Transformational leadership and emotional intelligence in organizational contexts

Leadership Guide

Transformational Leadership and Emotionally Intelligent Leader

Organizations are established with on-going concern to earn profits, generate economic activity and satisfy the needs of the people. Few people join hands to establish an organization and mange the resources which may belong to all of them and they pool them together to achieve their desired goals. The goals differ from organization to organization and it is also possible that the goals of an organization do not align with the goals of the individuals who form the organization. In order to resolve the conflict, the founding team members come to an agreement whereby they focus on organizational goals in a manner that support their personal goals as well.

The founding members need the services of many other stakeholders to run their organizational effectively. The most important stakeholders are the employees who are directly involved in the affairs of the organization and shape its destiny. Like those of management team members, the employees also have their personal goals which mayor may not be in harmony with the organizational goals. The management team members require the employees to synergise their efforts and boost organizational performance linking it indirectly with their personal development and well-being as well.

In no case, the organization can intrinsically motivate the employees to stay loyal and committed to the organization. The only solution to this potential conflict is transformational leadership. The management team members hire leaders to lead the people towards the destination which is decided by the management team. They do not want to force the employees to protect the interest of organization when it comes in direct conflict with their personal interest. It is solely the role of a leader whom people love to follow and he gives them the direction which they pursue even without questioning or objecting him.

The perfect mix of task orientation and people orientation give the leader transformational power which not only helps him to mould the behaviour of his followers but also their attitude and values. This is the most powerful type of leadership and the followers are ready to give away anything upon the call of their leader.

After describing transformational leadership, the paper will proceed with examples of two transformational leaders; Abraham Lincoln and Herb Kelleher. These two leaders belong to different walks of life but their leadership style was common which helped them achieve their goals successfully. These two are cited in this paper to give an idea about the applicability of leadership style in various spheres of life. However, since the leadership is taught under the domain of management literature and organizational perceptive, it is important to quote an example from the industrial setting as well.

Described below are the characteristics of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of USA and Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines.

Herb Kelleher (Co-founder of Southwest Airlines, The Chairman and The Former CEO)

Herb Kelleher is the transformational leader of present era. He was born in 1931 and still enjoying the springs of his life. Having passion for Law and Business studies, Herb Kelleher had a vision to serve the nation in a different manner. His vision led him closely analyse various aspects of business industry and he pursued the establishment of an airline which targeted its success on the weaknesses of other airlines. He offered lost cost by eliminating the unnecessary and luxurious services in the air travel. He designed the flight schedule in such a way that his flights were not the cause of burden on other airports, the passengers were transported to their destinations directly and no transit was made just to increase traffic.

The simple approach followed by Herb Kelleher was much appreciated not only by the passengers but the service providers as well. The airport authorities were willing to give it operating slot, the passengers preferred to fly Southwest Airlines and the financers gladly offered their capital in it. The situation posed serious threats to the competitors and the corporate rivalry started. He accepted every challenge and his collaboration with law associates led him settle down every issue smoothly.

The competition put Southwest Airline in trouble and Herb Kelleher had to make the decision of cost saving, he had two options; layoff few employees or sell an aircraft. It was a historical decision made by Herb Kelleher that he retained the employees and sold the aircraft. The high level of consideration for the employees led him win the loyalty and commitment of his staff members who had never seen such a friendly boss. Through their dedicated efforts, the airline became the fifth largest airline of USA and recorded profits for consecutive 24 years.

Herb Kelleher had a jolly personality which helped him face the challenges in a light manner. He inculcated the same approach in his business culture. The employees were taught to stay firm but light-hearted. Their vision was to serve the organization in the best possible way as the organization had not given them any stress. An example of light styles adopted by Southwest Airlines lies in the fact that the flight announcement resembled to a song tone and the listeners enjoyed it. Another instance is the wresting competition with an aviation competitor who had a conflict of using the same tag line as Southwest Airlines. The idea of wrestling was presented by Herb Kelleher and he lost the competition as well, but the way he addressed this problem led him win the heart of competitor CEO and he willingly offered Herb Kelleher to continue with the disputed tagline.

In 2007, he was awarded as the National Leader for the Month September 2007. He had won the competition of most influential leader for the last 25 years.

These two examples lead to the conclusion that consideration towards interest of people is what makes the leader the most favourite personality. There are leaders who use reward power and the followers like it. But its disadvantage includes the possibility of de-motivation if reward is not given to the followers. Coercive power is the most disliked form of power as it threatens the followers. The best type of power is the personal power which comes through expertise in the field and consideration for the people.

The importance of leadership cannot be ignored in any industry or the organization (Schein, 2010) but the level of success achieved by many people following different leadership style is significant. Leaders do enjoy power which enforces their decisions. But it is more important that how the followers perceive this power. The acceptance of leader in the eyes of followers is extremely important. These are the followers who make the leaders. In the absence of followers, no leadership can be possible. Hence, the leaders while using power must consider how it influences the followers, will this practice increase their worth in the eyes of follower or they will be dejected to be his followers.