Transformational Leadership for Community Association Managers

Introduction

In the last half-century, the real estate sector in America has transformed from a founder-based, local, cottage industry into a nationwide and worldwide team-based service and asset provider. The sector has progressed from competing for money to competing for talent, from gathering data to providing knowledgeable counsel, from individual names to lines of businesses, and from opportunistic growth to sustainable development. It has also undergone a shift from self-regard to collaboration, and from a focus on market share to buyer share. The industry, which comprises entrepreneurs, opportunists, value creators, risk managers, and leaders, is both a connection to the past and a forerunner of future events.

Consequently, community challenges are becoming increasingly frequent, intense, and complex, and they require effective practical leadership capable of addressing those issues. Arguably, the search for effective community leadership is the biggest challenge a community association manager encounters (Avant, Rich-Rice & Copeland, 2013). Several studies have been conducted on communities and community effectiveness. The primary emphasis in the literature is improvement of urban citizens' lives, and of their communities and localities. Little research exists on community leadership models; some works address leadership, people's commitment, and their feelings and thoughts with respect to their communities as vital to community effectiveness in outcome and goal attainment. It has, conversely, been put forward that leadership plays a highly significant role in moving communities in the right direction. The literature further indicates that leadership, as well as how individuals perceive their respective communities, is linked to overall community success (Ginsberg, 2011).

Community Theory and Leadership

Gemeinschaft, the Strengths Perspective, and Social Exchange Theory are three concepts that aid comprehension and advancement of community leadership and community theory knowledge. These ideas provide an interesting basis for understanding communities. Human relationships in Gemeinschaft are intimate, grounded in a sound understanding of an individual's place in society. Individuals in these communities also experience a united, communal feeling. On the basis of close kinship with family and friends, individuals know one another, aid one another, and often live their daily lives in close contact with a limited group of individuals sharing similar values and norms (Daley & Avant, 2013).

Social Exchange Theory denotes a relationship-preservation theory that explores how individuals carry out relationship-linked decision-making. The basis of the theory is the central idea that the exchange of material and social resources represents an elementary kind of interaction among human beings. It addresses the links binding individuals together as well as the impacts of interactions among individuals (Collins, 1988). Within community settings, relationships are vital to meeting basic requirements and accessing resources. As researchers have indicated, a limitation exists on the quantity and kind of resources available to communal locations (Mackie, 2012). Hence, relationships within communities prove advantageous when it comes to resource sharing and accessing services that connect individuals to their families, organizations, groups, and communities within as well as outside their rural locality.

The concept of employing social exchanges and relationships as the fundamental principle for sound leadership within the context of social work underscores the significance of the Strengths Perspective. The extent of deficits within communities is partly a function of formal resource access and the nature of their geographical location (Daley & Pierce, 2011). Social relationship strengths, exchanges occurring among community members, and community cohesion all give rise to opportunities for improving rural communities' quality of life (Daley & Pierce, 2011). Through the use of social exchanges and relationships, people acquire a better grasp of the roles they play in their environment and community (Avant, 2013). Such understanding, together with shared experiences, helps increase dedication towards developing an improved community. Social Exchange Theory, the Strengths Perspective, and Gemeinschaft combine to present an organizational leadership framework in which community members can relate to their respective environments and recognize their respective capacities (Aarons, 2006; Avant et al., 2013).

Community Leadership Model for Association Managers

The transformational leadership approach is one example of a leadership theory that has surpassed the conventional bureaucratic organizational leadership model. Transformational leadership represents a model that encompasses a framework emphasizing leadership styles that permit individualization and flexibility. It promotes input in the decision-making process and underscores the significance of social relationships and teamwork. Transformational leaders are very valuable to communities. They possess a clear understanding of their followers, are aware of their personal vision, values, and needs, and take actions that promote their own needs as well as community needs (Avant et al., 2013). The transformational leadership approach acknowledges the value of individual, community, and work group connectedness. It demands individual input while working towards overall community benefit. Consequently, community members feel involved and tend to wish to devote more energy and time to meeting community needs. Transformational leadership develops an environment in which all members feel appreciated and involved, inspiring them to increase personal satisfaction while working to support community welfare (Avant et al., 2013; Daley & Avant, 2013).

The transformational leadership style resembles visionary or charismatic leadership. A transformational leader inspires and motivates followers in a manner that goes beyond mere rewards and exchanges. This leadership style functions particularly well within close supervisory associations, compared to more distant ones. One will typically find closer supervision in the mental health context, and such a close relationship may characterize the relationship between a supervisor and supervisee. This dynamic is also reflected in the concept of the first-level leader—considered important owing to his or her functional proximity to supervisees within organizations. It is believed that transformational leadership increases the intrinsic motivation of followers through the articulation of leadership goals' importance and value (Aarons, 2006).

A sense of togetherness is one of the most crucial values effective community association managers hold; it eliminates leaders' personal ambitions for power, replacing them with a drive for community success (Krile, 2008). Such a "community" feeling constitutes an important community leadership component, which may be articulated as leadership wherein one must do it by oneself while remembering that it cannot be done alone. Awareness that the overall community matters, and that every community member can express his or her views, should balance the personal goals of the leader. An understanding must exist that every community member possesses certain talents, and that an effort must be made to tap those talents. This encourages leaders to seek answers to community-related issues while incorporating participatory, democratic actions and empowering community members with decision-making authority and the ability to implement group goals.

The transformational style of leadership is participatory and empowering, as it supports local leadership and decision-making. Emphasis is placed on teamwork, and leaders perceive the community as an arrangement of individuals who collaborate with common aspirations. This leadership approach gives rise to a culture founded on trust, respect, and openness, and stimulates team spirit. It has multiple implications for dealing with rural areas' leadership challenges. The literature has strongly established that rural localities require leaders. Hence, the transformational leadership model offers the kind of leadership needed for dealing with the complex issues faced by rural communities. The approach possesses elements of respect and trust that facilitate the cooperation required for successful teamwork. Moreover, it stresses a relational approach wherein leaders demonstrate interpersonal consideration through relationship building, interdependence, and empathy—all qualities well suited to rural localities (Avant, 2013).

Conclusion and Future Directions

A shift in leadership focus from association managers to emphasis on manager-community relationship quality gives rise to opportunities for building new communities and addressing some of the issues that rural communities encounter (Pigg, 1999). The transformational approach to leadership suggests several practical applications when it comes to addressing community leadership challenges (Yukl, 2006). The literature shows that, in the present day, leadership has become a critical community issue. Transformational leadership will, apparently, benefit both communities and the social work profession equally. However, additional research is required to assist leaders in the field of social work in understanding the full depth of this theory, in order to utilize it more effectively for bringing meaningful change to communities.

References

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