Transformational Leadership: Team Effectiveness & Influence

Introduction to Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is a style in which a leader has the ability to convince people to follow a particular path of reform and transformation. It entails changing an organization's direction, moral compass, and the attitudes of its employees. A leader can be considered transformational if his or her end values are successfully adopted by subordinates, resulting in a change in their goals, beliefs, and ways of thinking (Lian & Tui, 2012). Transformational leadership has also been defined in terms of leaders and subordinates motivating each other and giving each other a sense of higher purpose — a sense in which the goals and aspirations of both leaders and followers become one. Many organizations and individuals have sought to understand transformational leadership because it has been consistently linked with higher organizational performance. Several factors have contributed to the superior performance of organizations led by transformational leaders, including increased trust in leadership, intrinsic motivation, higher commitment by both parties, and elevated morale (Darling & Leffel, 2010). Positive relationships have also been found between transformational leadership and both individual and organizational performance. The fundamental values of leaders can thus help align the attitudes, beliefs, and values of followers with the collective interests of the organization (Lian & Tui, 2012).

To become a transformational leader, one should begin with self-awareness — awareness of how one's own feelings and thought processes affect one's actions and the emotional states of those around them. As awareness grows, a leader may experience an increase in internal motivation and a deepening passion for their work, along with a heightened sensitivity to how they are affecting the people around them. This expanded perception enables a leader to choose the most appropriate behavior in a given scenario in order to elicit the desired response from others (Darling & Leffel, 2010). This style of leadership speaks to the "being" dimension of followers, inspiring wholeness so that thoughts and actions become consistent. Transformational leadership is about leaders possessing an authority and integrity that resonates with followers and encourages them to follow willingly. Followers begin to take ownership of the organization's vision and aspirations and, in a sense, start behaving as leaders themselves.

Unlike other leadership styles, transformational leadership does not promote unnecessary competition among teams, individuals, or groups within the same organization. Instead, it promotes the movement of all followers in the same direction through the sharing of goals and values. Transformational leadership also expands the vision of organizations beyond a narrow focus on bottom lines to broader, sustainable operational models in which the organization attends to the needs of all stakeholders, not simply those in positions of authority (Von Bergen & Soper, 2002).

Core Components of Transformational Leadership

Four factors define transformational leaders: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration. Each is discussed below.

Idealized influence describes leaders who serve as excellent role models for their followers. Such leaders are respected and trusted by their followers to make the right decisions for the organization. They typically demonstrate high moral and ethical standards.

Inspirational motivation describes leaders who have the ability to convince their followers to commit to an organization's vision. Leaders with inspirational motivation encourage team members to work together toward shared goals, such as increasing sales or revenues. Inspirational leaders are also effective at communicating the organization's vision to its stakeholders.

Intellectual stimulation describes leaders who motivate and encourage employees to exercise creativity and drive innovation rather than defaulting to established routines. Such leaders encourage followers to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in their day-to-day work.

Individual consideration describes leaders who take on the responsibility of mentoring their employees. Mentoring through advice or coaching can motivate followers to reach their personal career goals more quickly, thereby helping the organization advance as well. When all four of these components come together, the performance of an organization is very likely to exceed expectations (Von Bergen & Soper, 2002).

As noted above, transformational leaders are those who increase employee awareness, enabling workers to move beyond narrow self-interest and to collaborate for the common good of both their teams and the broader organization. Transformational leaders aim not only to improve organizational performance but also to promote development — the maturation of values, attitudes, motivation, and employee capabilities. Leaders can achieve this by encouraging followers to strive toward higher levels of ethical and moral standards, in recognition of the fact that the relationship between employee development and organizational performance is a positive one. High-performing employees contribute to a high-performing organization (Yen, Tian & Sankoh, 2013).

Impact on Team Relationships and Cohesion

Transformational leadership can positively foster team cohesion through the formation of shared visions, which typically results in superior team performance. Research has shown that the relationship between cohesion and performance is a positive one. For this reason, transformational leadership is a style of significant interest to practicing managers (Von Bergen & Soper, 2002; Yen et al., 2013).