Leaders cause it - and make the competition change.” – Prof. John Kotter, Harvard Business School
transformational leadership
Business needs leadership. Business in a changing world needs transformational leadership. Yet businesses often overlook the value of leadership, or confuse it with simply managing people.
And leading technical staff, particularly talented software and engineering people, has its own special challenges. At Falling Blossoms, we’ve been at the forefront of leading technical people, teams and organisations to outstanding results for more than fifteen years.
effective transformational leadership
Effective transformational leadership in technology businesses means:
- Accelerated change - Accelerated change - quicker realisation of new ideas and responses to changing markets.
- Accelerated value - Shorter concept-to-cash cycle times means more product turns, earlier realisation of profits and higher margins from earlier entry into markets.
- Lower costs - All kinds of costs, particularly social and staff costs, fall dramatically.
- Energised commitment - People feel energised by leadership and apply this energy to their work.
what is transformational leadership?
James MacGregor Burns coined the terms transformational leadership and its counterpart, transactional leadership in his 1978 book " Leadership".
Burns wrote, “I define leadership as leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations - the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations - of both leaders and followers.”
Burns insists that for leaders to have the greatest impact on those they lead, they must motivate followers to action by appealing to shared values, and by satisfying the higher-order needs of the led, such as their aspirations and expectations.
How do leaders develop the bonds necessary to make transformational leadership possible? Bernard M Bass suggested four interrelated components:
- Idealized influence - genuine trust must be built between leaders and followers. "If the leadership is truly transformational, its charisma or idealized influence is characterized by high moral and ethical standards." Trust for both leader and follower is built on a solid moral and ethical foundation.
- Inspirational motivation - "...provides followers with challenges and meaning for engaging in shared goals and undertakings." The leader’s appeal to what is right and needs to be done provides the impetus for all to move forward.
- Intellectual stimulation - "...helps followers to question assumptions and to generate more creative solutions to problems." The leader’s vision provides the framework for followers to see how they connect to the leader, the organisation, each other, and the goal. Once they have this big picture view and are allowed freedom from convention they can creatively overcome any obstacles in the way of their endeavour.
- Individual consideration - "...treats each follower as an individual and provides coaching, mentoring and opportunities for personal growth." This approach not only educates the next generation of leaders, but also fulfills the individual's need for self-actualization, self-fulfillment, and self-worth. It also naturally propels followers to further achievement and learning.
what is transactional leadership?
Transactional leadership is the counterpart of transformational leadership. It is based in contingency, in that reward or punishment is contingent upon performance of the individual. Despite much research that highlights its limitations, transactional leadership is still a popular approach with many managers. Indeed, in the Leadership vs. Administrative Management spectrum, it sits very much towards the management end of the scale.
the path to leadership
We’re not going to try to convert people to the value of transformational leadership. But for those technology businesses who have realised for themselves how transformational leadership contributes to business success, Falling Blossoms provide everything necessary to make it happen in any organisation.
We recognise that not every technology business will be ready to start their journey to great transformational leadership today. On this website visitors will find much information to help understand the power of transformational leadership, and to prepare well for the journey. For eventually, the path to transformational leadership is the path all businesses must take to survive and prosper.
Further reading
- Transformational leadership - a US military perspective by Colonel Mark A. Homrig
- Become a More Effective Leader by Asking One Tough Question by Marshall Goldsmith (Harvard Business Review)
To learn more about how Falling Blossoms can transform the leadership capabilities of any technology business, call Bob Marshall now on +44 (0)1474 703940.
is for