At first glance, transformational and transactional leadership are antagonistic with each other. After all, transactional leadership tends to disregard charisma and the feelings of subordinate in favor of keeping deadlines and making sure that quotas are reached! Transformational leadership on the other hand, tends to put a premium on charisma, motivation and the relationship between leaders and subordinates.
What if there was a way to bring the two styles of leadership together?
The strength of transactional leadership is a commitment to tasks. The leader is also a good manager. Subordinates are always reminded about their tasks, the expectations from them and the consequences of achieving of missing the agreed upon goals. This kind of task-oriented leadership tends to be a bit harsh though, depending on the leader at the helm. When targets are missed and supplies are lagging behind, it is very easy for a leader to lash out and forget about the welfare of the people.
Transformational leadership, on the other hand, tends to put a premium on relationships and on the people working within the organization. The leader, usually, is beloved by the subordinates because he is popular, he is admired, and the followers feel that the leader truly cares about their plight-in the workplace and in their personal lives. But taken to the extreme, this kind of leadership can fall apart because of too much understanding and consideration for the followers.
A good balance then is the transformational transactional leadership where the leader cares for the followers and for the targets and outputs that they are supposed to deliver. In this case, there is a balance between task orientation and people orientation.
Another important question, however, is this: how do you work for the right balance between charisma and productivity?
If you go overboard with charisma, the followers will love you. They might even consider you as their buddy and a good friend in the workplace. But if you start becoming too familiar with them, the professional barriers might erode and you will have a difficult time demanding productivity from them.
Too much charisma is not good. That is why balance is very much needed. As a leader, you should know your followers enough to know what will work for them. In the process, you should also be careful lest they manipulate you into relaxing your demands for better productivity from them.
Does your organization favor transactional or transformational leadership? That would certainly impact your organizational culture and your performance.
Transformational leadership is not rocket science! GET FREE LEADERSHIP COACHING from M Rasing's Social Entrepreneurship Blog, http://www.mightyrasing.com.
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