Professional Documents
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364 N10017 PDF
364 N10017 PDF
employees. The author argues that through training, managers can learn
the techniques and obtain the qualities they need to become
transformational leaders.
From Transactional to
Iransformational Leadership:
Learning to Share the Vision
BERNARD M. BASS
^^ir jEdmund Hillary of Mount Everest flooring, the seaman decided he would retuijn
\ fajne liked to tell a story about one of home. Scott later became one of the victims
^J Captain Robert Falcon Scott's earlier at- of his own inadequacies as a leader in his 1911
tempts, from 1901 to 1904, to reach the South race to the South Pole. Shackleton went qn
Pole. Scott led an expedition made up of men to lead many memorable expeditions; once,
from thb Royal Navy and the merchant ma- seeking help for the rest of his party, who
rine, as jwell as a group of scientists. Scott had were stranded on the Antarctic Coast, he
considel'able trouble dealing with the mer- journeyed with a small crew in a small open
chant n|arine personnel, who were unaccus- boat from the edge of Antarctica to Souilh
tomed ip the rigid discipline of Scott's Royal Georgia Island.
Navy. S|:ott wanted to send one seaman home
because he would not take orders, but the sea-
man refused, arguing that he had signed a LEADERSHIP TODAY
contract and knew his rights. Since the sea-
man wds not subject to Royal Navy discipli- Most relationships between supervi-
nary action, Scott did not know what to do. sors and their employees are quite different
Then Ernest Shackleton, a merchant navy of- today. Few managers depend mainly on their
ficer in $cott's party, calmly informed the sea- legitimate power, as Scott did, or on their
man th^t he, the seaman, was returning to coercive power, as Shackleton did, to per-
Britain. Again the seaman refused —and suade people to do as they're told. Rather,
Shackle^on knocked him to the ship's deck. managers engage in a transaction with their
After ar^other refusal, followed by a second employees: They explain what is required of 19
them and what compensation they will re-
ceive if they fulfill these requirements.
A shift in management style at Xerox's
Reprographic Business Group (RBG) pro-
vides a good example. In the first step toward
establishing management in which managers
take the initiative and show consideration for
others, 44 specific, effective management be-
haviors were identified. Two factors that char-
acterize modern leadership were found in
many of these behaviors. One factor—initial-
ing and organizing work—concentrates on ac-
Bernard M. Bass is Distinguished Profes- complishing the tasks at hand. The second
sor of Management and director of the factor —showing consideration for employ-
Center for Leadership Studies at the State ees — focuses on satisfying the self-interest of
University of New York at Binghamton. He those who do good work. The leader gets
has held faculty positions at the Univer-
things done by making, and fulfilling, prom-
sity of Rochester, the University of Pitts-
burgh, the University of California at ises of recognition, pay increases, and ad-
Berkeley, and Louisiana State University. vancement for employees who perform well.
He is a fellow of the Academy of Manage- By contrast, employees who do not do good
ment and the Society for Industrial/Orga- work are penalized. This transaction or ex-
nizational Psychology, executive editor of
change—this promise and reward for good per-
The Leadership Quarterly, and a member
of the executive committee of the Interna- formance, or threat and discipline for poor
tional Association of Applied Psychology performance —characterizes effective leader-
and past president of its division of orga- ship. These kinds of transactions took place
nizational psychology. Bass has performed in most of the effective 44 leadership be-
research, led management development haviors identified at Xerox's RBG. This kind
programs, conducted workshops, and lec-
of leadership, which is based on transactions
tured on leadership in more than 30 coun-
tries; his books have been translated into between manager and employees, is called
many languages. He has led a worldwide "transactiona! leadership."
management research and training pro-
In many instances, however, such trans-
gram sponsored by the Ford Foundation.
Bass holds a Ph.D. from Ohio State actional leadership is a prescription for medi-
University. His latest work. The Bass and ocrity. This is particularly true if the leader
Stogdill Handbook of Leadership (Third relies heavily on passive management-by-ex-
Edition) (Free Press, 1990) reviews and ception, intervening with his or her group
integrates leadership theory, research, only when procedures and standards for ac-
and applications from the social, political,
complishing tasks are not being met. My col-
and behavioral sciences.
leagues and I have arrived at this surprising
but consistent finding in a number of research
analyses. Such a manager espouses the popu-
lar adage, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." He
or she stands in back of the caboose of a mov-
ing freight train and says, "Now I know v/here
we are going." This kind of manager may use
20
disciplinary threats to bring a group's perfor- degree of trust and confidence in them. Char-
mance up to standards —a technique that is ismatic leaders inspire and excite their errj-
ineffective and, in the long run, likely to be ployees with the idea that they may be able
counterproductive. to accomplish great things with extra effort.
Moreover, whether the promise of re- Further, transformational leaders are individ-
wards or the avoidance of penalties motivates ually considerate, that is, they pay close atteiv
the employees depends on whether the leader tion to differences among their employee?.;
has control of the rewards or penalties, and they act as mentors to those who need heljp'
on whether the employees want the rewards to grow and develop. Intellectual stimulatio jn.
or fear the penalties. In many organizations, of employees is a third factor in transforma-
pay increases depend mainly on seniority, tional leadership. Intellectually stimulating
and promotions depend on qualifications and leaders are willing and able to show their em-
policies about which the leader has little to ployees new ways of looking at old problems,
say. The breaking of regulations rnay be the to teach them to see difficulties as problerqs
main cause of penalties. Many an executive to be solved, and to emphasize rational solu-
has found his or her hands tied b3^ contract tions. Such a leader was Lorenz Iversen, a.
provisions, organizational politics, and in- former president of the Mesta Machine Coni-
adequate resources. pany, who said to his employees, "We got this
job because you're the best mechanics in the
world!" He practiced management-by-walli-
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ing-around and stimulated the developmetjt
of many of Mesta's patented inventions. He is
Superior leadership performance — trans- remembered for instilling pride and commit-
formational leadership — occurs when leaders ment in his emploj^es.
broaden and elevate the interests of their em-
ployees, when they generate awareness and
acceptarice of the purposes and mission of the THE BIG PAYOFF
group, and when they stir their employees to
look beyond their own self-interest for the Managers who behave like transform<i-
good of the group. Transformational leaders tional leaders are more likely to be seen by
achieve these results in one or more ways: their colleagues and employees as satisfjdng
They may be charismatic to their followers and effective leaders than are those who be-
and thus inspire them; they may meet the have like transactional leaders, according tp
emotional needs of each employee; and/or their colleagues', supervisors', and employees'
they may intellectually stimulate employees. responses on the Multifactor Leadership Queii-
Exhibit 1 lists the characteristics of transfor- tionnaire (MIQ). Similar results have beeh
mational and transactional leadership; these found in various organizational settings. Lead-
listings are based on the findings of a series ers studied have come from an extremely
of surveys and on clinical and case evidence. broad variety of organizations: chief executive
Attaining charisma in the eyes of one's officers and senior and middle level managers
employees is central to succeeding as a trans- in business and industrial firms in the Unite^l
formational leader. Charismatic leaders have States, Canada, Japan, and India; research
great power and influence. Employees want and development project leaders; America^,
to identify with them, and they have a high Canadian, and British Army field grade offi- 21
Exhibit 1
CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERS
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER
Charisma: Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust.
Inspiration: Communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, expresses important purposes
in simple ways.
Intellectual Stimulation: Promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful problem solving.
Individualized Consideration: Gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches, advises.
TRANSACTIONAL LEADER
Contingent Reward: Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good performance,
recognizes accomplishments.
Management by Exception (active): Watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takes
corrective action.
Management hy Exception (passive): Intervenes only if standards are not met.
Laissez-Faire: Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making decisions.
cers; United States Navy senior officers and lations. Considerable credit for Boeing's turn-
junior surface fleet officers; Annapolis mid- around since its 1969 crisis can be given to its
shipmen; educational administrators; and re- chief executive, T. A. Wilson, who has empha-
ligious leaders. sized technological progress, aggressive mar-
Moreover, various types of evaluations — keting, and a willingness to take calculated
including performance ratings by both super- business risks. The confidence that Boeing
visors and direct reports, as well as standard employees have in Wilson, and their respect
financial measures — have produced a similar for him as a brilliant engineer and an out-
correlation between transformational be- standing leader, have instilled in them great
havior and high ratings. Managers tagged as pride in the company and its products.
high performers by their supervisors were
also rated, in a separate evaluation by their
followers, as more transformational than trans- EXTRA EFFORT FROM BELOW
actional. Their organizations do better finan-
cially. The same pattern emerged between Transformational leaders have better re-
followers' descriptions of shipboard Naval lationships with their supervisors and make
officers and those officers' supervisors' per- more of a contribution to the organization
formance appraisals and recommendations than do those who are only transactional.
for early promotion. And among Methodist Moreover, employees say that they themselves
ministers, transformational — not transaction- exert a lot of extra effort on behalf of managers
al — leadership behavior was positively related who are transformational leaders. Organiza-
to high church attendance among congre- tions whose leaders are transactional are less
gants and growth in church membership. effective than those whose leaders are transfor-
Results were the same for evaluation of mational — particularly if much of the trans-
22 team performance in complex business simu- actional leadership is passive management-by-
^a!?w^^-'w3«w!ET3'^''^-'".<->
exception (intervening only when standards their personal styles. H. Ross Perot is self-
are not being met). Employees say they exert effacing: "I don't look impressive," he says.
little effort for such leaders. Nevertheless, "To a lot of guys I don't look like I could afford
leader-fdllower transactions dependent on a car." But Perot created the $2.5 billion ED!3
contingent reward may also work reasonably organization from his vision, initiative, err|-
well if the leaders can provide rewards that phasis on hard work, and a special organiza-
are valued by the followers. tional culture with strict codes of moralit'y
Exhibit 2 illustrates the effect that trans- and dress and quasi-military management.
formational, as compared with transactional, His personal involvement in the rescue of twp
leadership has on employee effort. The data of his employees trapped as hostages in Iran
were collected from 228 employees of 58 man- in 1979 is an extreme example of individual-
agers in a large engineering firm. The manag- ized consideration, a transformational factor.
ers were ranked according to their leadership Leslie Wexner of The Limited, Inc. enjoys a
factor scores, which were based on descrip- more flamboyant lifestyle. But like Perot,
tions of leaders by their employees and col- Wexner converted his vision of a nationwide
leagues on the Multifactor Leadership Ques- chain of women's sportswear stores into a
tionnaire. "Four-star" leaders were those who reality through his own hard work. He stimu-
ranked in the top 25% on a leadership factor lates employee participation in discussions
score; "one-star" leaders were among the bot- and decisions and encourages them to shade
tom 25 % of managers on the leadership fac- his vision of the company's future.
tor score. From 75% to 82% of the "four-star" Many on Fortune's list of the ten toughest
transformational managers had employees bosses would not live up to modern be-
who indicated they frequently exerted extra havioral science's prescriptions for the gooidl
effort on their jobs. Of the "one-star" transfor- leader: one who initiates the structure for in-
mational managers, only 22% to 24% had teraction among his colleagues, and who doQs
employees who said they frequently exerted so with consideration for their welfare. Never-
extra effort. theless, these tough bosses are highly success-
It is interesting to note that, as Exhibit 2 ful as a consequence of the transformational
illustrates, being rated as "four-stcir" rather qualities they display; Boeing's Wilson is ja
than "one-star" in transactional leadership did case in point. Although they do initiate struc-
not have the same impact on emplo^^ees' extra ture and may be considerate of their employ-
effort as a high rating had for the transforma- ees, these leaders succeed through such trans-
tional leaders. Similar findings have emerged formational factors as charisma and the abil-
from stxidies of leaders and their immediate ity and willingness to treat different subotl-
employees at a diverse range of organizations, dinates differently, as well as by providing in-
including Digital Equipment Corporation and tellectual stimulation for the employees. They
Federal Express. frequently raise standards, take calculated
risks, and get others to join them in their vi-
DIFFERENT STYLES OF sion of the future. Rather than work within
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP the organizational culture, they challenge and
change that culture, as Roger Smith of Gen-
As noted earlier, certain types of behav- eral Motors Corporation did. Self-determin,a-
ior characterize the transformational leader. tion and self-confidence are characteristic of
Yet transformational leaders vary widely in them. They succeed because of these transfor- 23
Exhibit 2
EMPLOYEES' EFFORTS UNDER VARIOUS LEADERS
mational elements — even if they, like Wilson, miles back in headquarters. This, and his will-
have authoritarian tendencies. ingness to accept calculated risks, contributed
to his legendary speed, surprise, and bold-
ness, as well as to the continuing high morale
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS MAKE of his troops.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS Napoleon declared that an army of rab-
A N D FAILURE bits commanded by a lion could do better
than an army of lions commanded by a rab-
Fighting with far fewer men and tanks bit. He was not far from the truth. With all
than his enemy had, against superior equip- due respect to social, economic, political, and
ment, Ernst Rommel, the Desert Fox, won a market forces, and to human resources poli-
series of victories in 1941 and 1942 against the cies that affect an organization's health, having
British in North Africa, until he was over- a lion —or, in Rommel's case, a fox—in com-
whelmed at El Alamein. Because he was up mand rather than a rabbit frequently means
front at the scene of the action, he could make success for the organization. Lee Iacocca of
more rapid assessments and decisions than Chrysler Corporation and John Welch of Gen-
24 could his British counterparts, who stayed 20 eral Electric, who have become folk heroes (or
folk devils, to some), are contemporary ex- leadership in an organization and to change
amples of the importance of transformational the presiding style from transactional to trari?;-
leaders to their organizations. formational. The overall amount of transfor-
Leadership makes its presence felt through- mational leadership in an organization can IHe
out the organization and its activities. We increased substantially by suitable organizgi-
have found that eraployees not only do a bet- tional and human resources policies. The neiv
ter job when they believe their supervisors are model of transformational leadership pre-
transformational leaders, but they also are sents opportunities for enhancing a corpora-
much more satisfied with the company's per- tion's image and for improving its success in
formance appraisal system. Likewise, mass recruitment, selection, and promotion. This
communications directed toward individual model also has implications for the organizqi-
employees are much more likely to have an tion^s training and development activities ar^d
impact if the messages are reinforced face-to- for the design of its jobs and organizational
face by their supervisors at all organizational structure.
levels.
Transformational leadership should be
encouraged, for it can make a big difference Implications for Corporate Image
in the firm's performance at all levels. Man-
agers need to do more than focus on the ex- It is no accident that many of the firmis
change of material,, social, and personal bene- identified in Tom Peters and Robert Water-
fits for services satisfactorily rendered. The man's In Search of Excellence (Warner Books,
charismatic leader, like the flamboyant Ted 1982) as excellently managed have large nund-
Turner of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. bers of transformational leaders. Conversel]i
can instill a sense of mission; the individually the poorly managed "dinosaurs" among the
considerate leader, like the shy and self-ef- firms they describe need to implement a loit
facing Roberto Goizueta of the Coca Cola more transformational leadership. A firriii
Corporation, can lead employees to take an that is permeated with transformational leadj-
interest in higher-level concerns; the intellec- ership from top to bottom conveys to its owix
tually stimulating leader, like the innovative personnel as well as to customers, suppliersi,
Roger Srnith at General Motors Corporation, financial backers, and the community at largt
can articulate a shared vision of jointly ac- that it has its eyes on the future; is confidentj:
ceptable possibilities. This is not to say that has personnel who are pulling together for thi
transformational leaders are always prosocial common good; and places a premium on its
in their efforts, for some fulfill grandiose intellectual resources and flexibility and oii
dreams at the expense of their followers. the development of its people.
Despite the many successes with manage-
ment development programs and the leader-
ship development programs in our military Implications for Recruiting
academies, many executives still jFeel that
leadership is like the weather — something to Increasing transformational leadership
talk about, but about which not much can be within the organization may help in recruit^
done. Others say leadership ability is mysti- ment. Candidates are likely to be attracted ta
cal—one needs to be born with it. an organization whose CEO is charismatic
In fact, much can be done to improve and enjoys a public image as a confident, suc-i 25
cessful, optimistic, dynamic leader. In addi- ation, such as coaching skills; preference for
tion, prospects are likely to be attracted by in- two-way, face-to-face communication; and
terview experiences with other members of willingness to delegate. Again, in the area of
management who exhibit individualized con- intellectual stimulation, candidates for pro-
sideration. More intelligent prospects will be motion could be assessed with an eye toward
particularly impressed with intellectually the type of intellectual stimulation — general,
stimulating contacts they make during the creative, or mathematical — that would be
recruiting and hiring process. most effective at the higher level of manage-
ment. Appropriate intelligence tests may be
used to select intellectually stimulating candi-
Implications for Selection, Promotion, dates.
and Transfer Research findings indicate that when em-
ployees rate their managers on the MLQ, they
Since we can identify and measure the describe new business leaders as significantly
factors associated with transformational lead- more transformational than established busi-
ership, these factors should be incorporated ness leaders. Thus MLQ scores can be used
into managerial assessment, selection, place- profitably to identify executives to head new
ment, and guidance programs — along with ventures.
related assessments of relevant personal di-
mensions and individual differences. Some-
what more transformational leadership is Implications for Development
generally expected and found as managers
move to successively higher levels in the orga- A management trainee's first supervisor
nization, but it is reasonable to expect that an can make a big difference in his or her subse-
individual's performance at one level will be quent career success. For example, six years
similar to his or her performance at the next. after they joined Exxon, many managers who
Direct reports, peers, and/or supervisors can were highly rated by their supervisors report-
be asked to describe the manager's current ed that they had been given challenging as-
leadership with the Multifactor Leadership signments by their initial supervisor (i.e., they
Questionnaire; their responses should be con- had received individualized consideration).
sidered when decisions are made regarding a Many had been assigned to supervisors with
manager's promotion or transfer into a posi- good reputations in the firm. It is important
tion of greater supervisory responsibility. to note that managers tend to model their own
Feedback from these results can also be used leadership style after that of their immediate
for counseling, coaching, and mentoring. supervisors. Thus if more higher-ups are
Further, the organization can tap the per- transformational, more lower-level employ-
sonal characteristics and strengths that under- ees will emulate transformational behavior —
lie the manager's transformational behavior. and will be likely to act as transformational
Charismatic leaders are characterized by en- leaders as they rise in the organization.
ergy, self-confidence, determination, intel- Organizational policy needs to support
lect, verbal skills, and strong ego ideals. Each an understanding and appreciation of the
of these traits can be assessed in individual maverick who is willing to take unpopular
managers. Similarly, we can assess some of positions, who knows when to reject the con-
26 the traits underlyirig individualized consider- ventional wisdom, and who takes reasonable
risks. For example, when R. Gordon McGov- shown that leaders at all levels can be trained
ern took over as president of Campbell Soup, to be charismatic in both verbal and nonvei^-
he introduced the "right to fail" policy, which bal performance. Successful programs have
shook up the stodgy organization. On the been conducted for first-level project leaders
other hand, the fine line between self-con- in hi-tech computer firms as well as for senior
fidence and obstinacy needs to be drawn. The executives of insurance firms.
determined Winston Churchill who contri- That transformational leadership can be
buted so much to the survival of Britain in increased through training was verified in