The four i's of transformational leadership pdf

Identify Leader Traits And Attributes

Nova Southeastern University

About the Authors: Roy Russell is a doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University. He received a bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University and an MBA from New Hampshire . College.

Rhonda Mizrahi is a doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University. She received a bachelor’s degree from Palm Beach Atlantic College and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University. 1.. 1. ~ , 1. i.. ~ , ,

Executive Summary Bass’s theory (1985) of transformational leadership is based upon going beyond exchanging rewards for desired performance. Einstein (1994) proposed several steps to bring about the transformation of followers. Using a situational model, we will introduce transactional and transformational leadership theories into Einstein’s steps of transformation.

Transactional leadership is defined by leader-follower relationships which are based on a series of exchanges or bargains between leaders and followers. Degrees of transactional leadership are supported by the leader’s activity level and the nature of the interaction with followers. With transformational

leadership, leader-follower relationships are built on three distinct leader behaviors; charisma, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration.

The situational model we intend to develop for transformational leadership will show managers when and how to employ this theory. Transformational leadership can be learned and leaders at all levels can benefit from an understanding of how transformational and transactional leadership theory can be combined into a dynamic model.

155

Introduction

, .

Several organizational leadership theories called transformational have been recently proposed. Bass’s theory (1985) is based on going beyond exchanging inducements for desired performance. This is done by developing, intellectually

.

’

stimulating, and inspiring followers to transcend their own self-interests for a .

’

. higher collective purpose, mission, or vision. ’~, -,~ ° ’

. Transformational theories transcend transactional leadership theories that are ...... ; ~ based on a series of exchanges or bargains between leaders and followers.

’

,

.

,

&dquo;1 Burns (1978) discussion of transformational leadership saw transformational and ,’~..~:~ .... , &dquo;transactional leadership as two ends of a continuum. In contrast, Bass saw° ’

. these leadership theories to be independent with each composed of several ,

,

’

’

.

empirically derived factors (Bass and Avolio, 1994). ..&dquo; ’,: .. r x :

,.. Y ~ 4.‘ ,

. Bass and later Avolio, Waldman, and Yammarino (1991) theorized ’

.. &dquo;

’_ transformational leadership as comprising four distinct factors. These are ... &dquo;. ’ individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation inspirational motivation, and

,’, ,~,’ .&dquo; , idealized influence. Bass asserted that transformational leadership would result : in followers performing beyond the expected of performance because of the ;

. ’

leader’s influence. The extra level of effort may be due to their commitment to the leader, their level of development, or the sense of purpose that drives them

.., . to act beyond the normal expectations.

... < :.,

~ , In this paper we will show how transformational and transactional leadership 4’ ,&dquo;’, , theories can be collectively organized into a situational model that explains to

’ .. managers how to employ these theories. Bass and Avolio (1990) have shown . that transformational leadership can be learned and that it should be the subject

. ’ ; .. of management training and research. Leaders at all levels can be trained to be

,; ... °

charismatic in both verbal and nonverbal performance. &dquo; .... ,

: .. ’ °~ . ; ... Einstein (1994) proposed that a transformational leader uses three steps to bring ’

°... - about the transformation of followers. These steps are diagnosing the .

leadership situation, transacting the relationship, and transforming the followers.

~_ ~ ~

,

~

We intend to use this as the starting point for the model we will propose. , ~ ¡ . f P . ~ ~ ¡!.

. ~ > ;~ ’/ Using a dynamic model, we will introduce transactional and transformational .. ’ ’: &dquo;B leadership theories into the steps of Einstein’s transformation of followers model.

In this way it will be possible to visualize the full range of leadership theories in . a concise way so that managers can easily understand how these theories

. , .. . interrelate to each other.

Transactional and Transformational Leadership

The transactional leader looks at a cost-benefit or economic exchange to meet ’

.... followers’ material and psychological needs in return for services provided by the : .... ’ . ’ follower. Burns (1978) theorized that the transformational leader also saw these

..:. ’ . needs as important but also recognized that followers needed to have needs

156

. other than the basic ones satisfied. Transformational leaders attempt to motivate followers from a lower to a higher level of need according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Bass, 1985).

According to Maslow, an individual must fulfill her/his basic physiologic, safety, and security needs before she/he can be motivated by higher needs for love and affiliation with family and friends. When these needs are satisfied, recognition and esteem can be motivating needs. The highest need in the hierarchy, self- actualization can be fulfilled only when the lower needs are satisfied. Innovative contributions are apt to be highest in an organization when the members feel themselves to be self-actualizing (Maslow, 1970).

Maslow did not see the hierarchy of need satisfaction as independent steps, which have to be completed before a higher level becomes active. The level of needs are overlapping and interdependent. Higher-level needs emerge before the lower-level needs become satisfied. Both transactional and transformational

leadership involve perceiving followers’ needs, however it is the transformational leader who raises awareness about higher consideration through verbalization and role modeling (Bass and Avolio, 1994).

Burns saw Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a fundamental part of the transformational process. Bass suggests that although such an upward shift in the level of need may be evidence of a transformation, it is not necessary. Needs may be augmented at the same level or even shifted downward as the situation demands (Bass, 1985).

However, Bass believes that in business situations an upgrading of needs is the usual process. As a result of this upgrading of needs, followers become self- directing and self reinforcing. Followers then take on greater responsibilities and become themselves leaders. In a sense, transformational leaders work themselves out of a job to the extent that they elevate their subordinates into becoming self-actualizers, self-regulators, and self-controllers (Avolio, Waldman, and Yammarino, 1991 ).

,

Transformation leaders do more with followers and associates than set up exchanges or agreements. They behave in ways to achieve superior results by employing one or more of the &dquo;Four I’s&dquo;. These are idealized influence,

.. inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Through these paradigms transformational leaders motivate others to do more than they originally intended and often even more than they thought possible (Bass and Avolio, 1994).

Using idealized influence the transformational leader behaves in ways that result .

in her/his being a role model for their followers. The leader is admired, respected, and trusted and the followers identify with the leader and try to emulate her/him. Among the things the leader does to earn this credit is consider the needs of others over her/his own personal needs. The leader ~ .. shares risks with the followers and is consistent rather than arbitrary. She/he

157

demonstrates high standards of ethical and moral conduct. The leader avoids using power for personal gain and only when needed (Avolio, Waldman, and Yammarino, 1991).

Through inspirational motivation the transformational leader behaves in a way that motivates and inspires those around her/him by providing meaning and challenge to her/his followers’ tasks (Howell and Avolio, 1993). The team spirit is aroused and excitement and confidence are displayed. The leader gets followers involved in forming a shared vision of the future. The leader develops clear expectations that followers want to meet and also demonstrates a commitment to goals and the shared vision.

Intellectual stimulation by a transformational leader inspires her/his followers to be innovative and creative by questioning assumptions, reframing problems, and approacning old situations in new ways. Individual followers mistakes are not criticized openly and creativity is encouraged. Followers are included in the process of addressing problems and finding solutions and new ideas and solutions are sought from them (Einstein, 1994).

Individualized consideration is the

process where transformational leaders have special regard for each individual’s needs for achievement and

growth by functioning as a coach or mentor. Followers and colleagues are developed to successively higher levels of potential. New learning opportunities are created along with a encouraging environment. Individual differences in terms of needs and desires are identified and supported. These four I’s make up the foundation for transformational leadership. Bass discovered (Waldman, Bass, and

Figure 1: From Bass & Avolio (1994).

Einstein 1987) that transactional leadership had several components or types. These are contingent reward, management-by-exception, and lassie-fair. In figure 1 these leadership types are profiled (Bass and Avolio, 1994).

Contingent reward leadership has a positive impact on performance. This relationship is based on the assumption that by explaining what the leader wants and then rewarding the appropriate behaviors, the leader directs followers to the performance level desired. Management by exception also impacts performance positively, but less so than contingent reward. This link is more complicated to explain than the link with contingent reward (Howell and Avolio, 1993).

158

I

Leaders who use active management by exception may enhance follower i performance if their criticism is perceived as fair, clarifies performance

standards, or modifies poor performance in an acceptable way to avoid aversive .

consequences. However, if leaders criticize followers after the fact or do not . specify the behavior to be performed to avoid punishment, then such behavior .

may have a negative impact on follower effort and performance. This type of leadership represents the less active, or passive, form of management by exception. Laissez-fair represents the absence of management (Bass and Avolio, 1994).

-

These leadership styles represent the full range of leadership types. A leader may exhibit some or all of these types of leadership given a particular situation. Having several leadership styles to choose from increases the leader’s chances for success (Einstein, 1994). From this framework we intend to develop a diagnostic model which will link these leadership types together so that managers can have a better

understanding of them.

The Situational Model . -. &dquo;

A transformational leader’s objective is to bring followers up to a level where they can accomplish a task without direct supervision. Einstein (1994) proposed a transformational leader

Figure 2

uses three steps to bring about this transformation. These steps are diagnosing the leadership situation, transacting the relationship between leader and followers, and transforming followers into effective people. By developing her/his people the leader is able to leverage the organization’s resources and

. accomplish much more than was expected.

We would like to use this as the starting point for the model we propose. We will , j construct the model by having the three steps flow from one to another.

We will keep the first two steps diagnosis and transact. The diagnosis step will have the components power, job demands, and follower capacity. The transact

- step will have the components direct, persuade, involve, and inspire. The third step we will call shift instead of transform. While the third step will have the four l’s of transformational leadership as components, the primary action/goal here is to shift the followers up to a level where they can operate independently. This is shown in figure 2.

, , . b &dquo;, ~ .. ,

159

Rather than a static model, we would like to make this a dynamic model. We will do this by introducing a step called re-evaluation. After a full transformational process, the leader in this model needs to re-evaluate the situation. If she/he has been successful in implementing a transformational environment, then her/his people have changed and the situation calls for a different diagnosis. Now the leader can use more personal power and the follower capacity is higher. The leader can then shift from a persuade leadership style to an involving one. Continuing to implement a transformational environment further changes the equilibrium continually allowing the leader to change her/his leadership style through a feedback process until she/he becomes fully transformational.

The first step in this model is diagnosing the leadership situation. The transformational leader must analyze her/his situation in terms of three factors; power, priorities, and people. The power factor relates to two dimensions, position and personal. Position power comes from the organization and it is the formal authority the leader has to demand compliance from her/his followers. People do not like being told what to do and if position power is used frequently it losses its effectiveness.

Personal power, however, is based within the individual and is independent of the organization. It is derived from a amalgamation of expertise the leader has in accomplishing the organizations goals. It can also come from the ability the leader has to use followers’ values or beliefs in motivating them to accomplish tasks. In diagnosing a leadership situation the transformational leader needs to find ways of moving toward using his personal power.

The second factor in diagnosing a leadership situation is looking at the job priorities or job demands. The transformational leader needs to balance priorities between accomplishing tasks important to the organization and making people responsive to job demands. In the final analysis, task realization is the organization’s expectation of the leader, and the leader must take this into account in the diagnosis.

The third factor in the diagnosis is the capacity of the followers to accomplish the assigned tasks. Maturity in relation to the job consists of a capacity to perform the job and the motivational state of the individual as well as the individual’s self- confidence. Einstein (1994) believes there are two other critical dimensions in the diagnosis of the followers. These are the degree of understanding and commitment the followers display toward organizational goals and tasks.

It is important to diagnose the leadership situation in terms of power, priorities, and people. Only by having a clear picture of the situation can the leader make the effective initial leadership style choice. When the leader is confident that she/he understands what the situation is can she/he go on to the next step toward transformational leadership. This next step is to transact the basic relationship between the leader and follower.

160

Transacting the leadership situation requires the effective leader to show the proper amount of direction. The amount of direction depends on the diagnosis made. If the leader decides that the job demands are ambiguous, the followers capacity to perform is low, and the leader has sufficient position power, then a direct telling style of leadership is required.

’

Using the directive style of leadership, the leader makes decisions alone without asking followers for their ideas or suggestions. In this situation the leader takes responsibility for the group. If on the other hand the diagnosis shows that the job demands are relatively straight forward, the followers capacity to perform is high, and the leader has sufficient personal power, then a more persuasive, involving or even inspiring style is called for.

Using the persuasive style of leadership, the leader is providing guidance but is also providing the opportunity for dialogue and clarification in order to help the followers to accept what the leader wants. The involving leadership style seeks to provide an opportunity for discussion of the problem or task. The leader seeks to solve the problem through finding consensus from the followers. Inspiring leadership delegates decisions to subordinates and seeks to provide resources so that the group can succeed. Here, the leader becomes more responsible to the group. , ,

Transacting the leadership situation means the leader is able to diagnose the style of leadership best able to accomplish the tasks at hand and implementing that style in an effective manner. The competent transformational leader plans on shifting from the more directing forms of leadership to the more delegating styles of leadership. The goal is to transform followers so that they can achieve success without direct supervision.

This transformation occurs when leaders exhibit certain behaviors which have been shown to enhance follower performance. These behaviors are called by Bass &dquo;the four I’s&dquo;; individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence. These transformational behaviors should not be seen as a replacement for other styles of leadership, instead they should add to the other styles of leadership and expand the leader’s toolbox of skills.

Transformational leaders are concerned with the individual employee and her/his needs rather than treating all followers alike and as having the same needs. Such leaders listen to and share an individual’s concerns while helping to build the individual’s confidence. This is best expressed in the mentoring role where the mentor takes the time to learn the strengths and weakness of the individual. Individualized consideration forms the foundation of the transformational process because the growth and development of the followers become the primary goals of the leader. However, the individualized consideration can also be more symbolic in nature and take on the form of a general manager or CEO who learns as many names as possible in the organization. Also consider the upper level manager who practices &dquo;management by walking about&dquo; looking for activities to praise.

161

To serve in a transformational leadership capacity, a leader should be concerned with furnishing ways and reasons for individuals to change the way they think about their different types of problems. An intellectually stimulating leader helps individuals to think about old problems in new ways and to use reasoning and evidence rather than unsupported opinion to solve problems. The transformational leader can also attempt to shift attitudes and values that may be at odds with the leader or organization.

Inspirational motivation is an energizing factor where transformational leaders inspire people and get them excited about working together to achieve goals. Previous personal accomplishments, the improvement of communication skills, and role modeling of other inspirational leaders, create the ability to inspire others. The leader’s inspirational motivation is reinforced if a vision or mission ot where the organization is going is shared by the followers.

Through showing value for others and by building their confidence and trust in the organizations goals and objectives, transformational leaders are able to

develop authority and influence over followers. When followers observe their leader achieving desired results, the followers are more likely to want to imitate the leader, to be like the leader in terms of the leader’s behaviors, attitudes and values. Idealized influence is the fruition of the other three I’s coupled with a strong emotional attachment to and identification with the leader. Such leaders are imitated by followers and often called charismatic.

An important part of this model after transformational behaviors have been

Figure 3

implemented by the leader is the re-evaluation process the leader goes through. Transformational leadership allows followers to grow and develop achieving competence in their tasks. It becomes necessary for the leader to re-diagnose the leadership situation and if he finds that the power, job demands, and follower capacity have sufficiently shifted.

If the leader had been using a direct or persuasive leadership style, then changing to an involving or inspiring style may be appropriate. If, on the other hand the leader was already at involving or inspiring, it may be appropriate to remove himself from the leadership position for that group. This stage has much in common with parenting.

162

A metamorphosis occurs both in parenting and leadership where a new 1B ’ .¡ > relationship of responsible &dquo;to&dquo; is created out of an responsible &dquo;for&dquo; relationship.

&dquo;

. This transformed relationship is one where both the leader and follower exchange power and priorities. In a sense the job of a transformational leader is to work themselves out of a job. This is diagramed in figure 3.

Here, the model is further developed to incorporate the transformational goal. In doing so the re-evaluation step is changed. Earlier in the model re-evaluation took into account whether the leader should shift his transactional leadership style from a more directing to a more delegating style. Now the re-evaluating step is a more quantum one. The shift from responsible &dquo;for&dquo; to responsible &dquo;to&dquo; marks the transformation. Accompanied by ceremony, this transition becomes permanent.

Conclusion

In this paper we have shown how transformational and transactional leadership theories can be collectively organized into a situational model. By organizing these theories in this way it is possible to understand them better as well as implement them in practical applications. This is very important when considering that practicing managers will be the target audience.

Transactional styles of leadership include contingent reward, management by exception, and laissez-fair. While transactional styles of leadership have been shown to work, follower performance rarely exceeds expectations. By using transformational styles of leadership, however, the leader can motivate followers to exceed expectations.

’

Transformational Leadership motivates followers through the esteem and self- actualization needs as described by Maslow. The basic model of transformational leadership are the 4 I’s described by Bass. Einstein proposed that the three steps to becoming a transformational leader are diagnosis of the situation, transacting the situation, and transforming the followers.

It is fundamental to a full range leadership training effort that every leader display each style to some degree. In order to better visualize the full range of

. leadership styles and their relationship to each other we proposed constructing a model based on Einstein’s model. In the model we proposed, key differences are in shifting followers toward independent action and re-evaluation of leadership styles as followers change.

This model calls for continuing to implement a transformational environmental through a re-evaluation feedback process until the leader becomes fully transformational. During this process the leader re-evaluates her/his diagnosis of the situation and the style of leadership appropriate. When the leader

. becomes fully transformational the basic relationship between the leader and his ’

followers changes from a responsible &dquo;for&dquo; to a responsible &dquo;to&dquo; relationship.

163

We believe this model will help managers to visualize the different leadership I . styles, how they interact and when to use them. In this way it should be possible

. to better evaluate the appropriate style necessary for a given situation.

References

Avolio, B. J., Waldman, D. A., Yammarino, F. J. (1991). Leading in the 1990’s: The four I’s of transformational leadership. Journal of European Industrial Training. 15(4). 9-16.

Atwater, L. E., Yammarino, F. J. (1993). Personal attributes as predictors of superiors’ and subordinates’ perceptions of military academy leadership. Human Relations. 46(5). 645-668.

Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics. 18(3). 19-31.

Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: The Free Press.

Bass, B. M., Avolio, B. J. (1990). Developing transformational leadership: 1992 and beyond. Journal of European Industrial Training. 14(5). 21-27.

Bass, B. M., Avolio, B. J. (Eds.). (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadersbip. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper and Row.

Conger, J. A., Kanungo, R. N. (1987). Toward a behavioral theory of charismatic leadership in organizational settings. Academy of Management Review.12(4). 637-647.

Einstein, W. O. (1994). The challenge of leadership. Unpublished manuscript.

Howell, J. M., Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control, and support for innovation: Key predictors of consolidated- business-unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology. 78(6). 891-902.

Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and personality. 2nd ed. New York: Harper & Row.

Seltzer, J., Bass, B. M. (1990). Transformational leadership: Beyond initiation and consideration. Journal of

Management. 16(4). 693-703.

Waldman, D. A., Bass, B. M., & Einstein, W. O. (1987). Leadership and outcomes of performance appraisal processes. Journal of Occupational Psychology. 60. 177-186.

Yammarino, F. J., Bass, B. M. (1990). Transformational leadership and multiple levels of analysis. Human Relations. 43(10). 975-995.