Transformational leaders--the leaders who really touch others' lives and transform them totally--are charismatic and inspiring, and they create excitement at work. They motivate others to do much more than what anyone thought was possible. Transformational leadership results in performance par excellence at all levels of the organization. On the other hand, leadership that is characterized merely by transactions or exchanges--promise and reward for good performance, or threat and discipline for poor performance--is a prescription for mediocrity.
Transformational leaders also handle change more effectively by generating in their followers an awareness and acceptance of the purposes and mission of the group. They are also able to stir their followers to look beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group.
Transformational leadership is a mutually stimulating relationship that elevates both leader and follower to higher levels of human conduct and ethical aspiration, and lift themselves into their better selves.
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Source: http://www.rkvenkat.org/
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One thing I have learnt in my experience is that leadership is not about authority, but people development - the difference you make to them. The concepts of Transformational Leadership appeals to me a lot. There are virtues beyond hierarchy, authority, knowledge, skills which make leaders. I have in my exprience come across some leaders who have none of these and they dont assume they have any..but they are leaders...
Was freedom achieved by Mahatma Gandhi alone ? Definitely not. It was not even achieved by getting people to follow him blindly and simply do what he said (or commanded, as many modern 'leaders' would like to believe). Neither was it achieved by motivating people by the 'rewards' and 'punishment' matrix which we feel is so important for managing people.
It was achieved because he made every Indian believe in the cause of freedom. He made every Indian want freedom more badly than anything else in life and hence make every sacrifice possible. He transformed millions of ordinary, common people into freedom fighters.
According to me, this is the essence of 'transformational leadership'. A true leader makes people totally believe in the 'purpose' and 'performance' simply follows automatically.
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