Transformational Leadership: A Theory That Accurately Describes Me - Essay Sample

Introduction

The transformational theory of leadership is one of the leadership theories that accurately describe me as a leader. According to the transformational theory of leadership, leaders work and engage with their followers to jointly identify the needed change, creates a vision, inspires, and guides the followers on how the vision will be executed to achieve the required change (McCleskey, 2014). The transformational theory best describes me as a leader because I apply various approaches relating to transformational leadership as I lead others. Below are detailed explanations and examples of how I use the different approaches of leadership as a leader.

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Skills Approach

As a leader, the critical skills approach that I utilize include technical, administrative, and human skills (Mainemelis et al., 2015). I use my technical skills to resolve technical issues that may arise during our class's academic group. For instance, I often consolidate and compile the individual member's reports to a single report that would then be submitted for marking because of my excellent technical writing skills. I use my administrative skills to delegate sections of the assignment to each member, set the deadlines to when the report drafts are submitted to me for compilation, and to engage in problem-solving. The human skills that I possess play a vital role in inspiring and motivating my group members to be committed and dedicated to fulfilling their group or individual assignments in time. The human skills also enable me to resolve conflicts among the group members in a just and fair manner, maintaining good relationships with the group members and caring for others' academic needs, among other needs, when possible.

Situational Approach

In the situational approach to leadership, I utilize four main leadership styles, i.e., the delegating, supporting, and directing styles (Thompson & Glasø, 2015). For instance, I use the directing style when a new student wants to join our group, and even though the student has a background knowledge of what the course involves, they do not know the group's principles and practices. As such, I direct such students on what to work on within what time. I employ the supporting style when group members need further guidance or motivation to perform tasks. I utilize the delegating style to assign various functions to each group member while ensuring that the group members uphold the group's principles and practices.

Behavioural Approach

The behavioural approach that I mostly use in my leadership style is the relationship-oriented type of leadership. I often focus more on creating and maintaining healthy relationships with the group members first rather than concentrating on task performance (Carsten, 2017). For instance, if members have conflicting ideas on how a task should be performed, I prioritize ensuring that we all agree on one plan that would be deemed fair to all members rather than picking one of the ideas and forcing other group members to work with it.

Trait Approach

As a leader, I possess several traits that enhance my effectiveness as a leader. One of the traits is my ability to inspire and motivate my classmates and group members. For instance, my dedication and self-drive to perform tasks in and out of the classroom environment have inspired other students and friends to be dedicated and self-driven when undertaking tasks.

Path-Goal Approach

As a leader, I utilize my path-goal approach to provide a clear direction and path that the group members should follow to achieve the group's goals. For instance, I make every group member aware of what is expected of them and provide directions on how to perform the assigned tasks efficiently. I also engage each group member in the group's decision-making processes to ensure that everyone is comfortable and receptive to the decisions being made.

B. Most Distinguishing Traits

Some of my most distinguishing traits as a leader are my ability to inspire others and communicate effectively. As a leader, I firmly believe that communication plays a critical role in enhancing the effectiveness and overall performance of the followers in their workplaces (Men, 2014). One of the essential functions of communication in an organization is to make the followers understand the values, vision, and direction of the organization, which then enables them to understand their individual role in achieving the organization's vision (Men, 2014). Without effective communication, followers have no understanding of their role in helping the company to achieve its objective, which then implies that the company cannot achieve its goals. While effective communication is critical, active listening as equally important in leadership, I believe that effective communication should be two-way, where a leader not only communicates the message to the followers but should also be willing to receive information from the followers for both positive and negative criticism (Men, 2014).

As a leader, being inspirational and motivational to my followers has been my primary goal in leadership. Inspired and motivated employees are known to have high job satisfaction and, ultimately, top job performance. An inspirational leader can make the employees perform beyond expectations, which translates to the achievement of the organization’s goals beyond expectation.

The traits that I strive to learn to develop are technical, communication, and situational leadership skills. The technical skills are critical for any leader because it is only after a leader demonstrates a deeper understanding and knowledge of their respective fields that the followers develop trust and reliability on their leader. As such, I strive to improve my technical skills at all times continually. I also strive to develop my communication skills because effective communication can significantly improve the performance of the followers and the organization in general. Learning and developing various methods of leadership that can be utilized in different situations is also my goal since, as a leader, it is likely that I will encounter different situations that would require me to apply the right leadership skills for that specific situation.

Leadership Approach that I Prefer From My Leader

As a follower, the situational leadership approach is the leadership approach that I mostly prefer from my leader. As a follower, I must create a trust relationship with my leader, not just based on the leader's ability to perform exemplary in their jobs, but also in their ability to provide effective solutions for different situations effectively. According to the situational leadership approach, an effective and efficient leader must be able to alternate leadership styles based on different circumstances and situations (Thompson & Glasø, 2015).

The situational leadership approach has four main styles i.e., directing, coaching, supportive, and delegation (Thompson & Glasø, 2015). To successfully use situational leadership styles, followers are required to have a certain level of maturity and experience in their field of work. The directing leadership style calls for a leader in applying their knowledge and experience to lead while giving the followers no chance to lead themselves. The directing style is often used for followers who do not have the competence to perform tasks but are highly motivated and passionate about completing the tasks. The coaching style of leadership requires a high level of involvement and direction from the leader and is often used when the followers lack confidence and competency. The delegating style of leadership is where the leader assigns most of the responsibilities to the followers. It is used when the followers are known to be highly competent, motivated, and confident in their jobs. A supportive leadership style requires a leader to be highly motivational to the followers and instil confidence in the followers. It is more applicable to followers with little to no experience in that specific field of jobs (Thompson & Glasø, 2015).

Leadership Model that Best Describes How I Influence Others

The leadership theory that best describes how I influence others is the transformational leadership theory. Transformational leaders provide idealized influence on their followers and often act as role models (McCleskey, 2014). My classmates and peers often view me as a role model in self-driving, charisma, and dedication to my school work and other tasks. I am always among the top performers in class and ever among the first students to submit their assignments. This character has driven most of my classmates to look up to me on how to manage time and perform well in class.

Additionally, the transformational theory requires that the leader be motivational and inspirational to their followers by helping them to connect their roles to achieving the overall group role (McCleskey, 2014). The theory also requires that the leader can stimulate the followers intellectually through innovation and creativity. An instance of how I motivated, inspired, and fostered creativity to my followers was when my class was expected to come up with various science projects that were to be presented in a science contest. I organized my classmates into multiple groups and challenged each group to create an innovation relating to science. The group with the best three innovations would then represent the class in the science contest. Each member of the groups with the best innovations would then receive a certificate of recognition. At the end of the process, the groups had come up with significant innovations, and every student received a certificate.

Goals and Plan of Action

Leadership

Goal Plan of Action

To develop more confidence as a leader -Seek opportunities to lead more substantial groups, either in or outside of the classroom

To improve my skills and qualities in establishing the directions for my followers - Undertake the leadership development program offered in the school.

-Delegate more tasks to my group members during our meetings.

To broaden my knowledge and understanding of leadership -Complete the leadership development program offered in the school.

-Make observations and learning from the experienced leaders around me.

Motivation

Goal Plan of Action

Set up a reward and recognition program for both effort and results -Recognize the followers publicly

-Issue formal letter of appreciation

To achieve the above goals, I intend to implement the situational leadership model.

Steps To Take To Complete The Self-Improvement Goals

To achieve the goal of developing more self-confidence as a leader, I will volunteer or to help the lectures in undertaking some of the tasks within the classroom with the aim of interacting with a larger group of people. I also intend to be actively engaged in other groups with a higher number of followers, and while at it, I will foster good relationships with the leaders of those groups and request them to delegate some of the leadership tasks to me. For the goal of developing skills and broadening my leadership knowledge, the first step I will take is to look for leadership development programs that are offered in the school or any other platform. I will then enrol for the programs and remain dedicated to finishing them to the end.

References

Carsten, M. K. (2017). Followership development: a behavioral approach. In Leader Development Deconstructed (pp. 143-161). Springer, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-64740-1_7

Mainemelis, C., Kark, R., & Epitropaki, O. (2015). Creative leadership: A multi-context conceptualization. Academy of Management Annals, 9(1), 393-482. https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/19416520.2015.1024502

McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situ...