Leadership

LEADERSHIP

Asad Mateen

3242536

Leadership is a complex phenomenon. Leaders are needed in all fields and at all levels to give their best (Adair, 2003). Throughout history theoretical explanations for leadership have been proffered. In simpler terms, leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. Leaders possess certain qualities which distinguish them from non-leaders. They utilize their potential, skill set, and influences to motivate and inspire the followers and help them thrive for the attainment of organizational objectives.  Leaders apply various forms of influence-from subtle persuasion to the direct application of power- to ensure that followers have the motivation and role clarity to achieve specified goals. Several leadership theories have evolved based on behavior, trait, situation, transformation and charisma. Although researchers have tried linking some of these theories, each of the models reflected its own pros, cons, limitations and assumptions.

A leadership style is a way of cross situational behavioral consistency. So it is basically a leader’s way of providing direction, implementing plans and motivating people. The leadership style has impacts on factors such as communication, employee morale, employee input, and overall goals. Nowadays, several leadership traits exist in the same organization (Schmid, 2006). The most famous of the leadership styles are autocratic, bureaucratic, visionary, laissez faire, strategic, transactional, situational and transformational. Apart from these leadership styles, certain leadership theories have also been developed and become popular over time including the trait, behavioral and contingency theories. However, recent approaches to leadership focus on vision and charisma, a term used by sociologist Max Weber to describe leaders who can lead, but who do not hold “a sanctioned office‘‘

In the late 1970‘s the concepts of transactional and transformational leadership emerged. Some latest researches have been conducted on transformational as well as situational leadership styles. In the area of transformational leadership, few important researchers who have contributed immensely are Max Weber, Bernard M. Bass, Warren Bennis and MacGregor Burns (Antonakis and House, 2014). Explicitly, both the transactional and transformational leadership styles can be defined as:

Transactional styles of leadership are basically concerned with managing the normal operation flow. This type of leadership may be regarded as one who keeps the ship afloat. They use disciplinary power including that of incentive schemes to encourage their employees to deliver their best performance (Arredondo Trapero and De Lozada, 2010). This term “transactional” means the fact that this leadership style essentially motivates all members by exchanging performance rewards. A transactional leader does not aim at looking ahead to strategically guide an organization towards a position of market leadership, rather they are only concerned with the fact that every organizational activity is performed smoothly.

Transformational leadership, on the other hand, enables a leader to go beyond managing of everyday operations as well as crafting strategies to take the organization, department or team to a level forward towards success. This leadership style focuses upon the aspects such as motivation, team-building and collaboration with all employees at varied levels in an organization for accomplishing changes for betterment (Athanasaw, 2003). These transformational leaders usually set goals as well as scheme of incentives to lead the members to a better and higher level of performances, while giving the members key opportunities to incorporate personal as well as professional growth for every employee.

 It is important to have a thorough understanding of the contrasting elements amidst transactional as well as transformational leadership which is essential to get the idea about the whole concept of leadership theories. Different leaders are said to employ different leadership styles that range from facilitative styles to autocratic or micromanaging styles. They may also use various motivational strategies to boost performances of employees/ sub-ordinates to bring about significant internal changes. In fact, transformational and transactional leadership are considered as polar opposites when it comes to underlying managerial as well as motivation theories.

Transactional and transformational leadership exhibit the following key differences:

1. Transactional leadership reacts to problems as they arise, whereas transformational leadership is more likely to address issues before they become problematic.

2. Transactional leaders work within existing organizational culture, while transformational leaders emphasize new ideas and thereby "transform" organizational culture.

3. Transactional leaders reward and punish in traditional ways according to organizational standards; transformational leaders attempt to achieve positive results from employees by keeping them invested in projects, leading to an internal, high-order reward system.

4. Transactional leaders appeal to the self-interest of employees who seek out rewards for themselves, in contrast to transformational leaders, who appeal to group interests and notions of organizational success.

5. Transactional leadership is more akin to the common notions of management, whereas transformational leadership adheres more closely to what is colloquially referred to as leadership.

Transactional and transformational leadership styles are most often compared and contrasted. Various management styles are aptly suited at varied situations. Considering the front-line supervisors, a transactional leader is far more effective. For instance, it would be more effective when supervisors are shifted to a fast food restaurant where they are concerned with the smooth running of every situation, instead of spending time in thinking of better ways to serve hamburgers. On the other side, sales managers or corporate CEOs may be more effective when they act as transformational leaders (Deichmann and Stam, 2015). They need the ability of designing as well as communicating key strategic missions, thereby passing the missions to the transactional leaders to implement in details. Transformational leadership may be differentiated from transactional leadership in ways that it is solely aimed at innovation whereas the later emphasizes upon planning as well as execution. Also, it emphasizes on the system of rewards as well as punishments for achieving goals (Hinkin and Schriesheim, 2008). They attempt to create new opportunities for organizational employees, while transactional style is said to work off of an existing structure. Another key aspect is that transformational leadership is meant to motivate employees whereas the other emphasizes upon using manipulation of authority as well as power.