What is Transformational Leadereship?

Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can inspire positive changes in those who follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate. Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well.

Kendra Cherry Updated August 29, 2019

Bass also suggested that there were four different components of transformational leadership.

1. Intellectual Stimulation – Transformational leaders not only challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity among followers. The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn.

2. Individualized Consideration – Transformational leadership also involves offering support and encouragement to individual followers. In order to foster supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct recognition of the unique contributions of each follower.

3. Inspirational Motivation – Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they are able to articulate to followers. These leaders are also able to help followers experience the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals.

4. Idealized Influence – The transformational leader serve as a role model for followers. Because followers trust and respect the leader, they emulate this individual and internalize his or her ideals.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Transformational Leadership

List of Advantages.

1. Transformational leadership lowers turnover costs.

Transformational leaders tend to retain employees more often than other forms of leadership. They are able to retain more customers as well. That is because of the charisma this leadership style requires.

2. It is a leadership style which engages the full person.

Transformational leaders are able to achieve higher levels of productivity from their followers because they seek to meet the demands of personal motives.

3. Transformational leaders create and manage change.

For organizations and brands to evolve, they must be willing to change, improve, and expand over time. When new initiatives are in place, transformational leadership is the best style available to bring others on-board to the vision being introduced.

4. New corporate visions can be quickly formulated.

Transformational leaders do an excellent job of incorporating a new vision into their current situation. They are also good at recognizing gaps or problems in the process of a vision, which allows them to make adjustments or recommendations to correct the situation immediately.

5. Transformational leaders create enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is contagious. When you see someone having a good time, then you want to share in that experience. If followers see their leader being successful in their pursuit of a new vision or gal, then they want to experience that success as well. Brandon Gaille

List of Disadvantages.

1. Transformational leaders can develop negative outcomes.

Transformational leadership does provide many positive outcome opportunities. Each positive opportunity offers a negative outcome potential as well. As they like to say in the Star Wars universe, there is a “dark side” which must be avoided by transformational leaders.

2. There must be continual communication available.

Transformational leaders can only be successful if they maintain open lines of communication with their team. It is through this communication that the vision and “rightness” of a task are transferred from the leader to the followers.

3. It requires constant and consistent feedback.

Transformational leaders are also required to maintain the enthusiasm of their team to achieve a specific vision or goal. To keep enthusiasm levels high, leaders must provide a constant stream of feedback to their followers about the progress being made.

4. Transformational leaders need their followers to agree with them.

A transformational leader will not pursue a task if they do not believe in the moral rightness of completing it. That is because the leader must continuously sell the vision they have to encourage their team to work toward it.

5. Risks taken through transformational leadership can be disruptive.

Transformational leaders use their charismatic approach to serve as a role model for their followers and their organization. They use this energy to show people how to achieve goals or accomplish tasks.Brandon Gaille

CONCLUSION

Transformational leadership is a theory of leadership where a leader works with teams to identify needed change, creating a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executing the change in tandem with committed members of a group; it is an integral part of the Full Range Leadership Model.