Define transactional leadership and evaluate the full range leadership model.
2. Explain the characteristics, effectiveness, and limitations of transformational leadership.
3. Describe the five best practices of leadership challenge and model.
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Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP), is known as a visionary; Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo®, is known as a maverick; and General Motors CEO Mary Barra is consid- ered the fixer. So aside from all being women, what do these three CEOs have in common? They are transformative and, to some extent, transactional leaders who took leadership of companies in need of radical change. Their future leadership reputations are still at stake (Constantino, 2014).
Whitman took charge at HP in 2011 and implemented a five-year plan to save the company $4.5 billion, which involved a layoff of 45,000 people. As noted earlier in this text, Whitman announced in 2014 that HP would split the technology company into two separate businesses: HP’s printer and computer hardware products, and the Enterprise business known for higher margins business-to-business software and services. Despite controversy inside the firm as well as among critical investors and analysts during the tumultuous period since, the com- pany’s stock has shown strength. Her vision and execution have not eroded. HP’s board of directors seem pleased with Meg Whitman’s performance to date, awarding her an 11% raise in fiscal 2014, boosting her total compensation to $19.6 million for that year (Portillo, 2015).
Mayer, the youngest of the three CEOs, is a tech-savvy leader who came to Google in 1999. She was Google’s first female engineer (Constantino, 2014), and worked in almost all the divi- sions there before taking the top job at Yahoo in 2012. She, like Whitman, took leadership of a company that needed radical change and had no clear plan for the future. She has since authorized over $6 billion in stock buybacks of Yahoo and acquired several companies at $2 billion, including Tumblr. She has created original content platforms with highly visible celebrities and established new employee work policies that have been controversial. She has
a love-hate relationship with inves- tors. She continues to lead major reor- ganizations to integrate the companies she bought (Goer, 2015). Many of Yahoo’s shareholders want her to suc- ceed in bringing back Yahoo to its pre- vious lucrative market position; others believe she is operating on short- sighted acquisitions and buybacks. The company’s original venture invest- ment in the Chinese search firm, Alibaba, has paid $5.1 billion in post- tax cash from the IPO, but Mayer’s stra- tegic leadership challenges are far from over. She will need courage and strategic business savvy while com- peting with Google and Facebook.
Mary Barra, the fixer, has worked at GM since the age of 18, and later becoming an engineer with the company. She took charge of GM in January 2014 as the first woman CEO at a top- eight auto manufacturer. She was met with one of the firm’s largest crises—the discovery and litigation of defective ignition switches in thousands of GM vehicles. Three months into her role, she was working through several hearings before Congress that related to 13 deaths and dozens injured from accidents caused by the defective switches. A result has been a multi- billion-dollar class action suit and the most recalls in the company’s history. Barra is given
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images News/Thinkstock
Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is known as a visionary.
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credit for her skill and ability in handling the crisis; she expressed authenticity, compassion for the victims, “transparency with investigators and regulators, and a commitment to create a new company culture that will produce the best autos within its competitive classes” (Goer, 2015). She was named Crisis Manager of the Year in 2014 for having “expertly navigated one of the most difficult years imaginable” (Geir, 2014). She intends to break information silos and fix systemic dysfunction within the company (Constantino, 2014).
The stories of these three CEOs—Whitman, Meyer, and Barra—illustrate the magnitude of challenges and risks that top-level leaders are required to take to restore companies to prof- itability and even survival. Their responsibilities and talents require both transactional and transformational leadership traits and skills.
Recall that a critical component of leadership is influence; and, as the persons, processes, and systems in Figure 1.1 in Chapter 1 illustrate, leadership and leaders’ influence can be under- stood by observing the persons and their characteristics, the processes and systems they use to lead, and the context in which they lead. These factors in large part help determine leader- ship effectiveness in influencing and mobilizing followers to achieve organizational visions and goals. The theories presented in this chapter—transactional and transformational—go further by explaining the characteristics and styles of leaders who not only effectively manage people, but those who also embody the larger vision and can deeply influence followers and stakeholders to implement these visions.
Transactional and transformational styles of leadership are sometimes interrelated; a trans- formational leader, for example, can be and often is transactional; but transactional leaders are not all transformational, as we will discuss. As you read, keep in mind that there is no single most effective leadership style, and consider what elements of these approaches you would like to develop in your own leadership style or to see in others. We will examine transactional leadership first and then turn to transformational leadership. Before we discuss these two styles, take Assessment 5.1 to identify how transformational your leadership style is.
Assessment 5.1: Transformational Leadership
Instructions
Think about a situation in which you either assumed or were given a leadership role. Think about your own behaviors within this context. To what extent does each of the following statements characterize your leadership orientation?
Very Little
Moderate Amount
Very Much
1. Have a clear understanding of where we are going. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. Paint an interesting picture of the future for my group. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3. Am always seeking new opportunities for the organization/group.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
(continued)
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Assessment 5.1: Transformational Leadership (continued )
Very Little
Moderate Amount
Very Much
4. Inspire others with my plans for the future. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5. Am able to get others to be committed to my dreams. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. Lead by “doing,” rather than simply by “telling.” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7. Provide a good model for others to follow. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. Lead by example. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. Foster collaboration among group members. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10. Encourage employees to be team players. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11. Get the group to work together for the same goal. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12. Develop a team attitude and spirit among employees. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13. Show that I expect a lot from others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
14. Insist on only the best performance. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
15. Will not settle for second best. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
16. Act without considering the feelings of others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
17. Show respect for the personal feelings of others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
18. Behave in a manner thoughtful of the personal needs of others.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19. Treat others without considering their personal feelings.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
20. Challenge others to think about old problems in new ways.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
21. Ask questions that prompt others to think. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
22. Stimulate others to rethink the way they do things. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
23. Have ideas that challenge others to reexamine some of their basic assumptions about work.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
24. Always give positive feedback when others perform well.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
25. Give special recognition when others’ work is very good.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
26. Commend others when they do a better-than-average job.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
27. Personally compliment others when they do outstanding work.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
28. Frequently do not acknowledge the good performance of others.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
(continued)
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Section 5.1 Transactional Leadership
Assessment 5.1: Transformational Leadership (continued )
Scoring: Subtract your responses to questions 16, 19, and 28 from 8. There are seven dimension scores to be computed. Articulate vision: Sum your responses to questions 1 through 5 and divide by 5. Provide appropriate model: Sum your responses to questions 6 through 8 and divide by 3. Foster acceptance of goals: Sum your responses to questions 9 through 12 and divide by 4. High-performance expectations: Sum your responses to questions 13 through 15 and divide by 3. Individual support: Sum your responses to questions 16 through 19 (using your adjusted responses for questions 16 and 19) and divide by 4. Intellectual stimulation: Sum your responses to questions 20 through 23 and divide by 4.
Transactional leader behaviors: Sum your responses to questions 24 through 28 (using your adjusted response for question 28) and divide by 5.
My scores are: Articulate vision: ; Provide appropriate model ; Foster acceptance of goals: ; High-performance expectations: ; Individual support: ; Intellectual stimulation: ; and Transactional leader behaviors: .
Interpretation
Six basic dimensions of the transformational leader are profiled by this self-assessment: articulate vision, provide appropriate model, foster acceptance of goals, high-performance expectations, individual support, and intellectual stimulation. A high score (6 or greater) reflects a high behavioral orientation to engage in each of these behaviors.
The seventh leadership dimension profiled here reflects your tendency to engage in behaviors characteristic of the transactional leader. A high score (6 or greater) reflects a strong behavioral orientation to give something to your followers in exchange for their giving something to you that as a leader you want (expect). Source: Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers’ trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors,” by P. M. Podsakoff, S. B. MacKenzie, R. H. Moorman, and R. Fetter. Leadership Quarterly 1(2), pp. 107–42. Copyright © 1990. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Superior leadership performance—transformational leadership—occurs when leaders broaden and elevate the interests of their employees, when they generate awareness and acceptance of the purpose and mission of the group, and when they stir their employees to look beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group. Transformational leaders achieve these results in one or more ways: They may be charismatic to their followers and thus inspire them; they may meet the emotional needs of each employee; or they may intel- lectually stimulate employees (Bass, 1990, p. 21).
5.1 Transactional Leadership Transactional leadership evolved from a marketplace that “demands reciprocity, flexibil- ity, adaptability, and real-time cost-benefit analysis” (Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012, p. 122; Burns, 1978). In transactional leadership leaders perform more routine but essential leadership and managerial tasks. Like the traditional model of managers discussed in Chapter 1, trans- actional leaders plan, schedule, control, and work with subordinates on detailed tasks. Burns (1978) stated that transactional leaders lead through social exchange. Bass and Riggio (2006)
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Section 5.1 Transactional Leadership
noted that “transactional business leaders offer financial rewards for productivity or deny rewards for lack of productivity” (p. 3).
Transactional leaders focus on managing consistent, quality performance from followers to achieve organizational goals and objectives (Bryant, 2003). Their work is mostly transaction or exchange based; in other words, they respond to, reward, support, and structure followers’ contracted effort and performance (Jung & Avolio, 1999). Transactional leaders also enable followers to “fulfill their own self-interest, minimize workplace anxiety, and concentrate on clear organizational objectives such as increased quality, customer service, reduced costs, and increased production” (Jung & Avolio, 1999; Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012). Without these lead- ers’ contributions, organizational goals would not be implemented. Lussier and Achua (2013) wrote, “Transactional leadership seeks to maintain stability rather than promoting change within an organization through regular economic and social exchanges that achieve specific goals for both the leaders and their followers” (p. 45).
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple®, illustrates strong transactional leadership characteristics. Cook has been criticized by some investors as being uninspiring and not offering the innova- tive genius that Jobs had (Richtel & Chen, 2014). But Cook didn’t need to transform Apple. His job when he took over was to ensure that Apple remained an elite organization. He has accomplished just that. Cook is involved in the operations and such activities as hir- ing (Richtel & Chen, 2014). He is credited with building a production plant in Arizona and a factory in Texas that produces high-end Mac computers. During his tenure as CEO, Apple has released several top-selling upgrades, such as iPad Mini and the larger iPhone, and introduced Apple products into China. He split Apple’s stock, increased the dividend, and engineered a $90 billion buyback, putting Apple on firm financial footing now and for years to come.
The full range leadership model developed by Bass and Riggio (2006) illustrates how trans- actional leadership is an integral part of a leadership spectrum that includes transforma- tional dimensions, discussed later in this chapter. The full range of leadership theory has “an impressive 30-year history of empirical support,” which offers strong evidence of the role transactional leadership plays (Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012) as exemplified in the works of con- temporary scholars Diaz-Saenz, 2011; Gundersen, Hellesoy, & Raeder, 2012; Hamstra, Van Yperen, Wisse, & Sassenberg, 2011; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Leong, 2011; Reichard et al., 2009; Yukl & Mahsud, 2010. The first three dimensions at the bottom of Figure 5.1 characterize the transactional strategies that a leader can use—individually or in combination—when relat- ing to and influencing followers. These three transactional characteristics are laissez-faire, management by exception, and contingent reward.
Laissez-faire leadership abdicates responsibilities and avoids observing, giving feedback, and making decisions. It is the least effective of all a leader’s characteristics (Bass, 1990). This approach differs from passive “management by exception” in that a manager may not even detect errors in subordinates’ work. There are, however, situations in which a laissez-faire, hands-off style may be appropriate. Examples of the appropriate use of laissez-faire leader- ship are (1) when an issue is trivial and makes no differences to the leader or others involved (e.g., two coworkers scheduling their individual flex times at work) (Bass & Riggio, 2006); (2) after goals and schedules are in place and working well; and (3) when systems are in place that provide rewards for seniority and other detailed criteria (e.g., civil service specifications and categories). Akin to the absence of micromanaging, laissez-faire leadership may also be
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Active
Transformational
Transfactional
Effective
Passive
Ineffective
Idealized Influence
Inspirational Motivation
Intellectual Stimulation
Individualized Consideration
Contingent Reward
Management by Exception
Laissez-Faire
Section 5.1 Transactional Leadership
appropriate when followers have more education, expertise, and experience in certain tasks than their leaders or managers (“Penn State,” 2013).
Management by exception has two types: active and passive. Active management by excep- tion is when a leader observes and takes corrective action. Bass, who identified these par- ticular characteristics of transactional leaders, did not state what specific types of corrective action a manager takes—that is, whether or not punishment is offered, rewards withheld, and so on. Passive management by exception, according to Bass (1990), is when a manager intervenes only if standards are not met. Management by exception is slightly better than laissez-faire because leaders interact with their followers to observe and correct errors, but it remains less than ideal because followers usually benefit from having more feedback. As we will see, transformational leadership builds on transactional leadership. The most effective leaders are often those who have both transactional and transformational leadership skills (Robbins & Judge, 2015).
Figure 5.1: Transactional–transformational leadership continuum
Source: Robbins, Stephen P. & Judge, Timothy A., Organizational Behavior, 14th, ©2011. Printed and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., New York, New York.
Active
Transformational
Transfactional
Effective
Passive
Ineffective
Idealized Influence
Inspirational Motivation
Intellectual Stimulation
Individualized Consideration
Contingent Reward
Management by Exception
Laissez-Faire
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Section 5.1 Transactional Leadership
The contingent reward (or contract reward) is used to motivate followers to perform by prom- ising rewards for good performance (Bryant, 2003). Rewards of this type include (1) exchange
of rewards for effort contracted, (2) rewards for achieving goals promised, and (3) recognition for accomplishments (Hay, 2006). This type of exchange relationship between leader and follower may be transitory, depending on the negotiated contracts and assign- ment (Lussier & Achua, 2013). Contingent reward ensures that followers perform according to their contracted assignments and position requirements; however, it does not necessarily inspire fol- lowers to perform outside their comfort zone, and it limits the leader–follower relationship, as there is no emotional connection or concern for the follower.
Recent empirical studies on “full range leadership” show that “if you had to pick just one leadership behavior to predict leadership outcomes (both job satisfaction and leader effec- tiveness), the behavior to choose would be Consideration” (Piccolo et al., 2012, p. 579). (See Figure 5.1.) Hogan, Hogan, and Kaiser (2010) states that consideration as a leadership behavior
dominated transformational leadership in terms of overall predictive valid- ity, highlighting the importance of basic interpersonal savvy in effective leadership. Indeed, in organizational settings, many leader failures can be traced directly to his or her inability or unwillingness to be empathetic, to be considerate, or to maintain amicable relationships with colleagues. (Hogan et al., 2010, p. 380)
The big take-away from this research is that organizations can increase productivity by ensur- ing that leaders proactively implement consideration into their leadership style (Greenberg, 2006; Skarlicki & Latham, 2005). The researchers go on to suggest “a ‘full range’ model of leadership should extend beyond the transformational–transactional leadership paradigm to include the relational aspects of leadership uniquely captured” (Piccolo et al., 2012). (See Figure 5.2.)
In a related study, one researcher, David Rock, director of the Neuroleadership Institute, teamed up with the Management Research Group to gain insight into the question as to whether or not a leader can be strong at both social skills and goal-focus (or task-oriented) skills. Thousands of employees scored their bosses on goal focus (related to a production orientation) and social skills. Researchers found that less than 1% of leaders scored high on both these dimensions. Matthew Lieberman, author of Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, found that it is difficult for people to focus in a social sense and an analytical sense
Fuse/Thinkstock
Transactional leaders focus on managing consis- tent, quality performances from followers to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Followers who perform well are rewarded.
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TF CR LF IS
Leader Effectiveness
Job Satisfaction
C
Leadership Styles
45.0
40.0
35.0
30.5
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
“D o
m in
an ce
” in
% o
f to
ta l c
o m
p ar
is o
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Section 5.1 Transactional Leadership
simultaneously (Lieberman, 2013). Lieberman concluded that when we engage in one type of thinking, it’s harder to engage in the other type. Because analytical thinking has historically been the predominant mode of thinking in business, it is
harder to recognize the social issues that significantly affect productivity and profits. Moreover, employees are much more likely to be promoted to lead- ership positions because of their technical prowess. We are thus promoting people who may lack the social skills to make the most of their teams and not giving them the training they need to thrive once promoted.
Lieberman (2013) recommends that (1) more weight be given to social skills when hiring and promotion; (2) create cultures that rewards using both sides of the brain, and even though the balance is difficult, we should be aware of this phenomenon; and (3) we need to train our social thinking to increase its strength over time (Lieberman, 2013).
Transactional Leadership
Studies indicate that transactional leadership is relevant and appropriate in more stable, predictable environments in which efficiency is the focus and leaders act based on past precedents. Transactional leadership characteristics and style, for example, work in an envi- ronment that requires experience that changes slowly and incrementally (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 321). Organizationally, transactional leadership also works in more mechanistic rather than organic settings where there is hierarchical authority; centralized decision mak- ing; vertical communication, well-defined performance criteria; high extrinsic rewards, and
Figure 5.2: Full range leadership model: Leader effectiveness
and job satisfaction
TF CR LF IS
Leader Effectiveness
Job Satisfaction
C
Leadership Styles
45.0
40.0
35.0
30.5
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
“D o
m in
an ce
” in
% o
f to
ta l c
o m
p ar
is o
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
high follower power and information (Howell, 1992). This style also involves both mate- rial and social exchanges and is characterized in part by important exchanges such as ben- efits. Both leader and follower meet each other’s and the organization’s needs from those exchanges, which are similar to the LMX leader–follower exchange (Loi, Mao, & Ngo, 2009; Nam & Mohamed, 2011). Laissez-faire leadership is likely to emerge when “the tasks and goals are unimportant, the rewards are low, discipline is lax, the subordinates are experi- enced, and the leader is distracted, indifferent and uncaring” (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 13). These latter conditions may not be ideal or desired, and may call for more active leadership interventions.
In general, transactional leadership allows followers to realize their self-interests, minimize workplace anxiety, and concentrate on “clear organizational objectives such as increased quality, customer service, reduced costs, and increased production” (Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012, p. 117). Using contingent rewards and disciplinary behaviors has also had noticeable effects on employee performance, perceptions, and attitudes (Podsakoff, Podsakoff, & Kuskova, 2010; Ruggieri & Abbate, 2013). Transactional leadership has also been shown to have a posi- tive effect on knowledge management practices in organizations (Nam & Mohamed, 2011). Moreover, transactional leadership has increased follower Organizational Citizenship Behav- ior (OCB), commitment, and trust in their leaders (Whittington et al., 2009).
Criticisms of transactional leadership (McCleskey, 2014) claim such practices are not long lasting but temporary, short-term, and shallow and can create resentment because transac- tional leaders correct and discipline as well as strengthen follower behaviors (Burns, 1978). Others argue that transactional leadership theory uses a one-size-fits-all approach that omits context, organizations, and situations (Yukl, 1999; 2011; Yukl & Mahsud, 2010).
However, it is important to note that although there are differences between transactional leadership and other styles, scholars argue that transformational leaders use both transac- tional and transformational leadership elements. Bass and Avolio (1993) stated that “Many of the great transformational leaders, including Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy, did not shy away from being transactional. They were able to move the nation as well as play petty politics” (p. 101).
5.2 Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership is a style in which a leader seeks to change and engage fol- lowers and the organization by creating a compelling vision, strategy, and culture. By being attentive to followers’ needs and identifying the needed change, a transformational leader motivates followers to achieve their and the organization’s potential (Burns, 1978).
New York City, the Big Apple, was called the Rotten Apple when police chief Bill Bratton arrived in 1994. Crime was rampant, and the New York Police Department’s 35,000 officers were underpaid and unmotivated. Two years after Bratton’s arrival, however, New York City became one of the safest cities in the United States: “Felony crime fell 39%; murders, 50%; and theft, 35%. Gallup polls reported that public confidence in the NYPD jumped from 37% to 73%, as internal surveys showed job satisfaction in the police department reaching an all- time high” (Kim & Mauborgne, 2003). In 2013, Bratton returned again to New York City as
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
Police Commissioner after having served in that role in Los Angeles. His leadership role now is more challenging given the crises that have occurred between minorities and the police in New York City and in other major U.S. cities. Bratton again straddles a fine line between polic- ing in high-crime areas and having to answer to larger numbers of stakeholders in the com- munity, media, interest groups, unions, and the mayor of New York City. Still, arrests from the last week of 2014 and the first week of 2015 declined by 56% compared to the same period the previous year (Bankoff, 2015).
How did, and does, Bratton succeed? He has a clear vision, goals, and methods for trans- forming and leading police departments. His “broken windows” policing theory states that “If over time you don’t address an issue, it will create a larger issue” (Bankoff, 2015). He has stated that “less than vigorous street work could create a lawless climate.” Toward that end, he ensures that officers lead by example and are visible in the communities where they work. “No one here can break the law in order to enforce it,” he was known to have said. Bratton con- sults with influential city councilors, court officials, media personnel, and community leaders in order to support his mission—which is always in sync with the mayors’ of the cities he serves. He installs a sophisticated information system that tracks all police department data; he uses statistics from the systems to track trends of individual and overall performance. He also sets a moral example and professional tone at the top. Bratton’s success in New York—as well as in Boston and Los Angeles—was among the five organizational turnarounds he has led in his 20-year policing career.
In a Harvard Business Review article, Kim and Mauborgne (2003) termed Bratton’s style “tip- ping point leadership.” They reported that Bratton strategically overcame cognitive, political, motivational, and resource hurdles to achieve the department’s aggressive goals. “Perhaps most impressive,” these authors stated, “the changes have outlasted their instigator, implying a fundamental shift in the department’s organizational culture and strategy” (p. 79). In 2002, several years after Bratton left his New York position, New York’s overall crime rate was the lowest among the 25 largest cities in the United States (Kim & Mauborgne, 2003). During Bratton’s first three years as LAPD’s Police Chief, crime was driven down by 26.4 percent, including a 25.5 percent reduction in homicide. That department also was recorded as having developed one of the most comprehensive and effective counter-terrorism operations in the U.S. (LAPD, 2015).
Bratton is what leadership scholars call a transformational leader. Transformational lead- ers (TL) influence, inspire, move, and literally transform followers to achieve organizational goals beyond their self-interests (Burns, 1978), thus initiating and bringing about positive change. These leaders introduce new business models, products, and services because of their ability to create new organizational visions, strategies, cultures, and structures through committed followers (Tucker & Russell, 2004). At the same time, they positively change fol- lowers’ lives, lifting spirits and even the commitment to ethics and morality. Alan Keith of the drug- development company Genentech defined a central aspect of transformational leader- ship when he said, “Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen” (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 3).
The increasingly competitive and demanding business environment of the early 21st century requires leaders to champion transformational change. Turbulent changes—whether they be globalization, information-technology innovations, or corporate scandals and crises—challenge leaders to think and perform creatively and boldly. They must develop new competitive strategies,
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
restructure organizations, and change cul- tures and business processes to meet the product and service demands of changing markets.
Referring to the persons, processes, and systems Figure 1.1 in Chapter 1, it is impor- tant to point out that with regard to effec- tive, transformational policing, police chiefs and other professionals who reflect the race and ethnicity of the populations they serve in the United States are needed. “In at least 50 cities with more than 100,000 people, the percentage of black police is less than half of what blacks represent in the population. . . . Hispanic representation among police is less than half of their share of the population in at least 100 cities” (Kelly, 2015). Catherine Sanz, president of Women in Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, stated that “A mul- ticultural law enforcement agency that can understand and connect with the diversity of issues in a community is more effective at policing, which encourages federal agen- cies to hire female officers of all colors” (Alcindor & Penzenstadler, 2015).
There are many contemporary business, government, and philanthropic examples of transfor- mational leadership that have created and implemented extraordinary organizational visions that have changed societies in different ways. Cisco Systems®—the technology manufactur- ing company with 75,049 employees and a market cap of $151.51 billion—CEO John Cham- bers said, “There are three characteristics that make a good leader: First is producing results, second is building a quality team, and third is the ability to communicate direction” (“The Network,” 2015). Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, the second-largest e-commerce company in the world. Amazon is forecast to hit $90 billion in revenue in 2015. Bezos said, “But there’s still so much you can do with technology to improve the customer experience. And that’s the sense in which I believe it’s still Day One” (“Fast Company,” 2015). Melinda Gates, founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 1998 and a leading philanthropist in global develop- ment, gave $3.4 billion in 2012 (most recent data available) and over $26 billion in grants to date (“Melinda Gates,” 2015). Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who won a third four- year term in 2014, is the longest-serving elected EU head of state and helps govern the EU’s $17.5 trillion fiscal powerhouse (“Angela Merkel,” 2015). What do these transformational lead- ers have in common? They have set and achieved what has been called BHAG—big, hairy, auda- cious goals—and one could add “visions” (Collins & Porras, 2004). They also lead by example, care about their employees and customers, and are experts in their respective fields. The next section discusses practical ways transformational leadership can be learned and used.
Transformational leadership is not limited to a few great men and women, or to those of a particular race, religion, gender, ability, or creed. There are most likely such leaders in your
J. Countess/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Former New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton is a good example of a transformational leader because of the way he influenced, inspired, and moved followers to achieve police depart- ment organizational goals. Under his leader- ship, citizen confidence in the police force rose markedly.
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
organization; you may have transformational abilities and characteristics yourself. These qualities can be developed, but not everyone aspires to or has the capacity to be exception- ally transformational. As with any skill presented in this book, different people will excel more with certain skills than others. Refer back to Assessment 5.1 to see your transformational leadership score.
Characteristics of Transformational Leadership
The influencing process is central to the transformational leadership style. Transformational leaders not only move followers to concrete action—and extraordinary results—but they also transform followers in the process (Sashkin & Sashkin, 2003). Bass (1985, 1990), Bass and Avolio (1993, 1994), and Kuhnert (1994) argued that transformational leaders are motivated by strong internal values and ideals that enable them to influence and motivate followers to higher moral levels to achieve organizational goals. Followers believe they will be enriched while working toward positive goals.
Bass offered one of the most comprehensive definitions of transformational leadership:
Superior leadership performance—transformational leadership—occurs when leaders broaden and elevate the interests of their employees, when they generate awareness and acceptance of the purposes and mission of the group, and when they stir their employees to look beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group. Transformational leaders achieve these results in one or more ways: They may be charismatic to their followers and thus inspire them; they may meet the emotional needs of each employee; and/or they may intellectually stimulate employees. (1990, p. 21)
Returning to Figure 5.1, the full range leadership model, we notice the top four charac- teristics or behaviors that enable transformational leaders to influence followers: ideal- ized influence (also called charisma), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass, 1990). These characteristics, while useful in isolation, are most powerful when used in conjunction to build up followers and thus produce per- formance beyond expectations—a distinguishing quality of transformational leadership (Gellis, 2001; Hay, 2006).
Idealized Influence
Idealized influence, or charisma, is based on the leader’s personality, character, and behaviors, which followers wish to emulate. Transformational leaders are trusted, admired, and respected because of idealized influence (Bass, Avolio, Jung, & Berson, 2003); they become strong role models whom followers take pride in, and create emotional attachment with followers. Presi- dent Franklin D. Roosevelt provides an example of a leader who used idealized influence. Despite his battle with a paralytic illness, Roosevelt, or FDR, was able to inspire and rally Americans to his side during the dark times of the Great Depression. He initiated friendly “fireside chats” with the public via the radio and spearheaded economic recovery with creative policies and daring activities. His popularity resulted in his being elected president four times—before presidential term limits were in effect. “If the leadership is truly transformational, its charisma or idealized
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
influence is characterized by high moral and ethical stan- dards,” Bass wrote (1997). Notice that here the focus is on the leader rather than the leader’s position of power or other contextual factors.
Inspirational Motivation
Inspirational motivation refers to how a leader is able to move followers toward a goal, or perhaps a new idea. Inspi- rational leaders are able to express important purposes in simple ways and present an appealing view of the future, which draws followers (Bass, 1990; DeVries, Bakker-Pieper, & Oostenveld, 2010). These
leaders also encourage followers to buy into and become part of the overall organizational cul- ture and environment; they offer followers the opportunity to see meaning in their work and they challenge them with high standards. To inspire followers, leaders encourage team spirit in rallies and meetings to reach goals of increased revenue and market growth for the organization; give speeches; engage followers in dialogue; and motivate by example.
A classic example is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech—a defining moment for the civil rights movement at that time. Contemporary technology executives offer more recent examples: Longtime former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was known for using his raucous but effectively engaging cheerleading style to lift expectations and competitive spirit among employees. Some of his speeches and appearances have even become viral videos, with sev- eral titled “Steve Ballmer Going Crazy.” Apple CEO Steve Jobs was also a master at inspiring and motivating not only Apple employees, but also customers, the media, and technology geeks who loved his new products.
Intellectual Stimulation
Intellectual stimulation moves and supports followers to think and innovate “outside the box.” Intellectual stimulation can include such leadership behaviors and practices as brainstorming, challenging the beliefs and norms of the group to innovate and be cre- ative, promoting critical thinking and problem solving to make the organization better, and persuading and proposing new and even controversial ideas to followers without fear of punishment or ridicule (Oke, Nunsh, & Walumbwa, 2009). A contemporary example of a
Associated Press
President Franklin D. Roosevelt used idealized influence to inspire and rally Americans to his side in the Great Depression and World War II with his series of fireside chats on the radio.
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
transformational leader with intellectual stimulation is Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer. The company has a $160 billion market value. She directs sales, market- ing, business development, human resources, and communications. Sandberg is not only a successful businesswoman but also a bestselling author. She wrote Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, which has resulted in a movie deal and other books. Her fans include Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer and the performer Beyonce. Sandberg’s leadership has helped Facebook increase its earnings performance and ramp up its mobile strategy. Sandberg is a member of The Giving Pledge, where she has pledged to donate half of her net worth to “charitable causes” (“Sheryl Sandberg,” 2015).
Individualized Consideration
Individualized consideration offers attention and concern to followers. Leaders exem- plify individualized consideration by offering mentoring: individual coaching to followers, listening to their concerns, showing empathy to those who are demoralized or need uplift- ing, helping followers solve problems, providing counseling and emotional support when necessary, providing stimulation, and creating possibilities like higher level assignments for talented followers. Followers benefit from such leader–follower exchanges when followers experience enhanced self-worth and leaders supported such exchange relationships (Wallis, Yamarino, & Feyerherm, 2011). Herb Kelleher, chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines from 1971 to 2008, remains one of the most personable and effective leaders in that industry and in American business culture. He is known for the individual attention and concern he gave employees—as well as customers—regardless of their status or position in the company. Kelleher was known for constantly flying on Southwest’s planes so he could talk to customers and employees about how Southwest was performing in a number of areas. One passenger reportedly sat next to Kelleher three times in 10 years. “Profit is a by-product of customer service. It’s not an end in and of itself,” Kelleher was known to have said (Mc Connell & Huba, 2001). He also joined employees and their family members in their homes, at company par- ties, and sometimes at hospitals. The husband of one employee recounted how, during that employee’s 5-hour high-risk surgery, “Herb was with me there, holding my hand through the entire operation” (Sashkin & Sashkin, 2003). See “Take the Lead: Transformational Leader: Leadership Balance and Focus” to apply these concepts.
Take the Lead Transformational Leader: Leadership Balance and Focus
You have been with your organization for five years and have proven yourself as a future leader. You’ve worked hard, put in long hours, and shown that you are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to get the job done right. Your efforts have finally paid off: You’ve been promoted.
In your new role as team leader, you’ll oversee five team members. Your department is currently going through a reorganization, which will result in three of your previous
(continued)
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
Not all transformational leaders show individual consideration to followers in the same way. Leaders also mentor followers by teaching and sharing knowledge and skills in addition to showing emotional concern and support. Leadership mentoring includes dis- cussing and sharing ideas to help followers and teams make the right strategic moves; developing communication methods and styles to ensure clear, effective, and constant communication; helping followers identify what makes them flourish, developing their capacity and resources for successful change; showing—again—empathetic support by listening to their concerns and facilitating processes designed for successful change (“Coaching Report #11,” 2009).
Effectiveness of Transformational Leadership
In addition to transformational leadership’s effect on followers, studies have shown that it can often lead to organizational success and better performance, whether in public, private, large, or small organizations. Keller’s (2006) study of research-and-development firms found that high-scoring transformational project team leaders showed better-quality products after one year and had higher profits five years later.
Researchers have attributed transformational leaders’ success to their ability to build consen- sus, motivate others, set goals, promote creativity, and take risks. Ling, Simsek, Lubatkin, and Veiga (2008) found that firms with transformational leaders were more likely to be engaged in corporate entrepreneurship because the firms had more decentralized responsibility with managers who were more likely to take risks.
Take the Lead (continued) peers working for you, as well as two team members coming from other areas of the department.
You envision a bright career path from here. However, you realize that this initial leadership role will set the tone for future assignments—either roles of increasing leadership responsibilities or nonleadership! How can you ensure that you will be transformational enough? Consider the following:
1. What characteristics of idealized influence will you position as paramount in your new role?
2. How will you leverage your ability to project inspirational motivation with your new team?
3. In what ways will you provide intellectual stimulation? 4. How will you identify your new team’s unique individualized considerations?
See the Appendix for possible answers.
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Section 5.2 Transformational Leadership
Limitations and Evaluation of Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is not effective in all organizational contexts. Much depends on the leader–follower dynamic, as well as the attitude of the follower. First, to be most effective, a transformational leader must be able to interact directly with followers rather than having to report to an external board of directors (Robbins & Judge, 2015) or deal with a highly bureaucratic, complicated, and large organization. For example, Ling et al. (2008) found that transformational leaders had a higher impact on performance in smaller, privately held firms. Followers are more easily influenced if they are exposed firsthand to a leader’s charisma and care for them. Second, followers must value group cohesiveness and be willing to cede authority for a transformational leader to be effective (Schaubroeck, Lam, & Cha, 2007). Followers who possess more of a “lone wolf” mentality and prefer auton- omy to teamwork are less likely to listen to or be persuaded by a transformational leader. Third, transformational leadership was found to be effective in increasing self-efficacy (an individuals’ belief about their capability) and empowerment in work evaluated at the indi- vidual level; Team-focused transformational leadership was correlated with higher group- level performance that focused on shared goals, beliefs, and values (Wang & Howell, 2010).
With regard to the full range leadership model, the four dimensions of transformational lead- ership may not, as one study showed, always be “superior in effectiveness to transactional leadership”; contingent leadership, characteristic of transactional leaders can be as effective (Robbins & Judge, 2015, p. 349). But as stated earlier, Piccolo et al. (2012) found that the transformational style of consideration was the strongest leadership of all with regard to both job satisfaction and leader effectiveness, with the other styles, including transactional, serv- ing important purposes. The universal GLOBE study on leadership, which surveyed 825 orga- nizations in 62 countries and 18,000 leaders (House et al., 2004) found that vision, foresight, offering encouragement, trustworthiness, dynamism, positivity, proactiveness, and excellent planning skills—dimensions of both transformational and transactional leadership—were found to characterize effective leaders across all cultures surveyed (Carl & Javidan, 2001; House et al., 2004; Robbins & Judge, 2015).
Transactional and Transformational Leadership Compared
Although transformational and transactional styles are often seen as lying in opposition to one another, transactional characteristics complement transformational leadership. Although trans- formational leadership contributes to developing and changing people, transactional leadership deals with more routine functions, though they can be important (Sashkin & Sashkin, 2003). Bryant (2003) found that transformational leadership could be more effective in creating and sharing knowledge at the individual and group levels, whereas transactional leadership could be more useful at exploiting knowledge at the organizational level. Scholars generally agree that effective leaders use elements of both transformational and transactional styles to achieve orga- nizational goals, as situations require (Bass et al, 2003; Judge & Piccolo, 2004). However, note that while a leader can be solely transformational and effective, leaders who are competent but solely transactional in nature may be less strategic, less inclined and able to motivate large-scale organizational change, and more inclined to implement routine and predictable organizational tasks. Both styles are effective for obtaining organizational goals; transformational leadership shows the greatest total results, with transactional leadership being next.
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Section 5.3 The Leadership Challenge: A Model of Transformational Leadership
5.3 The Leadership Challenge: A Model of Transformational Leadership
How does a leader who effectively blends transformational and transactional skills behave? In the mid-1980s, leadership researchers Kouzes and Posner began a project that they hoped would answer that question. They interviewed over 1,300 middle- and senior-level managers in both public and private sector organizations, asking them to identify their “personal best” leadership experiences. Based on their interviews, Kouzes and Posner (2007) determined that effective leaders engage in five leadership practices to accomplish extraordinary things: They model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart (Kouzes and Posner, 2009).
Kouzes and Posner’s five practices are available to anyone who accepts what they have termed as the leadership challenge. Their five practices have stood the test of time, and our most recent research confirms that these practices are as relevant today as they were when these authors first began their investigation over two decades ago (Brown, 2005).
We should note here that later research has shown that transformational leadership is not only about practices but also about personality, because personality and other factors influ- ence leadership behavior—which can be learned. As we discuss each of the five practices, observe how they embody Bass’s four I’s of transformational leadership.
Model the Way
From their interviews with leaders, Kouzes and Posner (2007) learned that leaders reported on experiences that demonstrated their “personal best” when leading others—when they stood up for their beliefs and modeled the way. To do this, leaders must first be clear about their own principles and values and then clearly articulate and communicate those principles and values to their followers. Kouzes and Posner quoted Lindsay Levin, chairwoman of the Whites Group in England: “You have to open up your heart and let people know what you really think and believe” (p. 6).
Leaders, then, should model the behavior they expect of others and act consistently from their beliefs. They have to talk the talk and walk the talk. Or, put another way, action speaks louder than words. Kouzes and Posner (2011) stated that the personal-best projects that leaders wrote about repeated themes of relentless effort, steadfastness, competence, and attention to detail. Leading by example demonstrates that they are serious about their behavior and the organization’s beliefs and principles. The authors quoted an engineer from their interviews as saying, “One of the best ways to prove something is important is by doing it yourself and setting an example.” That leader noted that she didn’t ask her team to do any- thing she wasn’t willing to do herself. Consequently, the trust between her and the team was mutually edifying. Kouzes and Posner’s ways of leading has become a classic in its wisdom and application.
Although the leaders were engaged in designing larger operational and strategic plans, they always gave time to simple things with followers. Kouzes and Posner (2008) noted that the leaders they observed “were about the power of spending time with someone, of working side by side with colleagues, of telling stories that made values come alive, of being highly
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Section 5.3 The Leadership Challenge: A Model of Transformational Leadership
visible during times of uncertainty, and of asking questions to get people to think about values and priorities” (p. 28).
Inspire a Shared Vision
Effective leaders dream and envision, then effectively translate those dreams and visions into plans, goals, and road maps for follow- ers to implement. When leaders described their personal-best leadership experiences to Kouzes and Posner, they related stories of times when they imagined exciting and attractive futures for their organization. They envisioned possibilities of what could be. They also believed and had absolute con- fidence that extraordinary things could hap- pen from their dreams. Kouzes and Posner noted, “In some ways, leaders live their lives backward. They see pictures in their mind’s eye of what the results will look like even before they’ve started their project, much as an architect draws a blueprint or an engineer builds a model” (p. 32).
Effective leaders not only had inspirational dreams and visions of what their organiza- tions could be, but they could clearly com- municate these pictures in detail. To attract followers, leaders have to present a compel- ling common vision for others to believe. Inspiring a shared vision is a process: Leaders have to know and understand followers’ hopes, aspirations, dreams, and values as well as their own; leaders have to speak the language of their followers; and followers have to also believe that their leaders understand them and their needs and interests. As Kouzes and Posner said, “Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue” (Kouzes and Posner, 2012, ch. 2). A merchandise manager told the authors about sharing her vision: “If you don’t believe enough to share it, talk about it, and get others excited about it then it’s not much of a vision!”
Kouzes and Posner noted that the people in their study reported that they were very enthu- siastic about their personal-best projects, and that their enthusiasm was contagious. Fol- lowers’ beliefs in and enthusiasm for the vision were “the sparks that ignited the flame of inspiration.” These authors also noted that being forward-looking and showing the ability to envision exciting possibilities and sign on others in a shared view of the future “is the attribute that most distinguishes leaders from nonleaders” (Kouzes & Posner, 2009). The authors also found that the second highest requirement of a leader, after honesty, was that they be “ forward-looking.” This characteristic was desired only from the leader role and not the follower role. Only 27% of respondents selected this characteristic as one they
Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment/Thinkstock
Shawn Carter (Jay Z) has won 19 Grammy Awards, made 13 No. 1 albums, and sold out numerous tours. With an estimated net worth of $500 million, he is unquestionably the most successful rapper in history. As one of the most powerful game changers in music, he models the way for others.
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desired in a colleague. But 72% desired it in a leader. (That number rose to 88% when those responding held senior roles in organizations.) Interestingly, research on executives’ working activities estimates that just 3% of the average business leader’s time involves envisioning and enlisting (Kouzes & Posner, 2009).
How do new and evolving leaders develop an ability to inspire a vision, develop a forward- looking capacity, and enlist followers to that vision? Kouzes and Posner suggest the following: (1) They commit to make and schedule time from “urgent but endless operational matters.” (2) They cannot count on their own intuition and foresight. They should about new ideas, future breakthroughs, and what is a better way of doing things. But, Kouzes and Posner state that they cannot offer only their own answers. Followers want future and forward-looking visions “that reflect their own aspirations. They want to hear how their dreams will come true and their hopes will be fulfilled” (Kouzes & Posner, 2009). This challenge is enhanced by the increasing diversity of new workforces.
One other way that aspiring leaders can enlist followers to participate in articulating an inspired vision and enlisting others to join up is being charismatic. Many transforma- tional leaders are charismatic (which we discuss in Chapter 6). Showing enthusiasm and positive energy in communicating and sharing their forward-looking ideas and visions through personal stories, using metaphors, expressing emotions and passionate imagery. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vivid “I Have a Dream” address—delivered in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963—stands as one of the most compelling vision statements in history. King not only breathed life into the hopes and dreams of others, but he infused a passionate desire for freedom in all who listened—and continue to listen—to that speech. His speech also reflected vision elements that charismatic leaders, in particular, use to rally followers: Leaders include purpose and often a moral appeal to the common good or to a cause that underlies a particular ideal end state; they seek commitment, devotion, and sometimes sacrifice in their appeal; and they appeal to the emotions and passions as well as logi- cal levels of sentiment to forge unity of purpose among followers (Langbert & Friedman, 2003).
Challenge the Process
The key elements of challenging the process are (1) taking calculated risks and having a pio- neer mind-set; (2) challenging the status quo in search of a better way of doing things or of making things better; (3) not relying on luck, chance, superstition, or someone else to bring change; (4) creating a supportive climate of experimentation and embracing failure as a pro- cess that leads to innovation; and (5) creating a learning organization where followers feel comfortable taking charge of their work and committing to change that supports new ideas and processes (Kouzes & Posner, 1993).
A product-marketing manager told Kouzes and Posner, “Mediocrity and the status quo will never lead a company to success in the marketplace. Taking risks and believing that taking them is worthwhile.” He continued by saying that risk taking and believing in the risks “are the only way companies can ‘jump’ rather than simply climb the improvement ladder.” Chal- lenge is at the heart of change, and taking risks to challenge the status quo is the beginning of innovation. Every leader in these authors’ study took some type of risk and challenge to move beyond the status quo in their organization, whether it was developing a new product or
Section 5.3 The Leadership Challenge: A Model of Transformational Leadership
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Section 5.3 The Leadership Challenge: A Model of Transformational Leadership
“killer app,” introducing a new piece of legislation, creating a campaign to launch an environ- mental program, or launching a start-up plant or business.
Mahatma Gandhi was known to have said, “Be the change you seek.” Leaders are pioneers; they step into the unknown, searching for opportunities to develop, improve, and create new ways of doing things. No leader in Kouzes and Posner’s study depended on luck or being in the right place at the right time for opportunities to come to them. One person at Intel® stated that leaders should always be looking to improve their team, take initia- tive, network, stay current and competitive, take an interest in what is happening outside of their job or organization, and try new things.
The authors were quick to emphasize that innovation does not come from the leaders alone. Rather, product and service improvements, changes, and new creations come more from lis- tening to others. Those who were doing the work and on the front lines—customers, clients, and vendors—were often the sources of innovation, Kouzes and Posner (1993) discovered. Consequently, “leaders must constantly look outside themselves and their organizations for new and innovative products, processes, and services” (p. 29).
Initiating change that leads to innovation requires that leaders create a climate for experi- mentation and a learning organization: People should be able to sense a willingness to chal- lenge the system and status quo in order to experiment with innovations that lead to new products, services, and processes. Furthermore, people should not be expected to get things right the first time; they can fail and try again. Also, leaders are not expected to be inventors, but rather “patrons and adopters of innovation.” Kouzes and Posner (1993) state that “life is the leader’s laboratory, and exemplary leaders use it to conduct as many experiments as possible. Try, fail, learn. Try, fail, learn. Try, fail, learn. That’s the leader’s mantra. Leaders are learners. They learn from their failures as well as their successes, and they make it possible for others to do the same” (p. 30).
Enable Others to Act
Leaders get things done through other people. Leading through other people requires build- ing trust by exhibiting competence and confidence. It also requires collaborating with others while holding them accountable. In looking over thousands of personal-best cases, Kouzes
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Leaders are pioneers; they step into the unknown, search- ing for opportunities to develop, improve, and create new ways of doing things.
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and Posner (1993) noted how frequently interviewees used the word we and discovered that people used we more often than I in their personal-best leadership experiences.
“Leaders enable others to act not by hoarding the power they have but by giving it away. Exemplary leaders strengthen everyone’s capacity to deliver on the promises they make,” (p. 31) Kouzes and Posner wrote. Followers have to be involved, given feedback, updated, and kept in the information loop. The authors quoted a person in one of their workshops who worked with a communications department and said “inclusion (not exclusion) ensures that everyone feels and thinks that they are owners and leaders—this makes work much easier.”
Because virtual organizations—companies that operate almost solely electronically—are as much the norm as the exception in today’s business environment, leaders must cooperate with stakeholders and followers distributed across geographies and time zones. This includes all those who have a stake in the vision—peers, managers, employees, clients, suppliers, part- ners, citizens, and so on. Leaders must ensure that all complete their work and meet organi- zational goals, and motivate everyone to work with energy and produce quality results. This often requires leaders to engage their personal sense of power, ownership, and responsibility. Traditional command-and-control leadership techniques will not work, Kouzes and Posner (1993) stated, in the new dispersed organizational settings.
Leaders must also take care that their styles do not intimidate, alienate, or distance people, or make them feel weak, undeserving, dependent, or mediocre. Participants in Kouzes and Posner’s working sessions reportedly observed that when leaders empowered their follow- ers (made them feel capable, strong, and trusted), followers gave efforts and results that exceeded even their own expectations. Through empowering relationships, followers become leaders themselves.
Encourage the Heart
Effective leaders encourage, support, and recognize followers for their work throughout their relationship, which can be key when people are exhausted or frustrated. Kouzes and Posner (1993) acknowledged that encouragement is a “serious business.” An organizational climate where people feel valued, cared for, and appreciated by their leaders and peers is a highly effective motivator. Effective leaders often take the time to recognize individuals and teams when a job or assignment is completed; as the authors noted, sometimes a thank-you note or email can be elevating. Some leaders have created newsletters with success stories of employees; others have instituted public recognition programs that offer awards and simple appreciation notices for work well done.
Leaders who demonstrate their support for followers are in effect linking intrinsic as well as extrinsic rewards with performance. Authentically encouraging the heart also promotes unity and solidarity; it develops a strong collective identity and community spirit and tells follow- ers that their behaviors are aligned with the leader’s and organization’s values (Kouzes & Posner, 2011).
Taken together, these five leadership practices (Table 5.1) show everyone in the organization what effective leaders do and how they do it. They also provide guidance for aspiring leaders and reinvigorate effective leadership characteristics for those in such positions.
Section 5.3 The Leadership Challenge: A Model of Transformational Leadership
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Summary & Resources
Table 5.1: The leadership challenge
Leadership Practice Leadership Behavior
Model the Way 1. Find your voice by clarifying your personal values. 2. Set the example by aligning actions with beliefs.
Inspire a Shared Vision 3. Envision the future by imagining exciting possibilities. 4. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.
Challenge the Process 5. Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve.
6. Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes.
Enable Others to Act 7. Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust. 8. Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion.
Encourage the Heart 9. Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. 10. Celebrate values and victories by creating a spirit of community.
Source: Leadership behaviors from “Kouzes Posner Model,” Adapted from Coaching Cosmos, www.coachingcosmos.com
Summary & Resources
Chapter Summary Transactional leadership tends to resemble managerial types of activities and practices, such as monitoring, controlling, planning, supervising, contracting, evaluating, and disci- plining followers to perform routine and predictable tasks. Transformational leadership is characterized by more strategic visioning, inspiring, stimulating and exerting an ideal- ized influence with followers in order to persuade and mobilize them to implement an organization’s vision. Although both styles have advantages and limitations, it is useful to understand how each style works and how you can adapt, learn, and apply processes and practices from each style to help organizations meet situational and follower needs in achieving stated goals.
Transformational leadership has reportedly been “the single most studied and debated idea within the field of leadership” (Diaz-Saenz, 2011, p. 299). McCleskey (2014) stated that pub- lished studies connect transformational leadership to “CEO success, middle manager effec- tiveness, military leadership, cross-cultural leadership, virtual teams personality, emotional intelligence, and a variety of other topics (Diaz-Saenz, 2011)” (p. 120). Research supports the fact that both transformational and transactional leadership styles are part of the full range leadership model and that transformational leaders also use transactional characteristics and practices. Although transformational leaders are also transactional, not all transactional lead- ers are transformational.
Kouzes’ and Pouzner’s well-known model (Model the Way; Inspire a Shared Vision; Challenge the Process; Enable Others to Act; and Encourage the Heart) is offered as a realistic applica- tion of transformational-related leadership practices that can be learned and applied to both strategic long-term and daily short-term situations and contexts.
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Summary & Resources
contingent reward (or contract) Leadership style used to motivate followers to perform by promising rewards for good performance (Bryant, 2003). Rewards of this type include (1) exchange of rewards for effort contracted, (2) rewards for achiev- ing goals promised, and (3) recognition for accomplishments (Hay, 2006).
full range leadership model Illustrates how transactional leadership is an integral part of a leadership spectrum that includes transformational dimensions. The leader- ship dimensions are laissez-faire, manage- ment by exception, contingent reward, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence.
Web Resources
Robert Cialdini on Influence
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OMq5Ni5EMU Social psychologist Robert Cialdini discusses influence and persuasion.
Robert Kaplan on Leadership During Crisis
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3877776/robert-kaplan-on-leadership-during-crisis/ Goldman Sachs senior director Robert Kaplan comments on leadership during the recent financial crisis.
Critical Thinking Questions
1. Using this chapter’s content, identify one leader in the current media or news that you would characterize as transformational and one that you would characterize as transactional. What differences and similarities did you find and why? Could you evaluate each leader’s effectiveness based on whether or not and to what extent she or he was transformational or transactional? Explain.
2. Characterize yourself as transformational or transactional based on the assessment you took in this chapter. Explain. Which style do you prefer for yourself? To which style do you aspire to be?
3. Find an example of a leader in the current news or media that demonstrates each of the five practices of the leadership challenge model in the chapter.
4. Rank order the five practices of the leadership challenge from “most important” to “least important” and explain your reasoning. How would you describe your strengths and areas of needing development on each of the five practices.
5. Identify limitations of transactional and transformational leadership. In what ways do you see these two styles as complementary, and in what ways as very different?
6. Describe why full range leadership study is an important area in leadership and why it is important for practitioners, human resource managers, and new leaders.
Key Terms
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Summary & Resources
idealized influence (or charisma) Part of a transformational leadership style based on the leader’s personality, character, and behaviors, which followers wish to emu- late. Transformational leaders are trusted, admired, and respected because of idealized influence.
individualized consideration Transforma- tional leadership style that offers attention and concern to followers. Leaders exemplify individualized consideration by offering indi- vidual coaching to followers, listening to their concerns, showing empathy to those who are demoralized or need uplifting, helping follow- ers solve problems, providing counseling and emotional support when necessary.
intellectual stimulation A transforma- tional leadership style that moves and supports followers to think and innovate outside the box. Intellectual stimulation can include such leadership behaviors and practices as brainstorming, challenging the beliefs and norms of the group to innovate and be creative, promoting critical think- ing, and problem solving to improve the organization.
laissez faire leadership Abdicates respon- sibilities and avoids observing, giving feed- back, and making decisions. It is the least effective of all of a leader’s characteristics (Bass, 1990).
leadership challenge Kouzes and Posner’s model of five leadership practices that are based on research, practice, and teach- ing. The five practices are model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the pro- cess, enable others to act, and encourage the heart.
management by exception Leadership style has two types: active and passive. Active management by exception is when a leader observes and takes corrective action.
transactional leadership Performs more routine but essential leadership and mana- gerial tasks such as planning, scheduling, controlling, and working with subordinates on detailed assignments. Leaders engage fol- lowers through social exchange.
transformational leadership A style in which a leader seeks to change and engage followers and the organization by creating a compelling vision, strategy, and culture. By being attentive to followers’ needs and identifying the needed change, a transforma- tional leader motivates followers to achieve their potential and the organization’s potential.
wei82445_05_c05_099-124.indd 123 9/2/15 2:03 PM
© 2015 Bridgepoint Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Not for resale or redistribution.
wei82445_05_c05_099-124.indd 124 9/2/15 2:03 PM
© 2015 Bridgepoint Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Not for resale or redistribution.