ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW:
Transactional leadership, while quite different from transformational leadership, has its place in leadership practice. As you continue your application-based SLP journey in this course, conduct research to find a team or organization that primarily uses transactional leadership. Use the research you conduct to determine your best judgment regarding the organization or team’s tribal stage.
ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS:
Once again, acting as an outside consultant, create a 2- to 3-page report (not counting the title page or reference section) for the organization’s leadership that addresses the following:
1.A brief overview of the way transactional leadership is employed within the organization.
2.A brief explanation of the impact of the way transactional leadership is employed on the tribal stage of the organization.
3.A clear, research-backed recommendation addressing which changes should be made (based on the selected tribal stage).
4.An action plan for implementing those changes.
BACKGROUND & RESOURCES:
Around the same time that Katz (1955) was questioning the trait theory of leadership in favor of a more skills-based approach, Stogdill (1948) was also looking for a better model to define what makes a leader. We discussed Stogdill’s work in Module 1 (his discovery that “…the traits of leaders around the world were not distinct from the traits of non-leaders”). As we discussed, this led him to explore characteristics beyond innate traits.
As the style approach was coming into focus, several important studies were conducted to learn more about “what leaders do and how they act” (Northouse, 2018, p. 69). What leaders do is classified as task behaviors, while how leaders act is classified as relationship behaviors. Among those important studies were the Ohio State Studies, which focused on the way leaders acted when they were leading, and the University of Michigan Studies, which focused on “the impact of leaders’ behaviors on the performance of small groups” (Northouse, 2018, p. 71). While both of these studies are critical parts of understanding leadership, they are covered heavily in elementary leadership studies, and will not be further explored in the context of strategic leadership. Instead, we will move on to the prevalent style-based theories that took hold as a result of these studies and the work of Stogdill and Katz (1948; 1955).
Transformational and Transactional Leadership Factors. The factors above are explained briefly here along with additional resources for a deeper dive.
The first transformational factor, idealized influence, is often referred to as charisma. A leader with idealized influence is often considered “special” and strong in qualities that followers like to emulate. Idealized influence should be used ethically and morally by a leader who does the right thing consistently. Nelson Mandela is an excellent example.
The second transformational factor, inspirational motivation, is embodied by a transformational leader who provides clear communication of his or her high expectations to followers. This type of influence inspires followers to jump on board and work harder than they ordinarily would as they follow a clearly explained vision.
The third transformational factor, intellectual stimulation, inspires followers to dig deep and conceptualize, and try new things. An important characteristic to go along with this factor is insulation from some or all of the consequences of failure. Followers are far more willing to try new things and take risks when they know their leaders will “have their backs” when things do not go as planned.
The fourth and final transformational factor, individualized consideration, is characterized by the leader who listens and cares about the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and concerns of the individual follower. When followers feel authentic consideration of their individual needs, it inspires them to follow and pursue positive outcomes for the leader and the organization.
The first transactional factor, contingent reward, is the classic example of a transaction. In this case, a reward is contingent on providing something in exchange (effort and productivity). An example of this is the way parents provide an allowance for their children. The children will likely be given a specific list of chores with the promise of a specific allowance once all the tasks are done to the parents’ satisfaction. It is very important to understand that, when we view transformational versus transactional leadership, we must be careful not to consider one of them bad and the other good. A key purpose of this course is to provide you with a toolbox of styles that can be chosen and used based on the situation and the other influences.
The second and final transactional factor, management-by-exception, has two different forms. The first is active, and the second is passive. Active management-by-exception involves watching followers very closely and waiting for them to make a mistake or to violate a rule or regulation. Once this occurs, the active manager-by-exception corrects the behavior immediately. Passive management-by-exception involves far less feedback and correction on a typical day. An example would be a leader that sits down with a follower and provides a negative performance review without having ever brought up any performance issues prior to the review. Both active and passive management-by-exception are primarily negative in nature. While there are definitely uses for transactional leadership (mainly through contingent reward), management-by-exception is rarely the right choice.
Before we move on to non-leadership (laissez-faire), let’s review a few more learning resources from the Leadership Channel and Books 24×7 that help explain transactional versus transformational leadership.
Leadership is More Personal Than Transactional – Leadership Channel
Thompson, K. (2016). Leadership is more personal than transactional. Available from Skillsoft Books (BusinessPro and ITPro) in the Trident Online Library. [Video File].
Transformational and Transactional Leadership
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2017). Chapter 6 – Transformational and transactional leadership. Essential leadership: develop your leadership qualities through theory and practice. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Non-Leadership (Laissez-Faire). We have all experienced non-leaders in our lives. According to Northouse (2018), this factor of leadership represents the absence of leadership. The leader “abdicates responsibility, delays decisions, gives no feedback, and makes little effort to help followers satisfy their needs” (p. 186).
This excerpt, titled Failure of Confidence, explores the void of leadership in more detail:
Rosenbach, W. E., Taylor, R. L., & Youndt, M. A. (Eds.), (2012). Chapter 25 – The antileadership vaccine: Failure of confidence. In Contemporary issues in leadership (7th ed.) Available in the Trident Online Library.
Leadership Styles and The Tribe: Making Your Own Connections
Now that we have explored style-based leadership, let’s apply that knowledge to The Tribe. This is your opportunity to make your own connections between two major concepts. Rather than providing you with an application of tribal leadership to trait theory, you will look for these links yourself within the SLP as well as both discussion questions for this module.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2017). Chapter 6 – Transformational and transactional leadership. Essential leadership: develop your leadership qualities through theory and practice. [Books24x7 version] Available in the Trident Online Library.
Rosenbach, W. E., Taylor, R. L., & Youndt, M. A. (Eds), (2012). Chapter 25 – The antileadership vaccine: Failure of confidence, Contemporary issues in leadership (7th ed.) Available from Skillsoft Books (BusinessPro and ITPro) in the Trident Online Library.
Thompson, K. (2016). Leadership is more personal than transactional. Available from Skillsoft Books (BusinessPro and ITPro) in the Trident Online Library. [Video File].