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Do you want to be a good leader? Do you know the characteristics of the best leaders of the moment? Transformational leadership is a type of leadership increasingly demanded by companies and this is due to the constant changes in society in terms of technological advances and more.
For this reason, more and more leaders are needed who inspire their workers and who are willing to change to move forward, which in the end comes down to trying to do the best so that the organization can grow and not stagnate. Today, due to the importance of digital transformation in companies, this type of leadership is increasingly needed and more after the crisis produced by COVID-19.
What is transformational leadership?
Characteristics of transformational leadership
Benefits of applying transformational leadership
How to be a transformational leader
Examples of transformational leaders
Apply transformational leadership to your organization
What is transformational leadership?
Now you may be wondering what exactly is transformational leadership. It was coined by a leadership expert, James MacGregor, who defined it as the leadership of those individuals who have a stronger vision and personality than the rest. According to the author, transformational leadership is when leaders and their followers agree to work and move together to a higher level.
This leader must transform the vision of the company towards new and more effective ways of thinking. It is innovative and creative leadership, a leadership style that has been defined as “authentic leadership” since 1978. Leaders who practice this leadership can promote change within organizations.
Characteristics of transformational leadership
Now that you know what transformational leadership is, it is necessary to establish which are its most common characteristics in addition to transforming companies. Well then. A few years after MacGregor told us what transformational leadership is, Bernard M. Bass, another expert on the subject, pointed out four characteristics that transformational leaders must have:
- They must stimulate their employees: Transformational leaders stimulate their employees, that is to say, they get them to bring out the best in themselves by increasing their creativity and competitiveness.
- They must understand their employees individually: To make the teamwork, each piece or individual must be uniquely understood to know how to manage each piece and fit it into the puzzle.
- Must inspire and motivate: Transformational leaders have a great ability to inspire and motivate and this is usually because they are disruptive minds with a lot of charisma and they get the team to believe in the vision of the company.
- They must influence: Transformational leaders are an example to others, employees want to be like him, to become what they are. They influence their lives by making them change their way of thinking for the common good.
- They must transmit the team spirit: The team is the most important thing, without the team you get nowhere. Therefore, his main objective is to make the teamwork and to make it row in a single direction, the direction of success.
- Must generate an emotional bond: Transformational leaders can generate emotional bonds with their team members, so they feel part of something important and become more committed to the cause.
Benefits of applying transformational leadership
Transformational leadership can bring enormous benefits to your organization if you know how to use it correctly and if you have the right characteristics to become one. Not just anyone can be, but it is not innate and can be easily trained. These are the benefits of transformational leadership for your company:
- Increases productivity: By motivating employees, they work better, thus increasing the group’s productivity and efficiency. This leads to more successful projects.
- Leads changes in the organization: The leader is not afraid of change and is always attentive to new developments so this type of leadership manages to move the company forward at the same pace as society.
- Changes team expectations: This type of leadership is interesting because it manages to change vicious circles and avoids inertia, making the team’s motivations and concerns change.
- Increases team self-confidence: This type of leadership is also characterized by bringing the team to a higher level of morale and motivation. This is due to the involvement and level of commitment that is achieved.
- Positively impact followers: Because leadership is so inspirational and because it influences employees so much, if the leader is good, followers will try to like him and act positively.
- Generates trust, respect, and admiration: This type of leadership can generate very positive things for the team, such a leader can make workers feel devotion for him.
- Makes the company more flexible: Last but not least, these leaders can make companies more flexible, more adaptable to changes and developments, which ultimately leads to higher productivity.
How to be a transformational leader
Surely you are already convinced that you should be a transformational leader for your company due to the numerous advantages we have listed above, but you are probably wondering how to do it.
It is not an easy task, we are not going to deceive you but with training and effort everything is possible. So to become a transformational leader first we advise you to take an example of some of the leaders of this type that exist today and which we will talk about later.
Secondly, develop an inspiring, challenging and attractive vision, together with your team. Get this team involved and make them want to achieve the vision. Once they are engaged you must manage to achieve the vision by creating an environment of mutual support and learning opportunities for your team.
Examples of transformational leaders
Few leaders can be considered transformational because it is a leadership style with which it is very difficult to succeed. Because it is very easy to have innovative and disruptive ideas but it is very difficult to make them successful. That is why we bring you some of the best transformational leaders in our opinion.
#1 Steve Jobs
What can we say about Steve Jobs, a controversial guy who has led his company and his teams to success? A leader who has not only transformed his company but has also transformed society as a whole. First with the iPod, then with the iPhone, and finally with the iPad. Undoubtedly a great marketing genius.
#2 Elon Musk
Elon Musk is another of the great transformational leaders of the moment. On the verge of losing his company 3 times, he has finally managed to reuse rockets, which has made him a lot of money. In addition to being one of the founders of PayPal, his companies Tesla, Space X, and others like Hyperloop or Neuralink are among the most innovative companies of the moment. His dream is to found a city on Mars, something vital for the survival of the human species. Will he succeed? Who knows…
#3 Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is the man who has transformed e-commerce and logistics management, one of the most powerful men of the moment, with one of the biggest fortunes. This is thanks to the fact that he is constantly transforming an organization that started as a bookstore. Now it is much more than that, Amazon is in a myriad of niche markets. In addition to its online store, Amazon Web Services, a cloud services company, has become a key part of the operation of thousands of companies around the world.
#4 Richard Branson
Richard Branson, this tycoon, the founder of Virgin Group, has not only transformed the world of telecommunications but has also managed to make his company one of the best valued by his employees to work for. In addition, he has also bet on space travel, recently becoming one of the first space tourists in history.
Apply transformational leadership to your organization
Transformational leadership is a very flexible type of leadership that brings numerous advantages to companies. However, not all companies demand this type of leadership. Many factors must be taken into account before applying this style of leadership and, above all, you must be very clear about your company’s objectives.
We recommend that, before changing your leadership style or hiring a leader of this type for your company, you consult and put yourself in the hands of experts because, like everything else, it has its risks. If what you want is to improve your leadership while you learn how to carry it out, there are many ways to do it, although you can always ask us. If you have any doubts or want to know more, do not hesitate to contact us.
