The different types of leadership styles make it difficult to reach a consensus on what qualities a good leader needs to have. According to Riggio’s (2014) article on transformation leadership published in an online magazine, Psychology Today, leadership is synonymous to parenting in that it is difficult to decipher what makes leaders and parents effective. Nevertheless, accumulating body of research in the field of leadership continues to recognize transformational leadership as an effective leadership style in private and public organizations. The strategy is the most studied theory of leadership. Transformational leadership is defined as an approach that effects change people and social systems. When applied to an ideal scenario, transformational leadership creates and enhances valuable positive change to aid the goal of developing followers into leaders. Therefore, transformational leaders deploy charisma to guide, inspire, and motivate followers. The primary goal of transformational leaders is to work collaboratively with their employees to effect organizational change. The secret to success by transformational leaders is the activation of the self-efficacy that leads to the belief of transcending expectations. The paper explores the key elements of individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and intellectual stimulation (Bass & Riggio, 2006) that guarantee transformational leaders success.
The Faucets of Transformational Leadership
Individualized Consideration
A study conducted by Khatri, Templer, and Budhwar (2012) on the relationship between charisma and vision as the determinants of success for a transformational leadership, established that the former attribute is positively associated with follower satisfaction. Charisma is closely linked to the component of individualized consideration that is dependent on the elicitation of positive reaction from the followers. Transformational leadership is dependent on the motivation and positive development of followers. Individualized consideration refers to extent to which a leader, while performing their mentorship role, attends to the needs of each of their students or followers through guidance and coaching (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Individualized consideration calls for demonstration of exceptional interpersonal skills. Under this component of transformational leadership, a leader must show recognitions and appreciation of the diversity of employees under their management. Positive relationship with followers is founded on listening to their individual needs and concerns, offering support, showing empathy of each follower’s predicament. Successful implementation of the concept of individualized consideration requires transformational leaders to desist from a generalist approach to management of issues that affect individual employees. Through this component of the leadership theory, a leader becomes aware of the unique abilities each follower brings to the workplace, and develops strategies for supporting the skills and behaviors in a manner that contributes to individual and organizational development. According to Bass and Riggio (2006), individualized consideration motivates followers and inspires them to develop further, a critical aspect in effecting positive organizational change.
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Inspirational Motivation
Transformational leaders, through their charismatic nature, can influence positive change among their followers. According to Khatri et al. (2012), Transformational leaders demonstrate vision by having clear directions and strategies for their units or departments. In addition, the values and beliefs espoused by these leaders resonate with their followers who can internalize them, inspiring positive change in the process. These factors are synonymous with inspirational motivation, a component of transformational leadership theory that Bass and Riggio (2006) define as the degree to which a leader articulates a vision that appeals and inspires their followers, while motivating them to exceed performance expectations. Under this component of the leadership theory, leaders show exceptionally high standards and expectations of their followers. The component is linked to individualized consideration because it involves optimism in the follower’s ability to meet project goals. The leaders supports the followers by illustrating all duties and responsibilities as important in the realization of organizational goals and objectives. By applying inspirational motivation, a transformational leader imbues followers with a strong sense of purpose and meaning to drive forward the organizational project. The outcome is encouragement among follower to invest more effort in their duties and responsibilities with the hope of a better future and development of their abilities. Use of inspirational motivation plays a crucial role in enhancing team spirit, an integral factor in overcoming issues when implementing change within the organization.
Idealized Influence
Any effective leader must show undoubted adherence to organizational and management ethics, values, and morals. Transformational leaders serve as example to their followers, hence need to exemplify moral standards and foster an ethical work environment within the organization to inspire employees to be better. The attributes are captured in the idealized influence component of transformational leadership theory, and is define as the ability of a leader to act as a role model by engaging in high standards of ethical behavior (Bass & Riggio, 2006). A study carried out by Mokhber et al. (2015) to explore the effects of transformational leadership on organizational innovation, found out that while other components of the leadership theory affected innovation positively, idealized influence had the opposite effect. Followers tend to imitate leaders who exhibit idealized influence because they look up to them as role models. Therefore, the component of idealized influence is important to the individual development aspect of organizational growth.
Intellectual Stimulation
The most recognizable attribute of transformational leaders is their openness to suggestions, implying they are willing to comprise for benefit of their followers and the organization. Under the intellectual stimulation component of this leadership theory, leader integrates a pragmatic approach to management. Bass and Riggio (2006) define intellectual stimulation as a process through which a leader challenges assumptions, embraces risks, and elicits ideas from followers. The aim of this leadership component is to develop individuals into critical thinkers by introducing them to the processes of problem solving and risk taking. Followers are encouraged to develop intellectual independence and autonomy by thinking on their own. Through intellectual stimulation, leaders recognize employees through stimulation, creativity, and innovation, an element established by Mokhber et al. (2015) to have a positive impact on organizational innovation. The primary goal of intellectual stimulation is to equip followers with the mental ability to solve complex organizational problems independently.
Conclusion
Exploration of the tenets of transformational leadership shows it to be a complex process that calls for intricate understanding of followers who are employees in most cases. Transformational leaders are intent on building a workforce that is competent to manage organizational processes with little or no supervision. By focusing on the individual, followers have the opportunity to enhance his or her personal development within their work environment. The process is made easy by the presence of a leader who serves as an example to be imitated by employees because they exhibit the required standards of professionalism, ethics, values, and morality. The leader, through a well-articulated vision, can inspire followers to be better in their performance of organizational tasks. However, the most important component of transformation leadership theory is intellectual stimulation. Through it, followers become independent and autonomous, implying they develop the ability and confidence to make decisions on their own. The attributes are important because of their perceived positive relation to organizational innovation. The goal of every leader is instigate progress, a process realizable through organizational change. By equipping employees with the qualities they need to function at their best within the organizational settings, a transformational leader sets the organization in the path of change. Therefore, organizations require transformational leaders to ensure employees are constantly motivated, inspired, and challenged to deliver beyond expectations.
References
Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership . Psychology press.
Khatri, N., Templer, K. J., & Budhwar, P. S. (2012). Great (transformational) leadership= charisma+ vision. South Asian Journal of Global Business Research , 1 (1), 38-62.
Mokhber, M., Wan Ismail, W. K. B., & Vakilbashi, A. (2015). Effect of transformational leadership and its components on organizational innovation. Iranian Journal of Management Studies , 8 (2).
Riggio, R. (2014). The four elements of transformational leadership. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201411/the-4-elements-transformational-leaders
