Characteristics of Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership involves inspiring others and empowering them to change. In this instance, transformational leaders promote a sense of participation and ownership in their teams by utilizing the four I’s. These leaders use individual consideration that promotes positive links through employee mentoring and aiding others to understand their potential and values. Furthermore, these people exhibit intellectual stimulation by encouraging innovative thinking and emphasizing growth opportunities (MSU, 2021). Transformational leaders offer inspirational motivation, positing a vision for the business entity, their employees, and their teams. Finally, these leaders exhibit idealized influence in modeling actions and expectations for employees, earning these people’s respect and trust.
These leaders illustrate an openness to novel thinking whenever the situation arises. Transformational leaders consistently gather information on opportunities to conduct their duties differently, no matter how these ideas exhibit themselves. For instance, Henry Ford demonstrated transformational leadership skills when developing a car concept for his assembly line after visiting a meat-packing organization (MSU, 2021). His open mindset enabled Ford to discern the meat processing of animal carcasses and considered the process in reverse. In this instance, he altered construction processes ensuring each employee worked on the assembly of one part. Ford is one of the largest automakers in the world, owing to the leader’s openness to new thinking.
Additionally, transformational leaders have a talent for expanding minds. This frequently entails altering people’s views on the nature of work. In this way, it is crucial to determine the reason behind one’s mindset and shift their thinking in the right direction. Transformational leaders must understand people’s origins and aid them in moving past their comfort zone. This skill requires them to develop empathy and inspire confidence.
Furthermore, transformational leaders are committed to active listening as they must go past inspiring or requesting ideas. These leaders should make their team members and colleagues emboldened to share their thoughts (MSU, 2021). Such leaders discern notions with an open mind and make conclusions without finality or judgment. They are committed to developing active listening designs to ensure their teams feel understood, seen, and respected. Using such methods, transformational leaders inspire people to share thoughts without feeling the need for self-censorship.
Inspiring Innovation
Transformational leaders seek and retain the best talent, a stark contrast to transactional leaders whose main concern entails money. In this way, transactional leaders never stop looking for better talent, a similar concept to the workers, as they look for better deals. Therefore, if a different business elicits a lucrative offer, a company’s employees may move to the more profitable entity as they do not have a sense of identity at their current workplace (Berke, 2021). Transformational leaders differ significantly from their counterparts as they retain the best talent. These leaders make work appear different from simply making money. Identity development leads to an open communication and a tendency for people to improve their organizational input as they determine a long-term deal rather than short-term contracts. Transformational leaders inspire people to develop new products or offer novel services as they feel like a part of the organization.
Finally, transformational leaders encourage people to make decisions on becoming or conducting themselves better. These individuals are unrestricted and can determine their needs based on creativity and innovation (Berke, 2021). Such people enable the business to innovate and adapt to changing times, updated technologies, and cultural shifts. Transformational leaders are clear about improvement and exhibit their need for thoughtful consideration and seeking new talent.
References
Berke, A. (2021). Transformational leadership. Work patterns. Web.
MSU. (2021). What Are the Characteristics of a Transformational Leader? Michigan State University. Web.