Do you think great leaders are born with their skills, or do they develop them over time? Perhaps, you are one of those who prefers adaptability. Meanwhile, others prioritize structure and coordination. These different approaches are what we call leadership theories, and they are frameworks that attempt to explain how successful leaders effectively influence other people.
These theories are what you first refer to when you finally decide to start improving your leadership skills. With all of the leadership types there are, it can be hard to choose which one to follow considering that you also have to take your personality and the type of team you will lead into account.
Improving your leadership skills does not occur overnight. Thus, college students like you need to understand why you need to start developing them early on. Keep in mind that these skills will also benefit your academics, especially in group work and organizational tasks. With that said, accompany us as we explore one of these theories—transformational leadership.
What is Transformational Leadership?
At present, transformational leadership is described by researchers as one that focuses on the growth of your subordinates. By doing so, you increase their motivation to work, which in turn improves their productivity. Being an inspiration is the focus here, and the quality of your leadership is directly proportional to your subordinates’ performance.
Additionally, four key qualities define the theory, and every transformational leader should embody them. In a review of the theory by Professor Alan J. Dubinsky, these qualities were stated to be inspirational motivation, idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. To gain a better comprehension of each quality, let us tackle them one by one.
Inspirational motivation requires a transformational leader to have a compelling vision that they can freely communicate with their subordinates. By letting them know what the eventual goal is, you are instilling purpose and commitment in them now that they recognize the impact of their work on society.
Take Steve Jobs, for example. People recognized him for his incredible ability to inspire, as he openly shared his vision for Apple products. To him and his team, their devices were more than just tools for consumers. Videos of him unveiling the first iPhone make this evident, where his words captivated not only his employees but also consumers.
Of course, a vision can only do so much if the leader does not have the appropriate charisma. This is what idealized influence is about, and it demonstrates the significance of how you behave as a role model to your subordinates. For them to follow, you must exhibit that you live by your principles and values.
When you see a leader who is always at work, that will encourage subordinates to do so as well. A recent study involving 74 leaders and 412 subordinates shows this. Data gathered by the researchers over 22 months displayed that leader presenteeism positively affects the entire team’s presenteeism as a whole. So the next time you are in a leadership role, keep in mind that your actions will eventually be reflected by others.
Another staple of transformational leadership is the promotion of creativity. Unlike other theories that emphasize standard work procedures, transformational leadership pushes you to break out of those boundaries. This cultivates critical thinking and innovation in both you and your subordinates.
You can often observe this quality in your university professors. Most of the time, when they ask questions, they will avoid providing a direct answer. Instead, they ask questions that slowly guide you toward that answer. As annoying as this can be from our perspective, the professors doing this force us to examine other responses or form our take on it.
Lastly, individualized characterization urges leaders to take better care of their subordinates. As established earlier, transformational leadership highlights growth. However, know that your subordinates will not be growing much if you are ignorant of what their personal goals are. This guarantees you to spend time with them and understand why they are working for you.
Once again, in a way, this is a trait we can see in our professors. College is the last stop we make before we officially enter the professional world. And during this time, it is our professors that help us improve in aspects that will increase our chances of getting employed in the industry we want to be in. Naturally, the intensity to which professors do this will vary from person to person. But we can easily acknowledge their role in shaping us in these years.
Historical Background
Now, you might be wondering how this approach towards leadership started. To put it simply, transformational leadership was originally developed by James MacGregor Burns in 19788 after publishing his book titled “Leadership”. In this paper, Burns compared his creation to transactional leadership, an even older leadership theory.
A review of his book noted that the biggest difference between the two types was how leaders and followers acted between each other. In transactional leadership, the two parties work together to meet their objectives. Workers receive rewards in the form of a salary. For the employer, they are through the services of the follower.
In contrast, he claimed that transformational leadership anchors the point that leaders need to empower their followers and uplift them to pursue a higher purpose. This is regardless of what they do out of self-interest after collaborating with you. Nevertheless, if you have inspired them, the chances of them leaving will be low anyway.
A few years later, psychologist Bernard M. Bass expanded upon the ideas mentioned in Burns’ book with his very own publishing of “Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations.” This is where the concept of the “Four I’s,” or the four key qualities of a transformational leader, emerged.
Another major contribution by Bass was his development of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. This questionnaire has gone through several revisions already due to ongoing research on the topic. However, it still is the tool researchers used to measure a transformational leader’s effectiveness.
Benefits of Transformational Leadership
So what advantages does transformational leadership have over other leadership theories? Well, it mostly revolves around follower engagement and development. From the perspective of transformational leadership, subordinates are some sort of investment that will eventually become leaders of their own.
Knowing this, followers tend to feel more committed to their work. This commitment further increases when they are fully aware of what your visions are for the group. Accordingly, this heightened engagement motivates them to take the initiative and do more than what is asked of them.
With an increase in employee performance comes an increase in organizational performance as a whole. Multiple studies have already researched this phenomenon, and they often attribute this occurrence to leaders’ performance themselves. One such study was conducted in 2022 and involved 424 workers.
Their findings revealed that quality leadership positively influenced employee performance and organizational innovation. Notably, employees with creative potential were promoted early to provide them with the motivation they needed to reach that potential. By reaching that potential, the leader and the company reap the benefit of that promotion as well.
As mentioned earlier, transformational leadership expects followers to become future leaders. Since the team shows improvement, this creates healthy competition among members, fostering both personal and professional development.
During this process, members unconsciously train to become future leaders capable of carrying the team forward. Individualized consideration from the leader also supports this development. This is why leaders view developing members as investments—talents that need to be retained to ensure the team has a sustainable pool of future leaders.
Whether or not these members eventually become leaders, a transformational leader guarantees them a positive work environment. A recent study that investigated the impact of leadership on work performance and the environment supports this.
A total of 308 employees participated in this study. As expected, their results show a positive connection between transformational leadership and a stress-free environment. The leaders accomplished this by improving the intrinsic motivation of each employee through proper communication of goals and achievements.
From the examples above, you can easily notice the actions related to transformational leadership that are beneficial to work performance. Since you are still in college, just transfer these learners to an academic context. If done correctly, you will see its impact eventually.
Examples of Transformational Leaders
Over the years, we have had infamous figures worldwide that are associated with transformational leadership. For you, who would they be? Personally, my picks would be Nelson Mandela and Oprah Winfrey.
Most of you may know Nelson Mandela through the term “Mandela Effect.” Even though that is a fairly popular social phenomenon, to the rest of the world, Mandela is more recognized for his role in ending apartheid in South Africa. He visualized a united South African nation, and everyone knew of that.
The road to making that vision a reality was a harsh one for Mandela. He was put in prison for 27 years because of his ideals. Despite this, upon release, he did not display any form of bitterness or anger. He truly embodied his vision, which is what idealized influence is all about, and this is what makes him such an exceptional model for transformational leadership.
Next, Oprah Winfrey’s fame primarily stems from her career as a talk show host, which may lead you to question her mention here. However, if you watch her show, you know that she has dedicated significant efforts to philanthropy over the years. One notable initiative is her foundation, the “Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.”
You can guess why that is such a significant milestone. She has dedicated much of her time to promoting education and humanitarian causes which a lot of people have benefited from. These actions inspire many of us and show why she is a good embodiment of transformational leadership.
How to Develop Transformational Leadership Skills
If you look up to the icons mentioned above, or any other famous transformational leader, you would be glad to know that you have the traits to be just like them. Actually, everybody does, and that is what makes transformational leadership an inclusive theory. Unlike “trait theory” for instance, transformational leadership does not require you to have innate skills.
So how exactly can you improve your transformational skills? For a start, you can try practicing active listening. Transformational leaders should be empathetic, which is why individualized consideration serves as a key quality. Unbelievably, you will have a tough time doing so if you are not capable of active listening.
Leadership studies reveal a direct connection between active listening and empathy. A recent survey about active-empathetic listening in supervisors is a good case in point. Here, 548 employees responded, and their results showed that listening supervisors have a positive impact on work engagement.
Another way to improve your transformational leadership skills is by creating powerful visions. Yet, they would still need to be within reason. You cannot just make up a vision that everybody knows you would not be able to achieve. While ambition is important, you can focus more on the direction and purpose of that vision. As long as it aligns with ideals that you can openly portray, then you can consider that to be a compelling vision.
You should have an open mind for creativity and innovation. If you are rigid and incapable of adapting transformational leadership is not for you. Nevertheless, you can still try preparing yourself for it. You can do this by experimenting with standard procedures and taking risks. This way, you can nurture your growth along with the team.
Lastly, as the leader, you should be willing to provide feedback to your team. Remember that individualized consideration is one of the key components, so you must recognize each member’s strengths and weaknesses.
Conclusion
Now that you know what a transformational leader is and how you can be one, you can finally decide whether or not transformational leadership is for you. Do not forget that leaders of this type are required to be empathetic, charismatic, open-minded, and determined. These are all characteristics that you can train, so if you are willing to put in the work, then this leadership type can certainly be a viable option.
If it still does not convince you, you are always free to try out other leadership types. Although, that does not necessarily mean following a completely separate set of principles. You will find that some of the transformational leadership ideas will also be present in other theories. What is important here in the first place is for you to learn the principles themselves. Applying the leadership types is up to you, and I trust that you know when the right time is for them.
