Leadership, Strategy, and Involution - Essay Example

Leadership, strategy and involution Introduction Transformational leadership involves the processes of influencing metamorphic changes in the values,beliefs and attitudes of the followers to collectively reach a point wherein the visions of the transformational leader and the objectives and goals of the organization in question are connected and achieved through the creation of internalised achievements of performances that are above the expected and standard levels of performances. In these processes, the transformational leaders and their followers work towards enhancing the level of morality, involvement and motivation of each other. As such, this type of leadership helps to inspire the followers by instigating and maintaining higher levels of involvement and by enabling the followers to align their personal interests and goals with the organizational vision and corporate goals. This report is aimed at critically analyzing the view that transformational leaders encourage and inspire the followers to improve their individual performances which ultimately add to the total performance of an organization as a single functioning unit. For this purpose, the ways in which transformational leadership practices are used to inspire, motivate and encourage the followers to achieve higher levels of efficiency and output in their performances are studied and analysed. Discussion Overview of transformational leadership Transformational leadership is a form of leadership that is commonly used by the leaders of any organization to identify the needs of changes, to create the visions for guiding the identified changes through motivation and inspiration and executing these shifts by involving all the members and followers into the whole process of transformation. The transformational leaders aim to enhance the morale, motivation an involvement of the members of the group through increased level of involvement and direct involution by employing a wide variety of tactics and mechanism of leadership (Stiehm, 2002). These mechanisms include the development of linkages between the sense of identify and individual goals of the group members and the collective identity and objectives of the organization, challenging and inspiring the group members to take up higher levels of responsibility and ownership in their respective job roles, act as a role model for the team members to inspire them and involve them proactively in the transformation processes of the organization and also to identify the strengths and drawbacks of the individual team members so as to become enabled to align the team members with the most appropriate tasks that would enhance their capabilities and performance and as such lead to effective processes and improved performances within the organization in question (Wootton and Horne, 2002). All of these functions of a transformational leader adds to the creation of strong linkages between the employee skills, motivation and performance efficiency. Functions of transformational leadership As per the views of Bass (2000), transformational leadership includes a number of distinct aspects, approaches and functions of leadership all of which play crucial roles in determining the level and quality of motivation, involvement and performance of the members of the following group in different situations and under different internal and external conditions of team management and leadership (Bass, 2000). One of the main functions of a transformational leader includes raising a suitable level of awareness among the followers regarding the moral and ethical standards. The fact that being ethically and morally compliant has become a necessity for functioning in the current business world, clearly establishes the view that transformational leadership paves the way for creation of more accuracy and compliance in the job performances of the employees of an organization through this function of raising moral and ethical awareness (Posner, 2010). Another key function of the transformational leadership involves the development of higher level of moral standards and maturity among the follower groups. The creation and management of higher levels of maturity among the followers automatically leads to the development of an ethical organizational climate in which the employee groups are open, motivated and proactive towards sharing values and knowledge and towards displaying positive and collaborative behaviours. This automatically adds to the inspiration and motivation of the employee groups. An ethical organizational climate, as supported by the transformational leaders, helps foster the involvement and commitment of the employee groups and also helps them to align their personal interests and objectives with the organizational aims and objectives. The aim of transformational leadership also includes focusing on the promotion of harmony and cooperation among the team which increases the coherence level and consequently the performance effectiveness and efficiency of the employee groups (Dvir, 2002). The use of consistent and authentic means and allowing for empowerment and freedom of choice for the employee groups acts as a main strategy for improving the involution and cooperation levels of the follower groups (Fleenor, 2006). The transformational leadership practices make use of persuasive and appealing strategies which are based on goal setting and reasoning. This means that the followers are made to identify with the organizational vision, objectives and changes and to align their own interests and objectives with the organizational objectives which is a pre requisite for ensuring above average performance levels at both individual and organizational levels. These strategies combined with the provision of mentoring and individual coaching for the followers enables wider scopes of skill development and application scopes for the members of the group and thus supports them in delivering better performances in their respective job roles. The mentoring practices of the transformational leaders are intended at supporting the development of the followers from different perspectives. The mentoring and guiding practices used by the transformational leaders are aimed at developing the skills and capabilities as well as the mindsets and attitudes of the employee groups towards their work roles and responsibilities (Trevino, Brown and Hartman, 2003). The strategy of emphasising on the positive development of the employee groups and focusing on the intrinsic motivational aspects of the followers act as a main strength for the transformational leaders in achieving their objective of developing a high performing employee group through the enhancement of the commitment, involvement and development of the employee groups (Muchinsky, 2003). Figure 1: Transformational leadership and person outcomes related to involution (Source: Manz, 2008) Strategies used in transformational leadership There are four main constituents of transformational leadership which are used by the contemporary leaders for creating different strategies of leadership and management which are aimed at inspiring, motivating and enhancing the level of participation and involution of the employee groups in different organizational and situational contexts (Rubin and Dierdoff, 2010). These include Idealized Influence (II), Individualized Consideration (IC), Inspirational Motivation (IM) and Intellectual Stimulation (IS) (Figure 2). Figure 2: Constituents and strategies of transformational leadership (Source: Rubin and Dierdoff, 2010). The idealised influence component is used as a main constituent of the strategies used in transformational leadership in which the transformational leader acts as an ideal leader or role model and is admired by the followers because they practice what they preach. This encourages the followers to emulate the leaders and become like them in their functions and behaviours (Zaccart and Klimoski, 2001). The use of idealized influence is a main people management strategy that is used by the transformational leaders to foster enhanced degrees of involvement, morality and motivation among their followers. The strategy of idealized influence is used by the transformational leaders through the development of a role model act (Bonnici, 2011). The leaders in these scenarios act as influential entities in the organization and become respected, trusted, admired and honoured by the followers because the followers experience a built up a desire to become like these transformational leaders. In this strategy, the followers also tend to experience, recognise and display extraordinary persistence, determination and capabilities in the process of emulating their leaders (Talha, 2011). The strategy of idealised influence as used in the process of transformational leadership involves the communication of the view that risk are to be taken in the job roles but at the same time the ethical and moral compliance and conduct should not be compromised for the achievement of higher performance levels (Mayer, Aquino, Greenbaum and Kuenzi, 2012). This strategy thus helps to generate a positive outlook among the followers towards the organizational culture and the leadership roles and thus develops higher levels of trust and responsibility which are the basic requirements for driving better performances among different employee groups (Berson, 2003). The inspirational motivation component of transformation leadership is used as the ability of them leaders to motive and inspire the followers. The idealized influence and the inspirational motivation components of transformation leadership together contribute to the charismatic factor of the transformational leadership style (Brown, Mitchell and Trevino, 2006). The individualized consideration factor is used by the transformational leaders to develop strategies that involve the demonstration of concern for the requirements and needs of the followers. This kind of personal and customized attention given towards each of the employees act as a key drivers for bringing in higher inputs and efforts on the part of these employees (Mintzberg, 2005). The individualised consideration component helps the leader to attend to the need for achievement and growth of the followers by providing suitable and customized coaching and mentoring to them. The leaders strive towards the creation of new learning scopes, a supportive organizational climate and thus, demonstrate the recognition and acceptance of the individual differences which automatically lead to strategic involution and encouragement in participation processes. This also establishes a two way communication process which fosters the adoption of empowerment and autonomy in a balanced manner which acts as a base for fostering motivation and proactive behaviour on the part of the followers (Lambert, 2002). The intellectual stimulation perspective of transformational leadership is used in the leadership strategies to challenge the followers to become more creative and innovative and motivates them to take up additional responsibilities and initiatives in their work (Harvard Business School, 2013). This is a kind of soft leadership and people management approach that helps the transformational leaders to support the followers while consistently challenging them towards achieving higher performance levels both in terms of quality as well as quantity (Scouller, 2011). Role of transformational leadership in enhancing organizational outcomes As per the arguments presented by Yukl (2006), transformational leadership style is generally found to be more successful as compared to the other styles of leadership because it includes the components of the other leadership forms to certain extents. The degree of flexibility in the transformation leadership style is high which automatically leads to the achievement of superior results and performances in comparison to the other leadership styles like transactional leadership style, charismatic leadership style, laissez-faire leadership style etc. (Bennis, 2009). Since, the transformational leadership practices aim at elevating the higher order needs of the follower groups; therefore, if implemented properly, this leadership style brings about the best in the performance and involvement of the employee groups. This implies that the transformational leadership style acts in an inspiring manner by raising the motivation levels, developing sense of purpose and congealing the aspirations and objectives of the leaders, followers and the organization into one to establish certain common goals that are identifiable and recognizable by all levels of participants in these processes (Yukl, 2006). The goal of an effective leadership process is to create the need for minimal strategies for the achievement of the organizational, leadership and individualistic objectives and requirements. The transformational leadership style is considered to be the most efficient and flexible leadership style which supports the need for developing minimal strategies. The components of the transformational leadership process function as the drivers for minimum strategy formulation required for driving higher levels of performance. The achievement of shared objectives and visions, flexibility and adaptability and the enhanced level of influence on the followers create a supportive platform of decision making, goal achievement and driving higher performance levels through the employment of minimalistic strategies (Figure 3). Figure 3: Maximal and minimal strategy in leadership (Source: Belohlavek, 2011) The transformational leadership style is being taken up by leaders across the world as a means of promoting higher degrees of performances and involvement of the followers (Forbes Magazine, 2011). The main strategies through which the transformational leaders achieve more superior results among the follower groups are varied and innovative in nature and are much distinct from the other styles of leadership. The strategy of the leaders to use a flexible and customized approach towards guiding and managing the people resources is one of the main criteria for the usefulness and effectiveness of the transformational leadership style in enhancing motivation and driving better performances (Yongwang, 2010). Conclusion Thus, it can be identified from the above analysis that the transformational leadership styles have positive influences on a wide range of organizational aspects and outcomes. The employment of the various strategies and activities of the transformational leaders are directly linked with high performances because they add to the inspiration, involvement and motivation of the employees in a distinct manner. Transformational leadership has a direct positive impact on the main factors that drive performances within employee groups like motivation, involution, inspiration, job satisfaction, personal outcomes, empowerment, commitment, trust and self efficacy. Additionally, the contemporary transformational leadership processes help to enhance the organizational citizenship performances, organizational vision and culture which are the external factors required for supporting the performance outcomes of the employee groups. 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