Leadership Styles Transactional Leadership

QUESTION

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 7
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source

Initial Post Instructions

Leadership styles can be broken into different categories such as participatory vs. autocratic or transformational vs. transactional. Choose two leadership styles from the textbook and lesson. Using your own research and the information you have learned this week, compare and contrast the leadership styles. Include your own opinion of which leadership style would be best for your current or former workplace with a justification for that leadership style choice.

ANSWER

Leadership Styles: Transformational Versus Transactional Leadership

Transformational leadership style is focused on creating a vision and inspiration for subordinates to perform beyond expectations. On the other hand, transactional leadership focuses on the extrinsic motivation for performance. In other words, rewards and punishment create a basis for follower initiation.

Transformational leadership admires change and development as the primary determinants for success in an organization. A leader embracing this style in leading employees will establish trust and motivate his subordinates to work even more to achieve and exceed expectations. The valuable and positive changes associated with this type of leadership ultimately lead to the conversion of followers into leaders.

On the other hand, transactional leadership bases success on the results and conforms to the organization’s structure, which is often measured according to the reward and penalty system of the organization. Transactional leaders possess formal authority and take responsibility in the organization (Aarons, 2006). The leader will automatically assume that all employees value extrinsic motivation, like external rewards, specifically monetary compensation. Therefore, they will go up and beyond to ensure that the employees give their all to receive the compensation.

Comparing the basics of transformational and transactional leadership, the former would be the best for my former workplace. In an ever-changing work environment, mental and social welfare is increasingly becoming core to job performance and satisfaction. People are looking beyond monetary compensation and looking at other motivators. However, neither approach is better than the other despite the discrepancies in the leadership forms. Since the argument should be on which suits best, transformational leadership takes it all for its characteristic visionary and inspirational tendency. García‐Morales, Lloréns‐Montes, and Verdú‐Jover (2008) argue that transformational leaders will encourage, motivate, and cultivate a culture of hard and smart work in the workplace leading to an engaged workforce ready to put into use their innovative capabilities and shape the organization’s future.

References

Aarons, G. A. (2006). Transformational And Transactional Leadership: Association With Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice. Psychiatric Services, 57(8), 1162-1169. https://doi.org/10.1176%2Fappi.ps.57.8.1162

García‐Morales, V. J., Lloréns‐Montes, F. J., & Verdú‐Jover, A. J. (2008). The Effects Of Transformational Leadership On Organizational Performance Through Knowledge And Innovation. British Journal Of Management, 19(4), 299-319. https://doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2007.00547.x