader and to help the people deal with their problems more efficiently (Minja & Kirimi, 2010) . However, transformational leadership can cause the leader to focus more on their dream rather than the reality. It can also be easily abused where leaders motivate their followers towards a wrong course as in the case of Osama Bin Laden. This form of leadership can be faced with content challenges because the leaders may fail to give the details of the vision. Transformational leadership is a form of leadership where the leader expresses optimism on future aspirations and is willing to drive his subordinates to it.
Travis is not a transformational leader. First of all, Travis does not collaborate with his employees. For instance when he rejects the logo presented to him by his Chief Designer and designs his new logo. Additionally, transformational leader go out of their way to support their employees unlike Travis who only minds about his perspective (Minja & Kirimi, 2010) . Furthermore, Travis discourages creativity since he commands everything to be done his way. On the contrary, transformational leaders encourage and are willing to mould creativity. Unlike Travis, transformational leaders willingly work with their juniors towards a particular mission.
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership involves the use of gifts or punishments to ensure the performance of one’s subordinates. The transactional leader maintains routine by ensuring individual performance and promoting group performance (Weiss & Kolberg, 2005) . Moreover, this type of leadership will inspire followers by addressing their personal interest. It is mainly used by military and police to ensure consistency within the organization. During crises, this form of leadership comes in handy since members know what is expected of them and how to act under pressure. Transactional leadership is convenient in achieving short term goals and is formed of the basis of following rules. Additionally, this form of leadership is not only rigid but also against change. It is the simplest form of leadership and does not require any training. A charismatic leader can sometimes employ transactional leadership as a way of controlling his followers. By using gifts and punishment they are able charismatic leaders are able to ensure loyalty among their followers.
Travis is not a transactional leader. Travis neither punishes nor rewards any of his employees a reason of the corruption of culture in his company. On the other hand, transaction leaders control the performance of their employee through motivations or punishment. Additionally, transactional leaders maintain routine within their companies which Travis Kalanick was unable to use (Weiss & Kolberg, 2005) . Typically, transactional leadership approach enables a leader to keep his employees on toes.
Leadership Style by Travis Kalanick
Travis Kalanick was an aggressive leader who used “command and dominate” leadership style to manage his employees. For instance, he harassed an Uber driver over the fares. The company was further accused of allowing sexual harassment and sexism which he openly denounced even before allowing investigations. Moreover, Uber was sued for duplicating design methods for self-driving vehicle program (Luthans, 2015) . He introduced a toe stepping lifestyle where he dictated over his employees to a point where some were forced to leave. Furthermore, he kept the power circle dismal to the extent of empty board seats. The corporate lifestyle within Uber meant that instructions came from Kalanick and any controversies were a reflection of his leadership. Additionally, Kalanick used force to remove the barriers on his way and grew the company all the way up. His toughness has led to his company’s reputation being tarnished .Due to this, his leadership was questioned, he decided to step down and a new chief operating officer was employed to ease the situation.
Travis used “command and dominate” leadership style. This leadership approach greatly helped in growing his company. The approach ensured that he survive through the barriers on his way. However, this form of leadership should not be encouraged because it can lead to corruption of a company. Travis’s company became corroded because of this leadership approach. Travis should develop a new approach that focuses on the value and well-being of employees (Luthans, 2015) . Moreover, he should allow collaboration with his employees and listen to their ideas. Typically, Travis’s company is likely to improve if he embraces the changes.
Leadership is always important in any society. Usually, leaders act as role models to various people. Such leaders are referred to as transformational leaders. Additionally, some leaders have personal abilities to influence their followers as seen in charismatic leadership. Transactional leadership approach is constituted by the use of punishments and incentives manage performance. Furthermore, when leadership is accompanied by force is most likely to fail. To sum up, leaders should always strive to put the interest of their subordinates first.
References
Conger, J. 1. Charismatic Leadership in Organisation.
Luthans, K. (2015). Organizational Behaviour.
MacGregor, J. (1978). Transforming Leadership.
Minja, D., & Kirimi, D. (2010). Transformational Corporate Leadership.
Weiss, T., & Kolberg, S. (2005). Coaching Competencies and Corporate Leadership. St. Lucie Press.
