Leaders Need to Articulate a Vision: 3 Reasons Why - Essay Sample

Introduction

I agree with the statement by Bass (1997) on inspirational motivation. A leader needs to be able to articulate an appealing vision of the future to the followers because of the following three reasons.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The first one is that vision gives the followers an idea of where they are headed. An adequately articulated vision allows the followers to have something which they can walk towards or work towards it. A well-articulated picture can be a source of focus as everyone in the organization works towards achieving that vision, as portrayed by the leader. It allows the followers to be on the same page as the leader. It is difficult for people in an organization to operate on the same level of productivity and understanding if they don’t have the same picture of what they want in life.

Second, the vision also gives meaning to the task being carried out in the organization. A well-articulated idea should provide the answer to the “why?” The transformational type of leadership requires a leader to work with the team, and that means getting the team’s input on some issues. I believe that a transformational leader cannot just tell the followers to do something without telling them why they should do it. The vision is needed to answer the “why?” question. It also enables the followers to give their best to attain that vision.

Third, a vision has a unifying factor in it. It allows the followers along with their leader to think of themselves as an organization rather than as individuals. It generates a sense of collective thinking, which is essential for organizational success. Studies by Ringer (2007) indicates that collaborative thinking is at the heart of organizational success. I get to have a sense of comfort and security when I think of myself as part of a team or a group. People want to belong somewhere, and the vision gives them that sense of belonging. It creates the “we” mentality.

Also, to add to the discussion, articulating an appealing vision would require some good communication and leadership skills. Good communication a personal relationship is what will enable the leader to challenge the followers to high standards as well as encouraging what needs to be done. It is difficult for a leader who lacks good communication skills and good personal relations to articulate an appealing vision.

Transformational Leadership

I agree with the statement that transformational leaders become the motor and transmitter of an innovative culture and the dissemination of knowledge-oriented to seeking the best possible organizational performance.

The transformational type of leadership causes changes in individuals and their social systems. A good transformational leader would create a positive change among his or her followers, with the end goal of turning them into leaders. Transformational leadership turns followers into independent thinkers that can adapt and improvise based on the task at hand.

For a follower to reach, such as a state of individual thinking, they need to undergo self-growth. If applied to members of a team, transformation leadership makes each member reach self-actualization and look beyond their self-interest. They seek to complete tasks for the sake of the group or purposes of moral development. Such a state of mind enables the followers to perform beyond their expectations. According to Bass & Avolio (1994), transformational leadership enhances the capacity of followers to think on their own by developing new ideas, question existing processes. The goal of any transformational leader should be to ability of their followers to self-develop and self-manage.

I am a big fan of transformational leadership. It is a type of leadership style that can influence the satisfaction of followers, their commitment to the organization, and commitment to organizational change. That shows that transformational leadership can influence employee behavior to create better outcomes in the organization.

I think that if I would adopt transformational leadership if I am ever to be placed in charge of a team or on an organization. I would also like to work under a leader who uses transformational leadership. I view transformational leadership as a teaching tool and technique rather than a leadership tool. Transformational leadership encourages a lot of interaction between the leader and his or her followers, which how the leader transmits innovative culture and disseminates information to the followers. At the same time, it transforms the leader, by being taught by followers, or individual actions. That makes transformational leadership useful for not just improving the employee outcomes, but the leadership outcomes as well.

Impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Outcomes

Like any other leadership style, the effectiveness or efficiency is measured using its organizational outcomes or performance. Organizational outcomes can be measured in terms of return on asset, return on equity, return on sales, or net growth rate (Choudhary et al. 2013). There are other intangible outcomes, such as customer satisfaction and product development.

Study Choudhary et al. (2013) indicates that transformational leaders increase employee performance. It does so by promoting learning and innovation, which leads to enhancing the overall performance of the workers. Knowledge is an essential factor when it comes to increasing employee productivity. Some of the most productive people are those who place most of their focus on learning. Learning enables the workforce to increase their knowledge of certain aspects of the business, which leads to expertise in their specific fields. According to Choudhary et al. (2013), learning fosters organizational performance. Those organizations which have deep learning culture tend to perform better than their competition.

As a result, transformational leadership can be said to create a better competitive advantage for an organization. It gives an organization a competitive advantage by enhancing the capabilities of the organization. Organizational learning is directly proportional to organizational performance. The higher the level of learning within an organization, the higher the level of performance. That is what Choudhary et al. (2013) terms as the absorptive capacity of the organization. It enables the organization to transfer knowledge in an effective way, which improves the productivity of the least knowledgeable or experienced in the organization.

Also, transformational leadership maintains and improves the competitiveness of the organization through innovation. The study by Arif & Akram (2018), indicates that transformative behaviors activate followers’ innovative behavior. Innovation is the key to keeping an organization competitive as it enables them to adapt to various business environments. It also allows them to survive economic downturns, which might otherwise kick other companies out of business. Transformational leadership is more likely to encourage innovative behavior among employees than transactional leadership. Innovation also leads to improvement in the organizational processes to create better systems and modes of operation. But the impact of transformation leadership transcends the organizational level. It also extends to the individual level.

Transformational leadership has personal outcomes on followers. Transformational leadership works by transforming the personality of followers in a way that can produce positive results for the organization. However, in the process of getting employees’ personality and behavior to be beneficial for the company, the leadership style empowers the followers on an individual level. Empowerment is a necessary part of transformational leadership because the leadership style teaches people to be in control. It requires building the self-confidence of individuals and giving them control of their personal lives and actions in the workplace and beyond. These are attributes whose application extends beyond the workplace. They can be used in a home setting and to motivate the individual follower to pursue their dreams. It generates self-efficacy.

Transformational leadership encourages learning behavior among followers. Learning behavior is a positive outcome on an individual level because it enables the workers to increase their skills and knowledge level. Skills and knowledge that can be applied even in a different organization. If the follower decides to leave the organization or team, they would have left the setting in a better state than they got in. They would be smarter and more skilled, which makes them a valuable asset to other teams.

Transformational leadership creates employees who are unselfish, hardworking, adaptable, and self-driven, features that are important for any human being. Unselfishness is a positive virtue for a human being to possess. Unselfish people build better relationships and have better personal relations. These are beneficial for any follower because they enable the followers to build long-lasting relationships in the workplace and a social setting. They get to build a social network. Other attributes, such as adaptability, can also help the workers overcome the various obstacles that they will likely encounter in life. Adaptability is what generates innovation, something that is useful in all settings. It is easier for an innovative person to survive an adverse situation as compared to a regressive person. These show that transformational leadership has long term benefits to all parties involved.

References

Arif, S., & Akram, A. (2018). Transformational Leadership and Organizational Performance. SEISENSE Journal of Management, 1(3), 59-75.

Bass, B. M. (1997). Does the transactional–transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries? American psychologist, 52(2), 130.

Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (Eds.). (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Sage.

Choudhary, A. I., Akhtar, S. A., & Zaheer, A. (2013). Impact of transformational and servant leadership on organizational performance: A comparative analysis. Journal of business ethics, 116(2), 433-440.

Ringer, T. M. (2007). Leadership for collective thinking in the workplace. Team Performance Management: An International Journal.