Transformational leadership

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Transformational leadership is a concept for a leadership style in which by transforming ( Latin : transformare - to reshape, reshape) the values ​​and attitudes of those being led - away from egoistic, individual goals, in the direction of long-term, overarching goals - an increase in performance should take place. Transformational managers try to motivate their employees intrinsically , for example by conveying attractive visions, communicating the common path to achieving goals, acting as role models and supporting the individual development of employees. Transformational leadership, together with transactional leadership, is part of the full range leadership model .

Origin, basic idea

The theory of transformational leadership has been increasingly studied in academia since the mid-1990s. For the first time, the historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns differentiated in his biographical analysis of politicians and their leadership styles between a transformative and a transactional leadership style : while transactional politicians are more oriented towards maintaining the status quo , transformational politicians were able to bring about changes. Bernard M. Bass transferred this idea to leadership in 1985 and expanded Burns' theory of transformative leadership by examining the underlying psychological mechanism in more detail. In contrast to transactional leadership, in which a transaction, i.e. an exchange, takes place between the workforce of the employee and the remuneration by the employer, transforming leaders try to change the values ​​of their employees (e.g. through visions or exemplary behavior), To convey meaning and in this way to intrinsically motivate them to achieve a common, overarching (corporate) goal.

According to Bass, transformational-led employees developed trust, loyalty, and respect for their leaders as they showed them an inspiring vision and conveyed identity (e.g. by promoting group goals). Bass postulated that transactional and transformational leadership cannot appear as opposites, but at the same time in the behaviors of one and the same manager and are not mutually exclusive. Rather, transactional leadership forms the basis for further transformational leadership.

Leadership behavior

Various concepts describe favorable behavior of a manager with regard to “transformational leadership”. In Bass' theory, the behavior of a transformational leader is assigned to four categories (so-called "four I's"):

  1. Idealized influence (role model function): The manager is perceived as having integrity and credibility. It serves as a role model for employees, by which they orientate themselves personally and professionally.
  2. Inspirational motivation: With an inspiring vision, transformational leaders try to increase the intrinsic motivation of their employees. They can convey meaning and meaning and thus make it clear what it is worth investing time and energy for. The first two categories were also initially referred to as the charism of a leader.
  3. Intellectual stimulation: The manager tries to stimulate the creative and innovative abilities of their employees so that they feel challenged in a positive sense to question and optimize company processes.
  4. Individualized consideration (individual support): As a “consultant, coach, teacher and mother figure” (Bass, 1985, p. 27), the manager responds to the individual needs of their employees and specifically develops their skills and strengths. In doing so, it is particularly possible to recognize individual needs, arouse motives and develop self-confidence .

In a further development, Philip M. Podsakoff and colleagues distinguish six dimensions of transformational leadership that are similar to Bass's four I's:

  1. Role model function: According to Bandura's social learning theory, people take on the behavior of others, especially if they respect and admire them. The manager is therefore a role model for his employees at all times and optimally aligns their behavior with the common goals in accordance with the principle of "walk the talk".
  2. Future vision: The manager creates an inspiring vision for the employees that motivates them to achieve goals that were previously considered unattainable. A successful vision is characterized by an emotional, positive coloring; it is pictorial and arouses enthusiasm among those being guided.
  3. Individual support: The manager recognizes the goals and problems of the individual employees and is able to promote and motivate them individually.
  4. Promotion of group goals: Employees put their own selfish interests aside for a higher common mission. The human being as a social being strives for harmony and group cohesion. By creating common goals, this need is satisfied, so that the well-being and, in turn, the motivation of the employees increases.
  5. Intellectual stimulation: The manager stimulates the employees to innovative ideas and changes. The employees are constantly challenged to develop solutions to problems.
  6. High performance expectations : Managers have high expectations of their employees, tailored to the individual, and communicate their trust in the performance of the employees.

Jay A. Conger and Rabindra N. Kanungo have developed a parallel approach, but speak of charismatic leadership. In addition, they formulate assumptions about a process model with successive phases with which change processes that are initiated and designed by a charismatic or transformational manager can be ideally mapped. Your dimensions of charismatic leadership are based on these phases.

  1. Articulation / communication of a vision: The manager inspires and motivates through convincing communication , can speak and present impressively.
  2. Political intuition / sensitivity: The manager recognizes dangers and risks in the social and technical environment in good time. It recognizes skills and potentials, but also the limits of employees and opportunities to improve performance. She thinks and acts like an entrepreneur.
  3. Unconventional behavior / deviation from the status quo: The manager deviates from traditional methods, surprises with unusual measures and unusual behavior and does not orientate himself on established procedures and does not try to maintain the existing.
  4. Personal willingness to take risks: The manager accepts considerable personal sacrifices and risks and does not shy away from any personal effort or effort.
  5. Sensitivity to employee needs : The manager cultivates mutual appreciation and respect in their dealings and shows interest and concern for the needs and feelings of others.
  6. Empowerment : The manager delegates responsible tasks.

Measurement

The extent of transformational behavior of a manager can be assessed with the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ; original version by Bass, 1985). The current revision of the questionnaire (MLQ5X) comprises a total of nine scales, five of which measure aspects of transformational leadership. Podsakoff and colleagues (1990, 1996) developed another tool for recording transformational leadership. The Transformational Leadership Inventory (TLI) comprises seven scales, six of which measure the dimensions of transformational leadership on a five-point Likert scale.

effect

Positive correlations between transformational leadership and a variety of result criteria (e.g. job satisfaction, commitment , performance, health , organizational citizenship behavior , customer satisfaction, role clarity and restructuring success) were confirmed - also meta-analytically. Particularly noteworthy are the effects of transformational leadership on criteria that are influenced by the motivation of the employees (e.g. affective commitment or OCB). Transformational leadership also has a positive effect on the creativity of employees and the development of innovations in companies. Rowold and Heinitz came to the conclusion that some facets of transformational leadership reduced the employees' experience of stress. Furthermore, the effects of transformational leadership on objective performance measures can be demonstrated, for example on the sales success of employees of financial service providers.

Acquisition of leadership style

Transformational leadership behavior is through z. B. Individual coaching (e.g. shadowing), group coaching, workshops, training courses or professional feedback on leadership behavior can be learned. Special training programs have been developed to develop the transformational leadership style.

In “leadership style feedback ” (e.g. 360 ° feedback ), the extent of transformational leadership behavior is assessed from different perspectives (e.g. self-assessment, employees, superiors, colleagues, customers). The results of the feedback are summarized in a management style report. This should enable the manager to reflect on his own leadership behavior. In practice, training courses are often carried out in combination with feedback. The effectiveness of such measures to promote transformational leadership could be confirmed for different contexts, such as the financial sector, military or public administration in Germany. It showed that managers who took part in a training measure were perceived by their employees to be more transformational than before in their leadership behavior. The effectiveness of management training in behavior-oriented management concepts can also be meta-analytically confirmed.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bass, BM (1985): Leadership and performance beyond expectations . New York: Free Press.
  2. ↑ Avolio, BJ, & Bass, BM (1991): The full range of leadership development programs: Basic and advanced manuals . Binghamton: Bass, Avolio & Associates.
  3. ^ Burns, J. MacGregor (1978): Leadership . New York: Harper & Row.
  4. ^ Bass, BM (1985): Leadership and performance beyond expectations . New York: Free Press.
  5. ^ Bass, BM (1991): From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision . Organizational Dynamics, 18 (3), 19-31.
  6. ^ Bass, BM, & Avolio BJ (1990): Developing Transformational Leadership: 1992 and Beyond . Journal of European Industrial Training, 14 (5), 21-27.
  7. ↑ Podsakoff, PM, MacKenzie, SB, Moorman, RH, & Fetter, R. (1990): Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors . Leadership Quarterly, 1, 107–142.
  8. ↑ Podsakoff, PM, MacKenzie, SB, & Bommer, WH (1996): Transformational leader behaviors and substitutes for leadership as determinants of employee satisfaction, commitment, trust, and organizational citizenship behaviors . In: Journal of Management 22 (2), pp. 259-298.
  9. ^ Bandura, A. (1977): Social learning theory . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall (Prentice-Hall series in social learning theory).
  10. ↑ Conger, JA, & Kanungo, RN, (1988): Charismatic leadership: The elusive factor in organizational effectiveness . San Francisco, CA, US: Jossey Bass.
  11. ^ Bass, BM, & Avolio, BJ (1995): MLQ multifactor leadership questionnaire . Redwood City. CA: Mind Garden.
  12. ^ Bass, BM, & Avolio, BJ (2000): MLQ: Multifactor leadership questionnaire . Redwood City. CA: Mind Garden.
  13. ↑ Heinitz, K .; Rowold, J. (2007): Quality criteria of a German adaptation of the Transformational Leadership Inventory (TLI) by Podsakoff . Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 51 (1), pp. 1–15.
  14. ^ Krüger, C., Rowold J., Borgmann L., Staufenbiel K., & Heinitz, K. (2011): The discriminant validity of transformational and transactional leadership: A multitrait-multimethod analysis of and norms for the German Transformational Leadership In -ventory (TLI) . Journal of Personnel Psychology, 10 (2), 49-60.
  15. ↑ MacKenzie, SB, Podsakoff, PM, & Rich, GA (2004): Transformational and transactional leadership and salesperson performance . Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29, 115-134.
  16. ↑ Podsakoff, PM, MacKenzie, SB, Moorman, RH, & Fetter, R. (1990): Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors . Leadership Quarterly, 1, 107–142.
  17. ↑ Podsakoff, PM, MacKenzie, SB, & Bommer, WH (1996): Transformational leader behaviors and substitutes for leadership as determinants of employee satisfaction, commitment, trust, and organizational citizenship behaviors . In: Journal of Management 22 (2), pp. 259-298.
  18. ↑ Dumdum, UR, Lowe, KB, & Avolio, BJ (2002): A meta-analysis of transformational and transactional leadership correlates of effectiveness and satisfaction: An update and extension . In B. Avolio & F. Yammarino (Eds.): Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (pp. 35-66). Amsterdam: JAI.
  19. ^ Eagly, AH, Johannesen-Schmidt, MC, & Van Engen, ML (2003): Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and men . Psychological Bulletin, 129 (4), 569.
  20. ↑ Felfe, J. & Heinitz, K. (2010): The impact of consensus and agreement of leadership perceptions on commitment, OCB and customer satisfaction . European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 19, 279-303.
  21. ↑ Judge, TA; Piccolo, RF (2004): Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Test of Their Relative Validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89 (5), pp. 755-768.
  22. ^ Ruhl, S .: Transformational leadership for the economic renovation of clinics. In: Journal of Leadership and Human Resource Management in Healthcare (ZFPG) / Journal of Leadership and Human Resource Management in Healthcare . tape 2 , no. 3 , 2016, p. 33–41 , doi : 10.17193 / HNU.ZFPG.02.03.2016 .
  23. ↑ Felfe, J. & Bittner, T. (2014): Managing changes successfully with transformational leadership . Personal Quarterly, 66, 10-14.
  24. ↑ Herrmann, D. & Felfe, J. (2013): Moderators of the Relationship between Leadership Style and Employee Creativity: The Role of Task Novelty and Personal Initiative . Creativity Research Journal, 25, 172-181.
  25. ↑ Herrmann, D. & Felfe, J. (2014): Effects of Leadership Style, Creativity Technique, and Personal Initiative on Employee Creativity . British Journal of Management, 25, 209-227.
  26. ↑ Gumusluoglu, L. & Ilsev, A. (2009): Transformational leadership, creativity, and organizational innovation . Journal of Business Research 62 (4), 461-473
  27. ↑ Rowold, J. & Heinitz, K. (2008): Leadership styles as stress barriers - On the connection between transformational, transactional, employee- and task-oriented leadership and indicators of stress in employees . Zeitschrift für Personalpsychologie 7 (3), 129–140.
  28. ↑ Geyer, ALJ & Steyrer, JM (1998): Measurement and effectiveness of transformational leadership . Zeitschrift für Personalforschung 12, 377–401.
  29. ↑ Rowold, J. (2014): Essay - The Path to Leadership Excellence . Human Resource Manager, August / September edition, 76–78.
  30. ↑ Barling, J., Weber, T. & Kelloway, EK (1996): Effects of transformational leadership training on attitudinal and financial outcomes: A field experiment . Journal of Applied Psychology, 81 (6), 827-832.
  31. ↑ Dvir, T., Eden, D., Avolio, BJ & Shamir, B. (2002): Impact of Transformational Leadership on Follower Development and Performance: A Field Experiment . Academy of Management Journal, 45 (4), 735-744.
  32. ↑ Abrell, C., Rowold, J., Weibler, J. & Mönninghoff, M. (2011): Evaluation of a Long-Term Transformational Leadership Development Program . German Journal of Human Resource Management, 25 (3), 205-224.
  33. ↑ Lacerenza, CN, Reyes, DL, Marlow, SL, Joseph, DL & Salas, E. (2017): Leadership training design, delivery, and implementation: A meta-analysis . Journal of Applied Psychology, 102 (12), 1686-1718.