Term Paper on "Notion of Transformational Leadership, First Developed"

Term Paper 12 pages (3591 words) Sources: 15

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The notion of transformational leadership, first developed by James

MacGregor Burns in 1978, has become the subject of great debate and

discussion in academic and corporate circles. While management scholars may

disagree on the exact definition of transformational leadership, and what

exactly it means to be a transformational leader, there does appear to be

some consensus that transformational leading involves bringing an

organization to a higher level of performance by selling a vision that

appeals to organizational and staff values (Boje, 2000). Transformational

leadership has been credited with success at companies such as Apple,

Chrysler and Disney, and companies regularly seek charismatic executives

who have the potential to be transformational leaders (Yukl and Howell,

1999).

But in order to truly appreciate the effect of transformational

leadership, we must be able to measure its results. As the saying in

business goes, anything worth doing is worth measuring. This, of course,

raises the question of how best to measure the effects of transformational

leadership. Researchers often have relied on observational case studies and

quantitative survey instruments in an effort to study transformational

leadership, and both strategies have advantages and drawbacks.

Determining the best practice for studying transformational

leadership will ultimately require a three-step approach:

1) Developing a consensus definition of transformational leadership, so we

understand what exactly needs to be measured.

2) Reviewing case-study research to asses relative strengths and

weaknesses; and

3) Analyzing quantitative studies of transformational leadership to

determine how they function as a measurement tool.

By conducting this three-step process, we learn that transformational

leadership involves a series of components that are not always easily

measured by both research methods, and that, ultimately, the best research

practice would combine elements of case-baed and quantitative study.

Defining transformational leadership

While Burns may be credited as a founder of transformational

leadership, and, indeed, he was first to use and define the term, he was

strongly influenced by the earlier writings of Max Weber (Boje, 2000). In

publications that appeared in the first half of the 20th century, Weber

began to explore what he considered to be the three types of leaders --

bureaucratic, traditional and charismatic. The bureaucratic leader relies

on a system of rules and transactional measures, such as compensation, to

lead his or her followers. The traditional leader, such as a king or queen,

relies on a historically-based claim to leadership. The charismatic leader,

however, commands the respect and admiration of his or her followers, who

believe in the leader's vision. Weber's charismatic leader is the

antithesis of the bureaucratic leader, and advocates a higher moral

purpose.

Building on Weber's theory, Burns (1978) developed a concept based on

transactional and transformational leaders. Transactional leaders, like

Weber's bureaucrats, see loyalty as something that is acquired through a

transaction. For example, an organization's employees become loyal in

exchange for salaries and benefits. The transformational leader, similar to

Weber's charismatic leader, develops loyalty by seeking out the followers'

needs, engaging them, and motivating the followers toward a higher purpose.

While Burns acknowledged that people in power can be moral and amoral, he

believed a leader must necessarily be moral in order to be considered

transformational. Burns considered leaders such as John Kennedy, Martin

Luther and Mao Tse Tung to be transformational leaders, because people

followed these leaders based on their charisma, vision and sense of moral

purpose.

Bernard Bass, diverging somewhat from Weber and Burns, did not

envision a separation between transactional and transformational leadership

that could not be breached (Bass and Steidlmeier, 1998 and "Bass

transformational," No date). Rather, Bass contended that good leaders

needed to be both transformational and transactional. For example, Bass

believed a transformational leader needed to be able to result to

transactional methods to augment his or her leadership strategy,

particularly if purely transformational methods were not completely

effective (Bass and Steidlmeier, 1998 and Homrig, 2001). Bass was also less

stringent on the moral component of transformational leadership envisioned

by Burns and Weber. He contended that followers will not typically adopt a

leader's values wholesale, but, instead, will make good-faith efforts to

implement a leader's vision without necessarily altering their own value

structure (Bass and Steidlmeier, 1998 and Homrig, 2001).

This, of course, may not be a fair criticism of Burns' who, in fact,

does state that transformational leaders should understand and appeal to

the value system of their followers. However, it is fair to say that value

systems can range across an organization, and Bass is correct that buy-in

may always be something less than total. It is important to note that Bass

still believes that transformational leaders rely on a values-based vision

to lead followers through great chance ("Bass transformational," No date).

However, his definition of transformational leadership incorporates the

notion that transformational leaders can turn to transactional methods,

which may even be necessary if followers' values can not be universally

engaged.

Many scholars have offered expanded interpretations of

transformational leadership. Lynn Ballster Liontos (1992) offers practical

strategies that she claims are a necessary part of transformational

leadership, such as creating a collaborative atmosphere, offering staff

development, and helping staff solve problems. The end product, Liontos

claims, should be improved staff morale and the leader's heightened

influence on staff and how they do their jobs. Liontos also subscribes to

the notion that a leader must sell a vision with a higher purpose, and that

transformational leaders must sometimes incorporate transactional methods.

Elizabeth Lolly (1996), similar to Liontos, focuses on building a

collaborative effort and giving employees the resources and support to

succeed. Transformational leaders, in Lolly's model, provide a vision and a

clear understanding of organizational goals. From there, leaders encourage

the fulfillment of their visions by fostering collaboration and encouraging

risk-taking, so long as it supports the organization's mission. Also,

leaders provide ongoing development opportunities and coaching -- they do

not reside in an ivory tower, preaching values, but rather provide support

to help employees implement the leader's vision. Further, transformational

leaders maintain their legitimacy by practicing what they preach, and are

seen by followers as standard bearers of the organization's vision and

goals.

While the notion of transformational leadership has evolved over

time, there are some characteristics that are arguably universal. For

example, if we want to gauge the impact of transformational leadership at

an organization, we ought to be able to measure the following things:

* Vision: Has the leader communicated a clear vision of transformation to

employees, and is that vision more or less universally understood?

* Values: Is the organizational vision values-based to some degree, and is

there an effort to engage employees through their own value structure?

* Loyalty: Does the organization rely mainly on transactional methods to

earn loyalty from followers, or is a good deal of their loyalty based on

their belief in the leader and his or her vision? While Bass and others

may contend that transformational leaders occasionally need to turn to

transactional methods, an organization that relies mainly on these

methods is arguably not engaging in transformational leadership.

* Environment: Does the organization support collaborative work and offer

training, support, and encouraged risk-taking to help the organization

achieve its mission?

As we consider whether case studies or quantitative research best

measure the impact of transformational leadership, we will look at several

studies and how effectively they have been able to measure these four

criteria.

Case studies

There have been a number of case studies that have looked at the role

of transformational leadership in several organizations. These studies

often rely on interviews and the personal observations and interpretations

of the researchers. A good example of a case study on transformational

leadership is Ed Gubman's (2006) analysis of Motorola's attempts to improve

its supply chain. When Ed Zander became CEO in 2004, he learned that

Motorola's autonomous business groups were cooperating poorly, which was

negatively impacting the company's global supply chain. Zander decided to

use the principles of transformational leadership to begin getting Motorola

employees to think like a team.

Gubman's (2006) case study is able to measure the presence of some of

the key components of transformational leadership. He noted the presence of

vision, which was Zander's "One Motorola" plan, designed to get disparate

business groups to understand they were part of the same family. Zander's

vision also was somewhat values based, focusing on the notions of teamwork,

idea sharing, and the desire for Motorola to be the leader in its field.

Also, Gubman finds evidence that Zander built a corporate culture to

encourage transformational change. Committees that included employees and

senior managers were formed, Zander developed an e-mail account where

employees could communicate with him directly, and a company was hired to

train employees on best practices for supply chain management.

The weakness of Gubman's (2006) case study is that it does not really

measure employee loyalty or the source of that loyalty. Gubman presents

evidence that transformational strategies were used to build loyalty, such

as recognition programs and the opportunity to communicate with senior

managers directly. However, Gubman fails to measure the… READ MORE

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