Transformational or Charismatic

Leadership
One of the current and most popular approaches to leadership

focus of much research since the early 1980s

gives more attention to the charismatic and affective elements of leadership

popularity due to its emphasis on intrinsic motivation and follower development, which fits the needs of today’s
work groups, who want to be inspired and empowered to succeed in times of uncertainty.

occupies a central place in leadership research

Transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people concerned with their emotions, values,
ethics, standards, and long-term goals. It includes,

 assessing followers’ motives

 satisfying their needs
 treating them as full human beings

Transformational leadership involves an exceptional form of influence that moves followers to accomplish more
than what is usually expected of them.

It is a process that often incorporates charismatic and visionary leadership.

transformational leadership can be used as an encompassing approach to describe a wide range of leadership, from
very specific attempts to influence followers on a one-to-one level, to very broad attempts to influence whole
organizations and even entire cultures.

A classic work by political sociologist James MacGregor Burns titled Leadership (1978).

Transactional leadership refers to the bulk of leadership models, which focus on the exchanges that occur between
leaders and their followers. The exchange dimension of transactional leadership is very common and can be
observed at many levels throughout all types of organizations.

Politicians who win votes by promising “no new taxes”.

managers who offer promotions to employees who surpass their goals.

In the classroom, teachers give students a grade for work completed.

transformational leadership is the process whereby a person engages with others and creates a connection that
raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower. This type of leader is attentive to the
needs and motives of followers and tries to help followers reach their fullest potential.

Burns points to Mohandas Gandhi as a classic example of transformational leadership. Gandhi raised the hopes and
demands of millions of his people, and, in the process, was changed himself.

Ryan White, a teenager raised the American people’s awareness about AIDS and in the process became a
spokesperson for increasing government support of AIDS research.
In the organizational world, a manager who attempts to change his or her company’s corporate values to reflect a
more humane standard of fairness and justice where both the manager and the followers may emerge with a stronger
and higher set of moral values.

Socialized Transformational Leaders transcend their own interests for the sake of others.

Authentic Transformational Leadership is socialized leadership, which is concerned with the collective good.

Zhu, Avolio, Riggio, and Sosik (2011) proposed a theoretical model examining how authentic transformational
leadership influences the ethics of individual followers and groups. The authors hypothesized that Authentic
transformational leadership –

 positively affects followers’ moral identities and moral emotions (e.g., empathy and guilt)
 leads to moral decision making and moral action by followers.
 positively associated with group ethical climate, decision making, and moral action

Pseudotransformational Leadership

The conceptualization of transformational leadership set forth by Burns (1978) includes raising the level of morality
in others, it is difficult to use this term when describing leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein, who were
transforming but in a negative way. To deal with this problem Bass (1998) coined the term pseudotransformational
leadership. This term refers to leaders who are self-consumed, exploitive, and power oriented, with warped moral
values.

Pseudotransformational leadership is considered personalized leadership, which focuses on the leader’s own
interests rather than on the interests of others.

A preliminary model of pseudotransformational leadership presented in a series of four experimental studies,

Christie, Barling, and Turner (2011), helps to clarify the meaning of pseudotransformational leadership. It suggests
that pseudotransformational leadership is inspired leadership that is

 self-serving
 unwilling to encourage independent thought in followers and
 exhibits little general caring for others

A pseudotransformational leader has strong inspirational talent and appeal but is manipulative and dominates and
directs followers toward his or her own values. It is leadership that is threatening to the welfare of followers because
it ignores the common good.

reflected four components of transformational leadership discussed

Idealized Influence

Inspirational Motivation

Intellectual Stimulation

Individualized Consideration.