Transformational leadership: dynamic instead of directive!

A constantly changing environment requires ever more flexible and dynamic corporate and leadership models. One prominent and increasingly widespread leadership style is transformational leadership. In Germany, many organizations are still managed in a directive manner, with discipline, rules and a focus on performance forming the cornerstones of the corporate culture. This approach may be successful in predictable, stable environments, but in most industries, more flexibility is now required. Read the new article from zweikern to find out what transformational leadership is all about and what benefits companies and employees enjoy as a result of this management style.

Transactional versus transformational

Towards the end of the 20th century, political scientist James MacGregor Burns analyzed the leadership styles of various politicians and came up with a distinction between two basic styles: transactional and transformational leadership. While the former strives to maintain the status quo, transformational leadership aims to bring about change. This theory was ultimately expanded by Bernard Morris Bass, who extended this approach from politics to employee management. Leaders with a transactional mindset set clear guidelines regarding the performance expected of employees and the consequences of achieving goals. Employees are motivated extrinsically (externally), i.e. through rewards, tasks and responsibility.

Transformational leadership, on the other hand, attempts to awaken the intrinsic (inner) motivation of employees and thereby create loyalty, respect and trust towards the manager. Bass describes four criteria that must be met for this to happen: The manager should act as a role model, stimulate intellectually, provide individual support and motivate in an inspiring way. Employees should thus become more independent and self-confident and demonstrate intrapreneurship. If this management style is successfully implemented, employees are empowered to change their own behavior and thus contribute to the continuous improvement of work processes and collaboration. This enables the company to be adaptable and agile.

The 6 dimensions of transformation

Bass has postulated four basic competencies that transformational leaders must fulfill (be a role model, stimulate intellectually, support individually, motivate inspirationally). These were expanded by Podsakoff and colleagues (1990), resulting in six dimensions.

1. being a role model

People are more likely to imitate the behavior and attitudes of others if they respect them. So if a manager expects certain skills from employees, they should first practise them themselves.

2. create a vision

Shared visions and values are basic prerequisites for the emergence of inspiration and motivation. If a company is committed to a certain vision, this encourages employees to set and achieve goals that come closer to these values. If there are no shared goals, productivity and working relationships can suffer.

3. individual support

If employees are to be motivated and satisfied in their company, it is extremely important to support individual needs. Personal skills and strengths are encouraged and developed through a supportive attitude on the part of the manager. As a result, employees feel valued and develop greater self-confidence, which empowers them to tackle new challenges.

4. promote group goals

In addition to the organization's visions, subordinate group goals are also essential for strengthening the sense of unity. By pursuing common goals, the human need for belonging is satisfied, which has a positive influence on well-being. Individual goals are aligned with group goals so that all team members are pulling in the same direction.

5. stimulate intellectually

The fifth dimension describes the intellectual stimulation of employees by the manager. If employees are encouraged to think innovatively and find mistakes or opportunities for improvement in existing systems, the entire company benefits.

6. expect performance

Transformational leaders expect employees to perform according to their individual strengths and encourage them to take on responsibility. It is important not to set expectations so high that they are impossible to achieve. Even very low expectations are counterproductive and can also have a demotivating effect.

Easier said than done?

Agreeing on the individual dimensions of transformational leadership and putting them into practice is no easy task. Opportunities for exchange and discussion must be created and the results of the exchange must also be implemented. In practice, treating all team members equally is probably not always compatible with taking individual needs into account. In addition, experience and relationships within the team must be established in advance to enable mutual trust to be consolidated. The manager must demonstrate this trust both to the employees and to themselves, which is probably easier for experienced managers than inexperienced managers.

This type of leadership may sometimes be more strenuous than merely directive behavior, but it makes up for the extra effort by increasing creativity, commitment and togetherness. As mentioned in a recent article, the transformational leadership style is particularly promising in times of crisis due to its flexibility and individuality. Adaptation is essential for survival in uncertain environments that present new challenges every day. This is precisely the strength of this leadership style.

Conclusion on transformational leadership

Rigid hierarchies and inflexibility are the hallmarks of many German companies. If the view of employee management and corporate cultures does not change soon, the competitiveness of many organizations will suffer sooner or later. If managers want to strive for different directions, values or certain leadership styles, coaching and consulting can help. If the six dimensions of transformational leadership described above are taken into account, nothing can stand in the way of adaptive leadership.

If you want to be happy for a long time, you have to change often enough.

From Confucius

Literature:

Bass, B. M. (1985):Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.

Burns, J. MacGregor (1978): Leadership. New York: Harper [&] Row

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Moorman, R. H., [&] Fetter, R. (1990): Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 1, 107-142.