On Becoming a Transformational Leader:

What is and What Not?

Transformational Leader

• the idea of transformational leadership was first

developed by James McGregor Burns in 1978.
• Transformational Leadership according to him, can be
seen when “leaders and followers make each other to
advance to a higher level of moral and motivation.”
• transformational leaders are able to inspire followers to
change expectations, perceptions and motivations to work
towards common goals.
• Transformational leadership is based on leaders shifting
the values, beliefs, and needs of their followers in three
important ways: (a) increasing followers' awareness of the
importance of their task and the importance of performing
them well: (b) making followers aware of their needs for
personal growth, development and accomplishment: and (c)
inspiring followers to transcend their own self-interests for
the good of the organization.
Reseacher Bernard M. Bass exanded upon Burns'
original ideas to develop what is today referred to as Bass'
Transformational Leadership Theory.
• transformational leadership according to Bass can be
defined based on the impact that is has on followers.
• Bass suggested, garner trust, respect and admiration
from their followers.
• the more traditional transactional leadership involves
leaders-follower exchanges necessary for achieving
agreed-upon performance goals between leders and
followers. These exchanges involve four dimensions:
Contingent reward, Management by exception (active),
management by exception (passive), and laissez faire.
Considering Bass' theory, transformational leadership
can be described as a type of leadership style that leads to
positive changes in those who follow and transformational
leaders are generally energetic, enthuastic and passionate.
Bass exemplifies the Four Components of
Transformational Leadership
1. Intellectual Stimulation- transfomational leaders not only
challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity
among followers. The leader encourages followers to
explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to
learn.
2. Individualized Consideration- transformational leadership
also involves offering support and encouragement to
individual followers. In order to foster supportive
relationship, transformational leaders to keep lines of
communication open so that followers feel free to share
ideas and so that leaders can offer direct recognation of
each followers unique contributions.
3. Inspirational Motivation- transformational leaders have a
clear vision that they are able to articulate to followers.
These leaders are also able to help followers experience
the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals.
4. Idealized Influence- transformational leaders serve as a
role model for followers because followers trust and respect
the leader; the emulate the leader and internalize his or her
ideals.
The Three Goals Of Trasformational Leadership
(Leithwood,1999)
1. Helping staff develop and maintain a collaborative,
professional school culture - transformational leaders
involve staff in collaborative goals setting, reduce teacher
isolation, use bureaucratic mechanisms to support cultural
changes, share leadership with others by delegating power,
and actively communicate the school's norms and beliefs.
2. Fostering teacher development - is facilitated when they
are strongly committed to a school mission and the leaders
gives the staff a role in solving nonroutine school
improvement problems, they should make sure goals are
explicit and ambitious but not unrealistic.
3. Helping teachers solve problem more effectively -
transformational leadership is valued by some because it
stimulates teachers to engage in new activities and put forth
that “extra effort”. Transformational leaders use practices
primarily to help staff members work smater, not harder.
“These leaders shared a genuine belief that their steff
members as a group could develop a better solution than
the principal could alone”.
Instructional Leadership

• the leader is supposed to know the best form of

instruction and closely monitors teachers' and students'
work.

Transactional Leadership
• sometimes called BARTERING. It i based on an exchange
of services (from a teacher, for intance) for various kinds of
rewards (such as a salary) that the leader controls.
››Thomas Sergiovanni (1990) considers transformational
leadership a first stage and central to getting day-to-day
routines carried out.
›› Mitchell and Tucker add that transactional leadership
works only when both leaders and followers understand and
are in agreement about which tasks are important.
›› Leithwood (1994) conceptualizes transformational
leadership along eight dimensions: (a) building school
vision, (b) establishing school goals, (c) providing
intellectual stimulation (d) offering individualized support
(e) modeling best practices and important organizational
values, (f) demonstrating high performance expections (g)
creating a productive school culture, (h) developing
structures to foster participation in school desicions.
• Leithwood's (1998) reports on seven quantitative studies
and conduces that “transformational leadership practices,
considered as a composite contruct, had significant direct
and indirect effects on progress with school-restructuring
initiatives and teacher-perceived student outcomes.
THANK YOU ☺☺