How to Embrace Transformational Leadership and Inspire Motivation

Transformational leadership is a leadership style defined by inspirational motivation, passion for the work at hand, and an ability to clearly communicate common goals. This style of leadership requires political or business leaders to encourage creativity, effect positive change, and individually motivate team members to challenge the status quo. This stands in stark contrast to transactional leadership styles, which attempt to motivate higher levels of performance through a series of rewards and punishments.

The transformational leadership style was developed by James MacGregor Burns, a political historian. He described the concept of transformational leadership as a particular leadership model in which a leader’s clear vision and strong personality inspire team members to change and exceed their own expectations. Leadership expert and researcher Bernard M. Bass took Burns’ initial findings and expanded them into what became known as the Bass Transformational Leadership Theory. According to Bernard Bass in his book Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations, the effectiveness of the transformational leadership model is directly tied to the influence that certain types of leaders have on their followers.

Bernard Bass identified four crucial components of transformational leadership. These elements of transformational leadership are:

1. 1. Individualized consideration: Transformational leaders demonstrate genuine care and empathy toward their team members, providing each with individual attention. They care about their employees’ well-being, recognize their individual strengths, and notice when a team member’s job performance is lacking.
2. 2. Intellectual stimulation: Leaders who follow the transformational leadership strategy encourage their followers to challenge the status quo by inspiring innovation and creativity. Transformational leaders work with team members as they develop new approaches to longstanding problems.
3. 3. Inspirational motivation: The transformational leadership approach is defined by the leader’s ability to motivate and inspire team members through the strength and clarity of their vision. This requires great communication skills and the ability to clearly explain big picture goals.
4. 4. Idealized influence: Great leaders in the transformational mold serve as role models for their followers. A transformational leader serves as a walking embodiment of the core values that they espouse to their team, which in turn leads to an increase in trust and admiration.

Though transformational leaders come in all shapes and sizes, many share a few common characteristics that help them lead more effectively. Qualities of a transformational leader include:

1. 1. Visionary ideas: Effective leadership requires clear goals, and transformational leaders have a particular knack for developing creative, visionary ideas that inspire their followers. They also know how to communicate their ideas clearly, laying out the mission, benchmarks, and goals in easy-to-understand terms to their team members.
2. 2. A focus on growth: Transformational leaders are always looking for ways to optimize organizational effectiveness and achieve company growth. Often, this means working to advance the people who work for a business as well as the business itself. Transformational leaders believe that job satisfaction is as integral to the growth of a company as sales and expansion, and one of the ideal effects of transformational leadership is an increase in workplace fulfillment.
3. 3. Charisma and authenticity: Transformational leaders practice charismatic leadership. They have a certain charm and force of will that inspires others to trust in their vision and work towards a common goal. They are usually agreeable and empathetic, encouraging a work environment that privileges open communication and shows concern for their followers’ needs. They are also authentic and embody the characteristics that they hope to see in their fellow team members.

There are many different effective leadership styles that can help you get the most out of your team members. If you’re interested in developing your transformational leadership skills specifically, here are some practices to adhere to:

1. 1. Encourage creativity. If you’re going to be a transformational leader, you’ll need to create an environment that supports and encourages creativity. Push your team members to challenge tradition and come up with innovative solutions. Demonstrate to them that you support risk-taking by reacting to mistakes and misguided attempts with enthusiasm. If people have suggestions on how to change management or company practices, hear them out, even if it runs contrary to your own self-interest.
2. 2. Lead by example. As a leader, your team will look to you to set an example about how to act, behave, and approach problems. In order to inspire your team to follow your lead, you need to act in a way that is honorable and full of integrity. This will also provide de facto leadership training to the next generation of leaders, who will hopefully continue your project management style after you leave.
3. 3. Customize tasks based on your team. Part of being a transformational leader is recognizing the individual strengths and weaknesses of your specific team. That means being able to adapt workflow and task delegation on the fly. If someone is showing a particular aptitude or enthusiasm in a certain area, reward them with praise and additional responsibility. If someone is lacking in a particular department, you may need to figure out another place for them.

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