Transformational leadership
This management model comes from the Transformational Leadership Theory, created by Pulitzer Prize winner James MacGregor Burns in 1978, who describes this style in his book Transforming Leadership as “a process through which the leaders and followers do to each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation”.
Intricate in the concept of intrinsic motivation, transformational leadership emerges as an alternative to transactional leadership. So, while in this second, the superiors try to incentivising workers Through rewards linked to extrinsic motivation, the transformational leader seeks to motivate employees by involving them in the company's objectives and projects, engaging them with the organisation and the achievement of shared goals.
Model characteristics
MacGregor's paradigm was further developed by Bernard M. Bass, author of Transformational Leadership, where he breaks down the four characteristics that underpin transformational leadership:
- Customisation. This leadership model a commitment to offering personalised solutions to each professional, based on the needs, expectations, and motivations of each worker.
- Creativity and innovation. The transformational leader drives employees' intellectual development by giving them the freedom to explore novel alternatives to problems and offering them constant challenges that contribute to continuous individual and organisational improvement.
- Exemplary conduct. To gain the respect and trust of staff, managers need to become a role model.
- Inspiration. The fourth pillar of transformational leadership is the executive's ability to transmit and infect their energy and enthusiasm to the team.
Advantages of this style of leadership
What is the impact of this type of leadership? When the leader manages to put these four characteristics into practice, the following occur benefits:
- Implication. Employees feel their motivations are satisfied, so they are more involved with their work.
- Training. Since this type of leader tries to get the most out of each professional's talent, which is reflected in the development and training of the staff.
- Empowerment. Transformational leaders grant employees autonomy to develop their potential, giving them high levels of empowerment.
- Innovation. A more skilled and autonomous workforce fosters more creative and innovative work.
- Corporate identity. The aim of transformational leadership is to ensure that the company's goals are also those of the employees, which strengthens the sense of belonging and the corporate identity of the company.
- Fidelity. This strong bond between company and employee leads to a significant reduction in staff turnover and absenteeism rates.
- Productivity. In the same vein, the job satisfaction experienced by professionals led by leaders of this type allows them to be more productive in their positions.
- Profitability. As a consequence of all of the above, organisations' results will improve, increasing profitability.
Guidelines for being a transformational leader
Given these advantages of transformational leadership, the next question is how to implement this model in the company. In this regard, Stanley McChrystal in his talk TED Listen, learn … then lead, reviews the keys to achieving this:
- To establish a common goal. Transformational leadership does not believe in the long-term effectiveness of orders and directives to achieve objectives, but rather in the ability for employees to internalise these goals as their own, creating a “shared consciousness”.
- Building relationships of trust. There are a multitude of possibilities for maintaining contact with employees and they should all be used, not only as communication channels, but also to establish strong relationships based on mutual trust.
- Practising active listening. In this regard, it is essential that the leader listens to the workers.
- Reconciling failure. To earn the trust and respect of subordinates, managers must know how to recognise success, but also comfort workers during failures, so that they can overcome them more quickly.
- Taking care of the equipment. A transformational leader is one who cares for their staff from an empathetic and assertive approach, fostering the most positive cumulative impact of emotions in the company and creating large corporate cultures.
