Transformational Leadership

EDS 280 Rethinking Leadership
Leadership Sampler

UC San Diego/ CSU San Marcos
Ed.D. Educational Leadership Candidates
Jasmine L. Sadler, Brandon Williams, Rochelle Smarr

Prompt: Transforming leaders convert followers to disciples; they develop followers into leaders. They elevate the concerns of followers on Maslow’s need hierarchy from needs for safety and security to needs for achievement and self actualization, increase their awareness and consciousness of what is really important, and move them to go beyond their own self-interest for the good of the larger entities to which they belong. The transforming leader provides followers with a cause around which they can rally.

Resource Handout

Annotated Bibliography

Bass, B. M., Avolio, B. J., Jung, D. I., & Berson, Y. (2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 88(2), 207. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.2.207

This article examines how transactional and transformational leadership predicted performance in units operating under conditions of high levels of uncertainty, challenge, and stress.  Transactional leadership means that followers agreed with, accepted, or complied with the leader in exchange for praise, rewards, and resources or the avoidance of disciplinary action.

The four components that were researched in regards to Transformational Leadership are the following:  Idealized influence where the followers emulate the leader, Inspirational motivation where the leader provides meaning to work and arouse individual and team spirit, Intellectual stimulation where the followers are encouraged to be innovative and creative, Individualized consideration where the leader coaches or mentors followers on an individual level.

In summary, transactional contingent reward leadership builds the foundation for relationships with followers.  Transformational leadership enhances the development of followers once the foundation is already established.  Both transactional leadership and transformational leadership of the platoon leader equally predicted performance, but there are different circumstances where one is preferred.

Collins, J. (2006). Level 5 leadership: The triumph of humility and fierce resolve. Managing Innovation and Change, 234. https://hbr.org/2001/01/level-5-leadership-the-triumph-of-humility-and-fierce-resolve-2 

This article uses the term Level 5 to describe the most powerful transformative executives who possess a paradoxical mixture of personal humility and professional will.  It is the highest level in a hierarchy of executive capabilities to elevate companies from mediocrity to sustained excellence.  Companies were researched that had cumulative stock returns at or below the general stock market for 15 years, punctuated by a transition point, then cumulative returns at least three times the market over the next 15 years. All Level 5 Leaders possess the duality to be modest and willful, shy and fearless.

The following is a list of key findings that if practiced may help get to Level 5: Be concerned about the people first then the strategy, understand the Stockdale paradox where both disciplines faith and facts of the current situation are realities, gain momentum with your team as a flywheel does with a slow start, be a hedgehog who knows one big thing (the company, economics and people) very well, carefully select the technology that links to the one big thing, and be disciplined when it comes to people, thoughts, and actions.

Hay, I. (2006). Leadership of stability and leadership of volatility: Transactional and transformational leaderships compared. Academic Leadership: The Online Journal, 4(4), 6. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/alj/vol4/iss4/6

In the article “Leadership of Stability and Leadership of Volatility: Transactional and Transformational Leaderships ” compared and contrasted two leadership styles, which is referred to as ordinary leadership (transactional) and extraordinary leadership (transformational). “Burns distinguished between the leadership styles by defining transactional leadership based on exchanged tangible rewards for loyalty of followers and defining transformational leadership based on engaging with followers to raise consciousness about the significance of specific outcomes.

Within the educational setting it is important to adopt a transformational leadership framework in order to promote institutional change rather than transactional leadership. In the article, transactional leadership “seeks to maintain stability rather than promoting change within an organization through regular economic and social exchanges that achieve specific goals for both the leaders and their followers.” In contrast, transformational leadership “tends to be associated with a more enduring leader-follower relationship which is based on trust and commitment rather than a contractual agreement to promote organizational change”. This leadership style meets their team where they are and guides them in a way that promotes institutional change.

Thyer, G. L. (2003). Dare to be different: transformational leadership may hold the key to reducing the nursing shortage. Journal of Nursing Management, 11(2), 73-79. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2834.2002.00370.x

Thyer examines the role of communication and team building (leveraging creativity and inviting feedback), in regards to fostering transactional or transformational leadership in the nursing practice. Nurses and senior management of hospitals have two different perspectives on their roles and approaches to leadership. Nurses are typically focused on patient care and empowering patients to recovery (transformational leadership), while senior management in hospitals are occupied with general administration and operation of the hospital (transactional leadership). Both transactional and transformational leadership models can thrive in the hospital, however, one supersedes the other in terms of communication and cooperation by all staff members regardless of title. The nurses are seeking transformational leadership throughout the hospital staff that fosters better communication, leverages nurse’s creative solutions to issues and being open to learn from one another in order to shift the hospital perspective.

Thyer’s examination of the transactional and transformative leadership styles within the nursing field can be seen within the field of education. Often there is a disconnect between senior administrators and faculty and staff when it comes to decisions and daily administration of the institution. The inherent silos across the spectrum of education allows for there to be a lack of communication and low team building efforts amongst all stakeholders as valuable contributors to student success. Transformational leadership at all levels of education from staff, faculty/teachers and senior administration that values transparency, communication and collective team effort, will build lasting internal relationships that benefit student success to be consistent from P-16 education levels.