LCO_Week_3_Discussion_Reply
Post 1
Leadership is an art of managing the behavior of others in an organization in order to achieve maximum business value. There are various leadership styles, out of which transactional and transformational leadership styles are poles apart when it comes to organizational management. Both are concerned with management of workforce but in different ways (Odumeru & Ogbonna, 2013).
Transformational leadership versus transactional leadership
Transactional leadership style mainly aims at motivating the employees to perform at their best by offering them incentives or punishments. In this style the leader plays a dominant role of controlling his subordinates in order to get the pre specified works done from them and acts as more of a disciplinarian. Transformational leader on the other hand works on motivating the employees to participate, perform and deliver the best results through team work and collaborative work environment, thus, motivating the subordinates through one’s values, goals and charisma. It promotes out of the box thinking and nurtures innovation so as to take the business to the next level with very important contributions coming from all the employees (Afsar et al, 2017).
A manager managing a burger outlet would involve transactional form of leadership while making sure all his subordinates perform day to day tasks assigned to them in running of the store uneventfully. Whereas, a manager working with travel agency would want to work in collaboration with his employees to promote sales for the company by motivating them to use their skills innovatively for attracting more customers (Mc Clesky, 2014).
Which one is better?
Some organizations may need both forms of leadership for running successfully. However, if we aim to gain strategic advantage for a business, it is transformational leadership that would benefit more. Transactional leadership would not bring any change in the business but transformational leadership with the contribution of employees would take the business a step ahead (Harms & Crede, 2010).
Post 2
Introduction
Different managers and leaders apply varied styles to effectively manage teams in organizations and achieve their goals. Some of the best styles to work all over the world is the motivational boosts and inspirations given to followers by highly effective leaders. Understanding the concepts of transactional and transformational leadership is immensely helpful in organizations to accomplish the objectives by changing people from inside (Bateman & Snell, 2009).
Distinguish between Transactional and transformational leadership
Transactional leadership: A transactional leadership style is concerned primarily with the general flow of business activities and operations. So their main efforts are ensuring that the day to day activities which are required to be performed to achieve the targets is maintained by all means. There is a kind of a disciplinary emotion and power which can be witnessed in a transactional leadership style. This is used for motivating the people or followers to make sure that they give their best performances. When employees fulfill the targets given to them by the transactional leader they are rewarded and this acts as a motivation in itself (Ingram, 2019).
Transformational leadership: Transformational leadership is much more vast and widespread than just the day to day activities of an enterprise. Rather they are the use of leadership qualities which will push the organization and its people to a higher level. Transformational leaders believe in changing people internally by being a role model and by motivating them and productively developing them. The idea here is accomplishing something which is going to transform the status quo of the people and the organisation concerned.
Transactional leadership example
Bill Gates is an example of a transactional leader. He and his friend Paul Allen used to create computer programs just like a favourite hobby or pass time activity when in school. As they grew up Allen started working as a programming professional in Boston. In the year 1978, they both started Microsoft. Today Bill Gates is known as one of the richest people in the world. He used transactional leadership to understand whether teams are right on the track so that the pre-defined goals can be achieved.
Transformational leadership example
The world knows about the transformational leader Martin Luther King Jr. He made enormous struggles to end racism in the States. He has transformed the world thought by righteously leading the people and encouraging mass people in participate in the civil rights movement in America (Spacey, 2019).
A large number of managers blend the concepts of transactional and transformational leadership to use them in real-life scenarios. Still, transformational leadership is a better choice than transactional. This is mainly because any manager or leader with inherent leading competencies can ensure that the day to day transactions and business operations are fulfilled. However, unique leaders can use their skills to bring large scale transformations. Moreover, followers are guided and their internal interest is boosted which makes them attached to the organizations. It is a proven technique with which performance is boosted in varied enterprises. So it is a much better style as per me.