Transfomational leadership in an organisation

WHAT IS TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP?

Bass (1985) described transformational leadership as a process by which leaders and subordinates help each other to advance to a higher level of motivation and morality. Because of the impact that transformation leadership generates on personal and organizational outcomes, it is considered necessary in organizations from different domains (Tucker & Russell, 2004). The main purpose of these leaders is to change the organization's current structure and inspire employees to consider a new vision which has new opportunities (Tucker & Russell, 2004) for the individual, but also the organization as a whole. Bass (1985) has shown that transformational leaders can appear in times of development, change, and crisis. According to Avolio and Bass, transformational leaders can be more readily accepted in organizations that face dynamic markets and technology that is changing at a rapid pace. Research has shown that transformational leadership involves satisfaction (Hatter&Bass, 1995) as well as commitment of employees to the organization (Barling et al., 1996). Transformational leadership also has an impact on the commitment to organizational change (Yu, Leithwood & Jantzi, 2002), but also on organizational conditions (Lam et al., 2002). The transformational leader increases individual needs and desires to achieve more, to work at a more sustained pace, leading to the extra effort and performance of subordinates (Howell and Avolio, 1993). Numerous studies have demonstrated that transformational leadership is positively linked to personal results (Dumdum et al., 2013). The relationship between transformational leadership and personal results, such as satisfaction and commitment at work, is evident in Bass and Avolio's research (1999).
Other research has shown that this style of leadership has a direct influence on organizational behavior and performance (MacKenzie et al., 2001). Bass Bernard has theorized that transformational leadership creates employees who are altruistic, faithful and connected to the goals of the organization. These employees often go beyond what they are expected to (Bass, 1985) in their job descriptions. Zaccaro and Banks, (2001) conducted several studies to show a positive relationship that exists betwixt transformational leaders and organizational vision. The culture of an organization is heavily influenced by leadership (Girneata & Potcovaru, 2015). Bass and Avolio (1993) argued that leadership and culture are so well interlinked that it is possible to describe an organizational culture through its transformational qualities. According to Bass (1985), transformational leaders are concerned about changing organizational culture and personal development of subordinates. According to Bass and Avolio (2004), for an organizational culture to become more transformative, its top management needs to express the vision clearly and make the necessary changes with determination. Authors such as Nguni et al., (2006), Emery and Barker (2007) have shown that workplace satisfaction is positively correlated with transformational leadership. Morrow has suggested that the transformational leader will help promote employees' professional skills, organizational involvement, self-determination, delegation, and self-realization. If leaders and followers can trust each other and help each other, this will generate greater recognition of organizational goals and values. Subordinates will make every effort to organize and maintain a good relationship with each other. Therefore, the degree of job satisfaction can be promoted by transformational leadership.
Transformational leaders will motivate followers and lead them to achieve the group's performance according to their own interests. Thus, the followers will rise above expectations and thus the degree of satisfaction will increase. Lee & Kim (2011) found that transformational leadership is positively related to the professional satisfaction of employees in government agencies, and that performance, professional satisfaction and transformational leadership are positively correlated. 

Although many leadership theories have been developed and studied excessively, the transformational leadership style has become the most commonly researched over the last two decades due to its demonstrated influence on the growth of positive attitudes and the level of performance of subordinates. According to literature research conducted, transformational leaders focus on key behaviors, including motivating subordinates to establish challenging goals, giving them the confidence to overcome expectations and meet their full potential. We consider that, in the current world where we increasingly hear about corporate mergers, layoffs, changing demographics, diversity in the workplace, important technological advances and uncertainty about the economy, the transformational leader will become even more important. Leaders will have to demonstrate confidence, give direction, and motivate subordinates to remain involved and dedicated to the goals of their organizations. Strong leaders are needed not only to create policies and procedures, but also to push subordinates to achieve excellent results and become good leaders themselves. Even if companies choose to hire these leaders from other companies or to select them within the organization, having transformational leadership is essential to the survival of an organization in difficult times, as the transformative leadership style is driving innovation, employee retention, financial performance, improved market share and even customer satisfaction.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL

Transformational leadership can be implemented at all levels of an organization starting from team

level, department level, division level and at last the organization as a whole. The model schematically represents the four components (intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence) of transformational leadership (Managementstudyguide.com,2015). It depicts the effect that the leader has on his followers which leads to positive changes in followers. The model suggests that even though these four components are interdependent, they must harmonize to yield a performance which is way beyond expectations of the organization.Inspirational Motivation: Inspiration and motivation are two major components of transformational leadership. A transformational leader motivates the follower to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization while inspiring them to achieve their own aims. Aligning the individual needs with the organizational needs is an essential strategy of inspirational motivation. The transformational leaders strive to foster the spirit of teamwork and commitment. A transformational leader clarify, the vision,mission and strategic goals of the organization and create a strong sense of purpose among the followers.

Relationship Building through transformational leadership in an organisation

Relational leadership and passing the knowledge are two specific areas that leaders must emphasize, which may perhaps produce an environment of possibilities through continuous and correct communication and relationship-building.

Factors that must be considered in relational leadership include:

• History of a relationship
• Ability to direct a subordinate’s professional destiny
• Removing communication roadblocks

For example, as the use of email increases, face-to-face communication decreases.  The culture of the organization is a tremendous factor in such a phenomenon, as it may demonstrate a perception of a faceless upper echelon whose one-dimensional communication style may create an inability to show a personal interest in the people within the organization.



References,
halpern, g. (2015) Transformational Leaders Build Relationships, Available at: https://aboutleaders.com/transformational-leaders-build-relationships/#gs.WjChB2g(Accessed: 22nd May2018