13 Unique Traits of a Transformational Leader
It doesn’t take long in the workplace for one to realize that there are many kinds of leaders. Different types of leaders use different methods to inspire, test, and improve their teams, and their related styles can each provide various effects. Transformational leadership has gained attention recently.
Businesses across all industries are experiencing fast transformation in the current digital era. Organizations must identify vulnerabilities and inefficiencies in their processes to overcome new challenges and implement changes quickly and effectively to remain competitive. However, without visionary, transformational leadership, any attempt to change will likely fail.
Transformational leaders can effectively enable change initiatives, achieving unanimous agreement to ensure that transitions go as smoothly as possible. They motivate and inspire their teams to develop, create change, and create new processes to influence and improve the company. They promote innovative thinking and collaboration to find new solutions to old problems.1
The more you understand transformational leadership, the better prepared you will be to lead in today’s fast-paced business environment. The 13 most important characteristics of transformational leaders are listed below to assist you in deciding how to relate and apply this idea to your life and leadership experience. But, before we begin, let us dig deep about transformational leadership style and its essential components.
What Are Transformational Leaders?
There are hundreds of definitions of transformational leaders, each more magnificent than the last. However, in its most basic form, transformational leadership is a management style that inspires people and drives positive change in innovative and sometimes significant ways.
Transformational leadership’s concept was originally introduced by leadership specialist and presidential biographer James MacGregor Burns. According to Burns, transformational leadership occurs when leaders and followers push each other toward a greater level of self-esteem and inspiration.
They prioritize inspiring their teams to complete their tasks, setting a solid example for employees to look up to, and fostering an environment conducive to innovative thinking. They not only inform their followers’ aims, needs, and desires but also bring them closer to accomplishment with vision and confidence.2
Unlike transactional leadership, transformational leadership encourages followers to exceed expectations and promotes positive and meaningful change. Rather than taking on tasks themselves, this type of leader establishes goals, assists in laying the groundwork for achieving those goals, and then works alongside their colleagues to complete the task at hand.
Components of Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership aims to empower others and inspire change. To accomplish these goals, transformational leaders use the four “I’s” of transformational leadership to infuse a feeling of ownership and involvement in their teams and themselves.
Intellectual Stimulation – They allow mistakes, inspire employees to speak up, and encourage upward and bottom-up reviews to help empower employees. Leaders can encourage and promote their followers’ creativity and innovation in this way.
Inspirational Motivation – They clearly understand that they can communicate to their followers. These leaders can also help their followers feel the same enthusiasm and drive to achieve their goals.
Individual Consideration – They serve as associates’ coaches and advisors. Individual consideration leaders encourage associates to achieve goals that benefit both the associates and the Organization.
Influence Idealized – They serve as role models for employees, earning their trust and respect.
13 Unique Traits of a Transformational Leader
Motivating, encouraging, and improving job performance effectively and satisfactorily are all desirable qualities for any leader. However, some key characteristics of transformational leadership styles set them apart from other leadership styles. Here are 13 distinguishing traits of transformational leaders that set them apart from the competition.
1. Keeps their Ego in-check
Balancing one’s ego in pursuit of ambition can be extremely difficult. A transformational leader can distribute credit, recognizing everyone for their efforts. He seeks to share the spotlight with those who deserve it. They understand the importance of accepting criticism gracefully rather than blaming everyone else for their shortcomings. They openly acknowledge their weak points and work to improve or balance them.3
Of course, they do not sit back and let others insult or belittle them. Instead, they draw strength from their skills and abilities and use them to overcome their flaws.
2. Commitment to Active Listener
Transformational leaders have a distinct vision of what they want to achieve but are also humble enough to recognize that they do not always have all the solutions. They polish up their active listening skills to show attentiveness while avoiding misunderstandings. They know that listening is the basis of many other leadership skills; it allows them to understand their team members better and facilitates productive collaboration.
Since high engagement strongly links to productivity and retention, listening skills are critical for any leader seeking long-term success. Furthermore, when people believe their concerns, thoughts, and suggestions are genuinely heard and considered, they are more likely to be engaged and devoted to their work.4
3. Have a clear vision for the Organization
An authentic transformational leader must have a clear, accurate, and inspiring vision for the team’s future. It is critical to maintain its vision, which defines the organization’s purpose regarding the company and its goal. Some of the fundamental beliefs and talents of the people they lead integrate into their purpose.
After identifying and establishing the purpose, they help others figure out how they can contribute to the Organization’s vision. Opportunities and critical outcomes can be a useful framework for developing team objectives.
4. Building Positive Ethical Climate
An organization’s ethical climate and moral standards are vital. Transformational leaders strive to create and maintain a positive ethical environment in the workplace. As a result, an employee’s moral standards and behavior may get scrutinized more than their achievement.
These leaders are crucially accountable for ensuring that the working environment coincides with the organization’s core values. They must use consistent workplace communication to guarantee that all team members work toward the same common goal and are on board.
5. Flex the Leadership Style
Transformational leadership, like any other style of leadership, is not effective for every single employee. Employees, like bosses, have preferred methods of taking direction and working.
Learning to flex your leadership style to encourage each of your team members is critical. “Flexibility” refers to recognizing a person’s preferred style and then modifying your form of communication to meet their needs. This skill will enable you to accommodate and motivate your workforce, not just those who prefer your managerial style.5
6. Inspire Creativity and Autonomy
Leaders must work collaboratively because they will leave the Organization one day. They must rely on others to provide the creative thinking to innovate and the autonomy to work hard without being ordered what to do.
Transformational leaders understand how to inspire creativity and autonomy because they possess these qualities in abundance. They know that in a business or educational institution, they are preparing people to be tomorrow’s leaders. With this wisdom, they can demonstrate to others the significance of independently mastering the rules so that they can use their creativity to break those norms like an artist.
7. Make Difficult Decisions
There is no transformation without some possibility of failure. A transformational leader is ready to consider those risks and what they might mean for the Organization’s future.
If the benefits outweigh the dangers of an idea, the leader prepares to pursue it further if it appears workable. The leader also recognizes when the risk is too great and requires a different strategy.
8. Proactive
Transformational leadership leaders make informed decisions. They do not hesitate for someone else to make decisions for them. They are prepared to take risks, experiment with new things, and think creatively about how to grow the Organization.6
They also know how to control risk and make well-thought-out decisions based on research and multiple perspectives.
9. Humility
Transformational leaders are humble. They’re always learning and listening to others. They do not become too at ease.
Knowing they don’t have all the answers allows them to be more adaptable, allowing them to cope and prosper in a rapidly changing world.
10. Constantly inspires the team
Even if your goal is truly inspiring, you may still need the help of others to generate widespread enthusiasm. They try to keep the mission alive in their minds by associating it with specific goals, discussing it regularly, and identifying ways for everyone to contribute meaningfully to it.
In general, each person has unique needs that influence their interactions with others and ability to perform tasks. Transformational leaders value themselves and have high self-esteem to inspire others to transform.7
11. Organizational Awareness
Transformational leaders share their Organization’s collective consciousness. They understand how to elicit change, stimulate innovation, and make decisions that will result in growth.
Since their values align with the organization’s, they share a common goal and do not regard their role within the company as merely a job.
12. Encourage Participation
They value their employees’ perspectives and encourage them to express them through more extensive company dialogue. Furthermore, transformational leaders create an atmosphere where employees feel at ease expressing their concerns and speaking openly.
There must be an established hope that everyone will think outside the box, acknowledging thoughts and ideas even if they do not produce paradigm-shifting results. Transformational leaders build transformational teams in which everyone contributes ideas.
13. Adaptable
Transformational leaders quickly recognize changing dynamics and make immediate adjustments to overcome problems without risking strategic interests. When changes necessitate action, they understand how systems within an organization interact with one another, ensuring that their solutions do not create more problems than they solve.8
They have the situational awareness to recognize how external and internal events, such as market changes or organizational restructuring, can affect an organization’s performance.
Examples of Transformational Leaders in Business
It’s fascinating to consider how organizations and big names got their start. Most well-known businesses did not begin in this manner but were propelled to the next level by talented individuals in leadership positions. Some examples of transformational leaders in today’s world are: –
Microsoft: Several leading industry startups, including mobile phones and media technology, threatened Microsoft’s market dominance. Satya Nadella’s leadership and sense of direction have propelled the company to new heights with its smart cloud technologies.9
Amazon: Although it was not the first company to sell books to buyers via dial-up internet connections, Jeff Bezos had an unquenchable desire. He envisioned being the largest online “everything store.” Today, the company is disrupting even more traditional brick-and-mortar industries, such as the grocery industry.10
Netflix: Netflix transitioned from DVD mail-order rentals to video streaming and entertainment directly to customers, led by co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings. According to Hastings, “Amazing people don’t want to be micromanaged. They manage by providing context and allowing people to run.”11
Apple: Steve Jobs also adopted the transformational leadership model to transform his company. The introduction of its now-trademark brand, the iPhone – completely changed the game for both Apple and the world. Despite his autocratic tendencies, which led to his dismissal during his first tenure as CEO, Jobs took a more transformational approach upon his return. This includes making key appointments in Apple’s advertising, design, and product management and bringing everyone together under Jobs’ inspirational and visionary leadership.12
CONCLUSION
The world is changing faster than it has ever been. Transformational leadership is critical for successful leaders because the leader’s effectiveness gets to decide the organization’s ultimate success. According to Hesselbein and Cohen, organizations that take the time to teach leadership are far ahead of their competitors.
Isaac’s Strategy
Transformational leaders do not simply keep up with or react to change. They are prepared to meet current needs while keeping an eye on the future by making proactive, flexible, and visionary decisions.
Transformational leadership is applicable in both one-on-one and group settings. The manager and the colleagues are “transformed” using this approach to improve individual performance at work and, as a group, help the organization be more efficient and profitable.
REFERENCES
https://www.billhogg.ca/10-characteristics-of-transformational-leaders/
https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2019/8/what-transformational-leadership
https://hrdqu.com/leadership/the-top-5-qualities-of-a-transformational-leader/
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/55627312.pdf
https://www.startingbusiness.com/blog/transformational-examples
https://www.startingbusiness.com/blog/transformational-examples
https://info.cavendishwood.com/blog/transformational-leadership-examples
https://helpfulprofessor.com/transformational-leadership-examples/