Discussion – Transformational Leadership

Discussion – Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership changes the social systems as well as individuals. The style of leadership is characterized by various elements. Firstly, individualized consideration allows leaders to attend to their followers’ needs. They also act as mentors and coaches and listen to their followers’ needs and concerns. Empathy, open communication, support, and challenging opportunities are critical for successful transformational leadership. It is also important for transformational leaders to applaud each follower’s contribution, which motivates every team member intrinsically. Secondly, intellectual stimulation enables leaders to challenge existing assumptions, solicit ideas from followers, and take risks (Armstrong & Muenjohn, 2014). This stimulates creativity among the followers and creates independent thinkers. In such a case, the challenges that surface are viewed as learning opportunities. The followers are able to create new strategies for achieving the set goals or completing tasks.

Thirdly, inspirational motivation requires the leader to appealingly articulate the vision that teams are working towards. A leader who possesses this aspect is able to articulate the meaning of a task, challenge followers to adhere to high standards, and transfer optimism for the future. A group needs purpose and significance to move forward with the help of appropriate communication skills (Nemours Foundation, 2018). The communication process plays a critical role in ensuring that the vision is not only comprehensive but also engaging and powerful. Fourthly, idealized influence ensures that followers can see ethical behavior, respect, responsible pride, and trust. The four aspects complete the transformational leader, making them effective in achieving the set goals.

Signature Themes: Strengths

Relator

According to the Clifton test, I am a relator. This means that I tend to be attracted to familiar people. In addition, I am comfortable turning strangers into friends. This activity involves enormous risk, as one has to be vulnerable to the other individual to encourage openness. In itself, this behavior or strength displays my optimism in friendship, especially with strangers, and my ability to trust others. It involves a deep sense of understanding each other as each person reveals their fears, goals, and aspirations. The genuineness of a relationship determines its value (Patterson, 2021).

As a transformational leader, this characteristic is important because the followers are usually strangers or acquaintances. Transformational leadership is an action that needs to be done with genuineness and utmost consideration of all followers’ needs and concerns. It is based on trust among all the participants. Optimism is an important element that contributes to the success of a leader’s style. As aforementioned, individualized consideration is a critical aspect that forms the basis of the transformational style of leadership. The leaders’ ability to listen to each member of the team and understand them shows genuineness. It also initiates the process of building trust and enables the followers to open up as well. In the same case, the leader is also obliged to open up to the followers and display their human side, which needs friendship (Prochazka, Vaculik, Smutny, & Jezek, 2018). Thus, being a relator is a strength that is likely to contribute to my chosen style of leadership.

Responsibility

In the test, responsibility refers to an individual’s ability to psychologically commit and follow through with their promises. The ability to do this affects my reputation positively. In cases where I am unable to deliver on my promises, I find other ways to ensure that the other party’s expectations are still met. I am dependable due to my obsession with doing the right thing, avoiding excuses and apologies, and simply making restitution for things not done. For this reason, people tend to seek me out when assigning roles and responsibilities because of the certainty of completion. Unfortunately, it is possible to take on more responsibility than I can comfortably fulfill. This requires that I selectively assume responsibility for what I can handle to avoid disappointing others or tarnishing my reputation.

Such a strong character trait depicts the importance of ethical behavior for transformational leaders. In the idealized influence element, the leader acts as a role model to the followers by displaying high ethical standards. According to the idealized influence component of transformational leadership, such a leader displays authenticity and ethics (Shah, 2017). Their commitment to the organisation’s goals enables them to set aside their personal interests. A leader who displays such commitment to their obligations tends to elicit similar commitment among followers. As a result, transformational leaders with a great sense of responsibility create a reliable team that gets the job done efficiently.

Developer

The ability to see potential in other people regardless of their differences sets me apart as a developer. I tend to believe that no one is complete. Instead, we all work towards personal improvement gradually. My ability to encourage others to challenge themselves in ways that can lead to their success is critical for their growth. The ability to realize others’ potential yields satisfaction and joy. This leads to the attraction of more individuals seeking out my assistance due to the genuineness and fulfillment that they derive from the process.

As a transformational leader, it is important to challenge followers and provide opportunities for growth. Through intellectual stimulation, a leader is able to challenge the followers’ thoughts and ideas. This leads to creativity, which results in strategy development for goal realization. As the followers become independent thinkers, they are able to take on more challenges under the supervision and support of the transformational leader. The leader ensures that followers’ input is sought when dealing with unexpected situations, which are learning opportunities. The developer’s strength is also connected to individualized consideration, which posits that a transformational leader can applaud their followers’ contributions (Farnsworth, Clark, & Hall). Such recognition motivates more individuals to commit to the various roles and responsibilities.

Potential Weaknesses

Over-commitment

The possibility to overcommit to the goals of an organization presents as one of my weaknesses. This is congruent with the ability to follow through with promises to completion. However, as a leader, it is important to teach followers about work-life balance, which yields high productivity consistently. If I am unable to choose the group’s obligations wisely or delegate in a similar manner, I may end up engaging employees for longer hours than recommended. Such extended engagements that interfere with out-of-work obligations can yield resentment among followers. This could affect their commitment to the achievement of goals negatively (Tomaževič, Kozjek, & Stare, 2014).

Includer

My desire to include everyone and stretch the circle as wide as possible serves as a potential weakness. Transformational leaders are responsible for followers who are assigned to them. They cannot be in charge of all groups in different settings. Thus, the desire to include everyone, even the uninterested, undermines the group’s ability to achieve its mandate (Phaneuf, Boudrias, & Rousseau, 2016). The inclusion of uninterested and uncommitted individuals makes the process of leading more difficult. It is important to be able to identify an individual’s interests prior to including them in the group. This avoids the presence of inactive persons who do not contribute to the group’s success. It derails the success of other followers and the leader as well.

Lack of boundaries

As a realtor, it is clear that I am a risk taker when it comes to interacting with strangers and easily turning them into friends. However, in a work/professional setting, the extensive interactions among team members may lead to an assumption of personal boundaries. The need to find relationships between genuineness and care presents a risk of ignoring the professional and personal boundaries that should exist among leaders and team members (Phaneuf, Boudrias, & Rousseau, 2016). It is important that team members still respect their leader. However, such respect can be easily eroded in the process of getting to know each other.

Improving leadership

First, time management is a critical element that can improve leadership effectiveness. As earlier stated, over-commitment of workers is detrimental to the organization and their productivity. It undermines the effectiveness of transformational leadership (Panigrahi, 2018). To ensure that a work-life balance is established, it is important to manage time well. Allocating tasks and duties within working hours shows respect for the followers’ additional obligations. It also eliminates any chances of resentment and increases satisfaction significantly.

Second, setting clear boundaries through example is important in ensuring that all employees respect the same. The transformational leader should encourage the formation of amicable relationships with the followers and amongst themselves. However, it is important to clarify the existing personal boundaries that should be maintained for optimal work performance. Third, it is important to vet an individual’s interests before accommodating them to the group. The vetting process should be clear to avoid the addition of uninterested parties, which may derail the group’s potential significantly. The existence of a common goal for all members reduces conflict and time wastage.

Goals and action plans

Create a 3-month schedule with clear activities and timings.

To battle over-commitment, I intend to create a three-month schedule with clear obligations and timelines. This should avoid cases of undertaking more responsibilities than I can accomplish. It should also facilitate the prioritization of activities. The schedule will be created to cover three months. An evaluation of each activity will be necessary for ensuring that the quality of each result is maintained.

Delegate 25 percent of my responsibilities to others in two months

Delegation is an important aspect of the achievement of quality results. Failure to delegate leads to overwhelming of specific individuals and a reduction in quality (Castrillon, 2019). Thus, my ability to delegate at least 25 percent of my responsibilities to other individuals who can complete the roles efficiently is critical to proper time management. The ability to let go of some activities will increase my likelihood of fulfilling other obligations sufficiently. To support the delegation process, I need to ask for help from other individuals and avoid volunteering for projects that are overwhelming.

References

Armstrong, A., & Muenjohn, N. (2014). The Ethical Dimension in Transformational Leadership. Journal of Business Systems Governance & Ethics, 3(3), 21-38.

Castrillon, C. (2019). 10 Ways To Set Healthy Boundaries At Work. Forbes.

Farnsworth, D., Clark, J. L., & Hall, J. (n.d.). Transformational Leadership: The Transformation of Managers and Associates. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/hr020

Nemours Foundation. (2018). Using Transformational Leadership to Move Health Care Upstream. Retrieved from https://www.movinghealthcareupstream.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/mhcu_transformationalleadership_finalrev3_32917.pdf

Panigrahi, S. K. (2018). Experiencing The Experience(S): Projecting Mahatma Gandhi As A Transformational Leader. Journal Of English Language And Literature, 5(2), 1-8.

Patterson, S. (2021). Your Signature Themes. Gallup, Inc.

Phaneuf, J.-E., Boudrias, J.-S., & Rousseau, V. (2016). Personality and transformational leadership: The moderating effect of organizational context. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 30-35.

Prochazka, J., Vaculik, M., Smutny, P., & Jezek, S. (2018). Leader traits, transformational leadership and leader effectiveness: A mediation study from the Czech Republic. Journal for East European Management Studies, 23(3), 474-501.

Shah, R. A. (2017). Transformational Leadership:The Role of Follower Autonomy. Retrieved from https://www.pugetsound.edu/files/resources/shah-rayna.pdf

Tomaževič, N., Kozjek, T., & Stare, J. (2014). The Consequences of a Work-Family (Im)balance: From the Point of View of Employers and Employees. International Business Research, 7(8).

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1. Reflect on the results of the five categorical strengths from your CliftonStrengths assessment, including what those results might indicate about your leadership.

Discussion – Transformational Leadership

B. Evaluate your leadership using one of the scholarly leadership theories below by doing the following:                                                ⚫ transformational leadership
⚫ transactional leadership
⚫ situational leadership
⚫ participative leadership
⚫ servant leadership
⚫ behavioral leadership
⚫ trait theory of leadership
1. Evaluate three strengths of your leadership using the chosen scholarly leadership theory, including how each strength relates to the theory. Support the evaluation of your strengths with at least one scholarly source.
2. Evaluate three weaknesses of your leadership, using the chosen scholarly leadership theory, including how each weakness relates to the theory. Support the evaluation of your weaknesses with at least one scholarly source.
3. Recommend three actionable items to improve the effectiveness of your leadership, including how each actionable item relates to the chosen scholarly leadership theory. Support the recommendations of actionable items with at least one scholarly source.
Note: A scholarly source could be a reputable journal, a published book, or any source from a university faculty member or business leader. Scholarly sources also include any article or book in the online WGU library.
C. Discuss two short-term goals that will help improve your leadership. Adhere to the SMART criteria for each goal: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.
1. Discuss at least two specific actions you will take to reach each of the SMART goals discussed in part C.
D. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
E. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.