Defining Leadership: Key Insights
The significance of leadership can hardly be overrated. People have been searching for years for the tools and strategies that help become a successful leader, as the specified skills can be used in not only professional but also personal life. Despite the common misconception, leadership qualities are not intrinsic and can be developed in basically anyone with the help of consistent training. As a result, a range of studies and programs on developing these skills have been created.
Northouse showed quite graphically that the phenomenon of leadership can be defined from a variety of perspectives. Traditionally, it is viewed nowadays as the means of attaining a specific goal and coordinating the efforts of the team by empowering each member to attain success. Therefore, the concept has gone a long way from being viewed as a focus on control and power to the concept of empowering people for better performance and working toward a common goal.
It is quite peculiar that, due to the numerous interpretations of the phenomenon, different means of describing it were designed. Viewing the subject matter from a dual perspective, one will single out five key perspectives, i.e., trait vs. process leadership, assigned vs. emergent leadership, leadership vs. power, leadership vs. coercion, and leadership vs. management. The first three concepts point to the fact that leadership may help focus on different aspects of performance and, therefore, adopt different performance enhancement tools based on the approach used. The three latter emphasize that leadership while sharing certain characteristics with power, coercion, and management, is a much larger concept that incorporates each of the above-mentioned phenomena. The chapter, therefore, shed a lot of light on the concept of leadership.
Trait and Skills Leadership Theories
Locating the nature of leadership is a challenging task that a range of scholars have been pursuing, the trait leadership being the first outcome of these endeavors. Claiming that leadership is dependent on the intrinsic personal qualities, the specified approach was soon ousted by a more optimistic theory that positioned leadership as a behavioral pattern that can be learned by acquiring certain skills. One should give Northouse credit for acknowledging the benefits of the trait leadership concept despite the obvious prevalence of the skills-related theory in the contemporary management and education field. Specifically, Northouse connects the two theories pointing to the fact that the ability to lead can be developed through the promotion of emotional intelligence, yet there are essential characteristics that should be acquired in the process, such as “willingness to accept consequences of decision and action” (Northouse, 2013, p. 21). In other words, Northouse makes it obvious that the process of developing leadership abilities should not be erratic and, instead, has to be aimed at specific and measurable objectives.
The specified idea is reiterated in the study by Citaku et al. (2012). According to the authors of the study, researchers fail to prove that leadership qualities are inborn and cannot be acquired: “much of the research evidence fails to provide an integrated framework for understanding what constitutes leadership effectiveness” (Citaku et al., 2012, p. 2). Citaku, therefore, insists that the key abilities of a good leader can be developed once the appropriate goals are set and an adequate learning strategy is designed. In other words, the success of developing leadership skills depends greatly on the choice of the education approach as opposed to the trait theory postulates.
Situational Approach and Contingency Theory
Despite the benefits of the skills theory provided above, it still cannot stand on its own as the all-embracing foundation for becoming an efficient leader. The concept of the subject matter can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, the ability of the leader to manage conflicts in the target environment and make adequate decisions being the essential one. The situational approach and the contingency theory shed some light on the specified feature of leadership.
Northouse explains quite clearly that the successful management of an actual project or a team hinges on a variety of factors including internal and external ones and that the intensity of the specified factors is constantly changing, being influenced by the economic, political, social, and cultural background of the stakeholders involved. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that there is no specific set of actions that a leader must take to reach the objectives. Instead, one must analyze the current situation, and the factors involved carefully to make a unique decision, which will affect a project correspondingly. Defined as situational (Northouse, 2013), the specified approach presupposes that the choice of styles depends greatly on the developmental level of an organization.
The contingency theory, in its turn, offers a slightly different approach by matching leaders to specific situations. In a way, the given strategy can be viewed as an extension of the trait theory, as it presupposes that different leaders have different sets of skills and that each can be used to solve the corresponding problem. The contingency theory, therefore, can be viewed as the tool for addressing minor issues that do not require a comprehensive strategy and that require focusing on highly changeable variables as well as the LPC score of the leader.
Path-Goal and Leader-Member Theories
Identifying a Leader
Being a leader primarily presupposes not merely displaying the skills of a manager but basically inspiring people and motivating them to succeed. In other words, a true leader is capable of helping people change and grow both professionally and personally (Northouse, 2013). In fact, it is the personal change that a good leader must be concerned with in the first place. Therefore, when it comes to defining the leader that I consider a good role model to follow, the Dalai Lama obviously tops the list of the current most influential leaders. He affects people’s values and behavioral patterns by appealing to their concept of justice and good, which is worth admiring.
Leadership and Management: Differences
Although leadership and management are often erroneously viewed as synonyms, there are several crucial differences between the two. First and most obvious, the social aspect of leadership deserves to be mentioned. Unlike management, which presupposes primarily coordinating the efforts of the team, leadership contributes to a change in the behavioral patterns of the subordinates. Particularly, unlike a manager, whose primary task concerns the distribution of roles and responsibilities among the staff members, a leader must search for the ways of motivating the employees to excel in their performance and attain impressive results: “For the leader, the challenge is to use a leadership style that best meets subordinates’ motivational needs” (Northouse, 2013, p. 137).
In addition, unlike a manager, a leader must assume the behavioral patterns that will create a role model for the staff to follow. In other words, a leader must incorporate the elements of a directive style, which is supposed to instruct the staff members on the further course of actions, the supportive one, and the participative one. In other words, a leader must not merely direct the staff members or the participants of a project but also empower them to achieve stellar results. Consequently, the choice of the way, in which the tasks are distributed, requires the guidance of a leader, whereas a manager only assigns the participants of a project with specific guidelines and defines the existing rules. In addition, from the perspective of the leader-member exchange theory (LMX), successful leadership requires enhanced communication between the people involved.
Approaches to Leadership: Northouse vs. Alanazi & Rasli
There are many ways to approach and explain the phenomenon of leadership. For instance, the subject matter can be interpreted as the process of interaction between the participants and the leader to attain the common goal and achieve the highest results possible. Particularly, Northouse suggests that the LMX theory should be included in the set of tools for leadership analysis. Much to Northouse’s credit, he does not claim leadership to be a one-dimensional concept that can be interpreted with the help of a single theory. In addition to the LMX leadership philosophy, he also suggests the path-goal approach as the means to make the team strive toward a common goal.
Some scholars, however, insist that there are other and more efficient ways of dissecting the phenomenon of leadership and studying its components. For instance, a recent study by Alanazi and Rasli (2013) shows that there are other ways of looking at the path-goal theory. Particularly the authors specify that the given approach is successful due to the emphasis on the importance of the effort made as opposed to Northouse’s interpretation of the path-goal approach as the tool for reinforcing cooperation.
One might argue that Northouse’s interpretation of the theory also points to the necessity to emphasize the outcome of the effort taken by the members of the team. Particularly, the fact that Northouse mentions motivation as the driving force behind the path-goal theory (Northouse, 2013) needs to be brought up. For instance, the author emphasizes the importance of the image of a leader, since it serves as the means of promoting a particular change in the behavioral patterns of the target audience.
When it comes to choosing between the viewpoints provided above, it seems that Northoouse’s one is more legitimate. While it would be wrong to claim that Alanazi and Rasli’s one does not hold any water, Northouse still represents the subject matter in a slightly more interesting way by adding the concept of cooperation to it. Motivating an employee to perform well is not as tricky as it might seem with the introduction of several incentives; however, making an entire group cooperate efficiently and attain a specific goal requires impressive communication skills, including the ability to resolve conflicts and negotiate. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Northouse’s interpretation of the theory in question is more complex than the one of Alanazi and Rasli and deserves a more thorough analysis.
The Essential yet Discrete Characteristic of Leadership
According to Northouse (2013), no matter what leadership strategy is chosen as the tool for managing the key processes in an organization, there will always be six essential aspects that a leader will have to address. According to Northouse, six leadership behaviors are typically identified: the charismatic, the team-oriented, the participative, the human-oriented, the autonomous, and the self-protective one. Each of the six concepts mentioned above can be viewed as the extension of the single leadership theory that promotes a sustainable approach to managing different scenarios. It would be wrong to claim that some of the elements listed above are intrinsically wrong, whereas others have an entirely positive result; instead, they should be viewed as different tools for solving the problems that may emerge in an educational or a business setting. Herein the key link between the six elements listed above lies; each of them is supposed to create the sustainable environment, in which the emergent problems and conflicts can be approached accordingly and addressed in a reasonable manner. The delicate balance that every element listed above contributes to serves as the foundation for entrepreneurship, a program, or a company to be based on and to function properly. Although each of these items contributes to the promotion of sustainability in its own way, the effects are quite similar when a sensible leadership strategy is used. As soon as the mission and the meaning are created, the power is executed, the existence is facilitated, and the resources are used in a responsible and sustainable manner, the project is likely to become a success.
Transformational and Authentic Leadership Styles
Because of the unique characteristics of each organization, project, or team, the necessity to adopt different leadership strategies emerges. While some of the latter may be viewed as less efficient than others, they can still be applied in a specific setting to solve a particular problem or reach a unique objective. Transformational and servant leadership styles are typically viewed as the most adequate specimens of the leadership styles array.
The transformational leadership style is typically viewed as the tool for enhancing the staff’s motivation by designing the role model that the participants are likely to be willing to follow. In other words, the specified approach combines the elements of a charismatic leadership strategy and the visionary one (Northouse, 2013). Adopting the specified strategy, a leader has to acquire a charisma that the staff will find appealing; in case of success, the leader is likely to observe a rapid change in the behavioral patterns of the employees and a significant rise in their motivation rates.
Ousting the transformative leadership style as the latest and the most promising approach to managing relationships among the participants and attaining the key goals, the phenomenon of the authentic leadership can be viewed as the means of contextualizing leadership and locating the tools required to handle specific conflicts.
The six essential components of authentic leadership are traditionally arranged in the so-called “Authentic Action Wheel” (Northouse, 2013, p. 256) and address different areas of the functioning of an organization, a project, or a team. To be more specific, these include the meaning (i.e., corporate values, ethical standards, vision, etc.), the mission (i.e., the goals set by the leader, the objectives to meet, etc.), the existence (including the company’s or the project’s background), the power (particularly, the tools that enhance motivation), the resources (including finance, human, equipment, etc.), and structure (i.e., guidelines, rules, and policies) (Northouse, 2013). Each of the elements of the wheel is admittedly crucial to the success of a project’s or a company’s operation; therefore, it is imperative that a sustainable approach should be designed to make sure that each of the aspects is managed accordingly.
The authentic leadership, therefore, creates premises for managing a company in a sustainable manner and solving the conflicts that may emerge in the process by identifying a unique solution that fits the specified problem. For this purpose, the leader must design the values and ethical principles for the participants to use in the course of decision-making. Herein the significance of the components of the authentic leadership such as transparency and self-awareness lies; as long as the people involved display a responsible attitude toward the decision-making process, the goals of the entrepreneurship or the project that they participate in will be met
Team Leadership and Its Effects
There are a variety of ways to analyze the phenomenon of leadership, and the more aspects thereof are incorporated into the analysis, the better. The phenomenon of team leadership, in its turn, allows viewing the concept under analysis from a number of aspects, therefore, contributing to its better understanding.
When it comes to defining the key characteristics of the team leadership that make it so efficient and allow defining it as a breakthrough in the leadership and management practice, one must mention the fact that it provides the strategic decision model that can be adopted to address basically any scenario. Evaluating the efficacy of questionnaire as the key tool for retrieving the necessary information, though, one may argue that the restricted amount of information that they offer may impede the process of analysis.
Psychodynamic Approach
Two Aspects of Leadership
Of all the methods of approaching the concept of leadership, the psychodynamic one is, perhaps, the most original, as it views the participants of a specific project as not an entity but a team of individuals. In other words, the psychodynamic approach allows for viewing leadership as the process of enhancing one’s performance by encouraging one to use their assets.
The assessment of the participants involved as the key to improving their performance and enhancing their motivation can be viewed as one of the strongest aspects of the leadership style in question. Specifically, the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as the means of defining the participants’ strengths and weaknesses is a rather peculiar detail. Seeing that the specified instrument provides an opportunity to evaluate people’s personality from a range of perspectives, it can be assumed that the psychodynamic approach helps improve the participants’ motivation by understanding their capacities, wishes and needs altogether. This is what makes the psychodynamic approach so perfect – it helps assign people with the roles that they will assume eagerly and the responsibilities that they will take willingly.
Another peculiar aspect concerning the psychodynamic approach is the fact that it allows revaluating the participants’ personalities from the perspective of the social character. In fact, the very concept of social character is unique and worth developing further as the basis for the leadership strategy evolution. The opportunity to appeal to the interactive social character of the participants’ personality creates premises for completing any task successfully and making sure that the people involved bloom as experts in the designated area. Therefore, as a part and parcel of the newly adopted approach to executing the leadership duties in the educational setting, it is a crucial stage that needs to be explored more.
Transformational Leadership in Real-Life Situations
The significance of transformational leadership in the educational setting can hardly be overrated. Since learners need motivation to study and the transformational leadership strategy boosts the rates thereof extensively, transformational leadership can be viewed as the prime example of improving students’ performance and helping them acquire the necessary skills by offering them a role model to follow and appealing to their ethical values. Thus, the transformational leadership style can be viewed as a perfect tool to use when students display no enthusiasm in learning a particular subject or in the overall educational process.
In my experience as a learner, I have encountered a range of teachers who adopted the transformational leadership approach to promote active learning among students. Particularly, I remember the college experience that I had in the third grade. Most of the students were less than enthusiastic about learning basically anything, and this attitude seemed contagious as even the learners that performed well seemed to get under its influence. However, our new History teacher managed to turn this situation around by setting a very good personal example and appealing to the needs of each and every student. After learning about our hobbies and acquiring general information about our likes and dislikes, the teacher developed the approach of laying out the material that resembled storytelling and that each of the learners could participate in. More importantly, every student felt comfortable, as the tasks were distributed among the students based on their key characteristics such as introverts and extroverts, active listeners and active talkers, etc.
The above-mentioned experience literally turned the attitude of most students around. Not only did we become interested in History and start acquiring the corresponding knowledge in a faster and more efficient manner but also realized the significance of studying. As a result, the given experience set the stage for most of us to develop the aptitude for self-directed learning along with lifelong learning. This experience showed us that being able to learn is an important skill that will help us grow on both the professional and the personal level.
Servant Leadership: Strengths and Weaknesses
Also known as transformational, the servant leadership approach can boost the participants’ motivation and enthusiasm rates significantly. Therefore, the people involved will do their best to perform well. At the first glance, it might seem that the term “servant” is self-explanatory; however, a closer look at the phenomenon under analysis will reveal that the idea behind the servant leadership style is much deeper than merely catering to the basic and current needs of the participants.
It is also essential that the servant leadership has an “explicit moral dimension” (Northouse, 2013, p. 222). The specified characteristic of the subject matter shows that the leader is capable of creating a very strong role model for the participants to follow. More importantly, the incorporation of strong moral values into the foundation of the servant leadership strategy makes the people involved follow a set of very rigid moral obligations, which eliminate any possibility of a dishonest or even fraudulent action committed by the project members. The specified phenomenon is especially important in the educational setting, where students may cheat in pursuit of good marks without understanding the implications of their actions and the effect of the latter on their personal and professional development.
Unfortunately, the servant leadership also has its problems, the possibility for overlooking a specific problem being its key weakness. Indeed, according to the existing characteristics of the servant leadership strategy, it creates premises for building a very strong community (Northouse, 2013). While the given feature thereof cannot be deemed as negative, it makes a leader shift the emphasis from the achievement of short-term goals that may be crucial to addressing long-term issues. Consequently, the organization or the project that the leader is in charge of may suffer considerable losses. An important tool for inspiring and motivating the people involved, servant leadership needs to be incorporated in a general leadership approach.
Transformational Servant Leadership: Ethical Implications
The very concept of transformational, or servant, leadership is based on motivating the participants and enhancing their enthusiasm by permitting them to evolve personally, academically, and professionally (Northouse, 2013). However, apart from promoting significant progress among the people involved, the servant leadership approach prompts the ethical growth of the participants.
The ethical implications of using the transformational, or servant, leadership approach are quite impressive; by convincing people to accept a set of specific ethical principles and providing them with a role model to follow, the specified approach contributes to the ethical growth. The moral dimensions of the team members become much more complex, yet the foundation for the decision-making process becomes rather stable, being based on a set of rigid moral principles (Northouse, 2013).
The ethical development of the people contributing to the project, therefore, can be deemed as the key ethical outcome of implementing the specified model. However, apart from the acceptance of new ethical principles and being challenged into developing a more complex system of ethical beliefs and standards, the servant leadership strategy also has a very strong and powerful impact on the leaders. Indeed, becoming a role model for the entire team of learners to follow is a challenging task that demands a consistent compliance with the above-mentioned ethical standards. More importantly, the very concept of a servant, or transformational, leadership presupposes that the leader should view the people involved in the project as not subordinates but members and active participants. In other words, the role of the leader is altered slightly when viewed from the perspective of the transformational leadership approach; instead of being the instructor that points people to specific problems and the need to solve them, a transformational leader helps the learners grow by managing specific problems and making decisions (Northouse, 2013).
Gender Issues in Leadership
Women- and Non-Women Leadership: Difference
Although the gender issue has been addressed extensively in the realm of education over the past few years, it still persists, triggering numerous conflicts. According to Northouse (2013), studies show that there is, in fact, a major difference between the leadership approaches adopted by people of the two genders. Particularly, researches point to the fact that women tend to assume the approaches that are based on the principles of transformative leadership, whereas men are less lenient toward the specified leadership type (Northouse, 2013). To put it differently, female leaders are more inclined toward promoting change in the target setting as opposed to male ones.
The specified difference between the strategies adopted by men and women in the educational setting is not the only one, though. Apart from the feature mentioned above, the outcomes of male and female leadership may be different depending on the area in which they are executed. For instance, Northouse points to the fact that the leadership strategies used by women appear to have a very strong impact on the issues in the social area, including education, social services, etc. The performance of male leaders, in its turn, seems to have a very significant effect in the military domain (Northouse, 2013). Additionally, women seem to be less efficient when it comes to the process of supervision: “women were less effective than men were when they supervised a higher proportion of male subordinates or when a greater proportion of male raters assessed the leaders’ performance” (Northouse, 2013, p. 303). In other words, the leadership style adopted by men seems more aggressive, whereas women are clearly inclined to use non-aggressive methods of boosting the participants’ motivation.
Reasons for the Gender Differences in Leadership to Exist
Northouse’s (2013) study shows that the difference between the male and female styles of leadership is quite drastic. The phenomenon above can be attributed to the social differences between the two genders as well as the social stereotypes that shape the personal development of men and women. Even in the contemporary society, the idea of men being militant and women being nice and friendly still shapes the behavioral patterns of men and women in most cultures. Although the concept of gender equality and, therefore, the opportunity to manifest one’s unique character traits without being judged, is considered the foundation for the contemporary communication process, social prejudice still compel men to be aggressive in the process of communication, while women are expected to be somewhat submissive (). The phenomenon mentioned above can be viewed as the key reason for the differences in the leadership styles of men and women to exist. It is believed that men should be aggressive to attain success in the society, while women are supposed to be subdued so that they could not become an obstacle on the men’s way to progress (). Although the specified social injustice is disapproved of nowadays in many cultures, it still has a very powerful effect on people’s leadership style on a subconscious level, which leads to the development of similar leadership patterns among the representatives of the same gender.
One might argue that there is a biological explanation to the phenomenon of gender-based leadership. However, biologically, the brain chemistry of men is the same to the one of women, which means that there are no reasons to believe that physiology has anything to do with the specified phenomenon: “Gender egalitarianism is concerned with how much societies deemphasize members’ biological sex in determining the roles that members play in their homes, organizations, and communities” (Northouse, 2013, p. 341).
Transformative Leadership and the Aggression Issue
The importance of the role of transformational leadership style in the contemporary educational setting is no to be overlooked. Transformational leadership, which, as it has been stressed above, is supported extensively by female educators, affects students in a very powerful manner by prompting the development of their information management skills in a very subtle way. Therefore, although being a primarily women’s weapon of choice in the education area, it needs to be encouraged among the male leaders as well. While claiming that no male leaders use the specified tool would be quite a stretch, the study still shows that men tend to overlook the importance of motivation among the participants. Therefore, it is imperative that the key principles of transformational leadership as a female strategy should be reinforced among male leaders.
The aggression issue, in its turn, is a bit more ambiguous. It is traditionally stressed that aggression leads to very negative outcomes and that it prevents the participants from approaching a specific problem from a constructive angle. Despite being rather justified, these statements are not quite correct, as they allow viewing the issue from only one perspective. Aggression may be interpreted as the willingness to resolve the conflict in a fast and efficient manner; therefore, it should be channeled into a non-destructive yet nonetheless efficient and expeditious problem-solving process.
Leadership, Ethic, and Morality
Charisma in Leadership
Typically defined as a “generalized way of pointing to and emptily explaining an emotional relationship that is too readily characterized as fascination” (Ciulla, 2004, p. 320) charisma is essential for a leader to be successful due to the need to create an image that the team members will be able to view as a role model to follow. By creating a charisma that the participants will accept as a positive one, a leader will motivate the people in the team to excel in the designated domain.
Being more than merely a specific behavior that attracts the attention of the target audience, charisma serves as the means of convincing people to assume a specific behavioral pattern and accept a set of values, including ethical ones. The specified objective is accomplished by creating a positive image of a leader that the participants are willing to view as exemplary one. Therefore, the adoption of a charismatic leadership approach defines the speed and efficacy with which the participants are going to accomplish the project goals.
More importantly, the use of charisma as the key leadership will create premises for the development of responsible attitudes among the target audience (Ciulla, 2004). The specified phenomenon is especially essential in the educational setting, where learners are supposed to develop the skills that will help them acquire information and process it efficiently in the future.
Naturally, it would be wrong to claim that, with the design and usage of a powerful charisma, a leader may abandon the rest of the tools that promote an increase in the participants’ motivation rates. Moreover, when overusing their charisma, leaders may fail to address the needs of the participants and, instead, view themselves as what has to be in focus (Ciulla, 2004). Therefore, the subject matter needs to be used wisely.
Ethics and Leadership Effectiveness
To lead a team successfully and maintain the motivation rates high among the participants, a leader must follow a set of rigid ethical standards and demand the team members to do the same (Northouse, 2013). At this point, the fact that the leader must display complete compliance with the aforementioned ethical standards as well deserves to be brought up. The reasons for the specified requirement are quite obvious; as soon as at least a single student notices that the instructor breaks the ethical code, the image of the role model that the educator has created will be destroyed and have no effect on the participants any longer.
For instance, in the educational setting, a leader must promote a responsible attitude by disapproving of cheating. However, when some students report on others cheating, the leader should also view the specified phenomenon from a critical perspective to avoid slander and development of distrust among students. Particularly, the educator must make it clear that the instances of informing on fellow students.
Similarly, the educational setting must not become the environment, in which teachers abuse their power. Particularly, a teacher must always be objective to students and avoid passing judgments based on personal attitudes. For instance, when evaluating the progress of a student that the teacher feels personal enmity to, a teacher must remain honest and give a fair assessment despite the personal emotions (Northouse, 2013).
Another example of ethical behavior, the issue regarding bribery deserves to be mentioned. When assuming the leadership strategy based on a set of rigid ethical principles, a teacher must abstain from accepting favors from students in exchange for good grades. As long as an educator follows the code of conduct designed for students, the latter are likely to meet the existing requirements and perform well, displaying high motivation rates (Northouse, 2013).
Moral Luck in Leadership: Consequences
Another way of viewing the problem of free will vs. determinism in ethics, the phenomenon of moral luck can also be applied to the decision-making process that a leader is often involved in. The implications of the specified concept may vary from highly positive to quite negative. It should be borne in mind, though, that the outcomes of moral luck are not necessarily negative; sometimes, the instance of moral luck may lead to the success of a project. However, it is essential that the leaders realize where their responsibility for the results ends.
Supposing, one of the project members is unable to carry out the corresponding tasks that they were assigned with due to specific circumstances (e.g., health issues), the participants are under a significant time pressure, and the project fails. In the specified scenario, the leader is not to be blamed for the failure. However, in case the leader receives a moral blame for the failure, the given situation can be defined as moral luck. Indeed, based on the existing definition, moral luck may occur once the agent receives negative feedback for the outcomes that the agent in question was not responsible for, which is exactly the case in point.
Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles
Odumeru and Ifeanyi (2013) along with Riaz and Haider (2010) shed some light on the concepts of transformational and transactional leadership approaches in their studies. According to the former, both transformational and transactional approaches have a significant effect on the motivation rates among employees. As a result, a rapid increase in staff satisfaction rates can be expected.
It should be noted, though, that the study carried out by Riaz and Haider (2010) displayed different outcomes for the employees working in public and private sectors. Particularly, the research pointed to the fact that the people managing the HR issues in the private sector are more prone to adopting the transformational and transactional approaches to address the emergent problems in the target area. The specified phenomenon is related directly to the satisfaction rates increase among the employees working in the private sector. Thus, it can be assumed that the combination of transactional and transformational leadership styles triggers an increase in the staff’s motivation.
Likewise, Odumeru and Ifeanyi’s (2013) study also outlines the significance of the transformational and transactional leadership styles. The research, however, makes it quite clear that there is a solid difference between the outcomes of the transformational and transactional styles adopted. Particularly, the former presupposes that the transactional leadership merely allows the staff members to perform better in a specific environment, whereas the latter helps alter the specified environment to improve the staff’s performance.
Reference List
Alanazi, T. R., & Rasli, A. M. (2013). Overview of path-goal leadership theory. Comprehensive Research Journal of Management and Business Studies, 1(1), 1–6.
Citaku, F., Violato, C., Beran, T., Donnon, T., Hecker, K., & Cawthorpe, D. (2012). Leadership competencies for medical education and healthcare professions: population-based study. BMJ, 2(e000812.), 1–10.
Ciulla JB. (2004). Ethics and leadership effectiveness. In J Antonakis, AT Cianciolo, & RJ Sternberg, (Eds.), The nature of leadership (pp. 302-327). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Odumeru, J. A., & Ifeanyi, G. O. (2013). Transformational vs. transactional leadership theories: Evidence in literature. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(2), 355–361.
Riaz, A., & Haider, M. H. (2010). Role of transformational and transactional leadership on job satisfaction and career satisfaction. Business and Economic Horizons, 1(1), 29–38.