Transformational Leadership: Vision and Empowering

Transformational leadership, according to this article, is defined as “a leadership style focused on effecting revolutionary change in organizations through a commitment to the organization’s vision.” The author breaks this style down with 4 major characteristics: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. 1. Idealized Influence This is where the leader gains trust, loyalty, and admiration through charismatic roll modeling and enthusiasm, incorporating high levels of ethical and moral value into their actions. 2. Inspirational Motivation The leader makes a future sales pitch to energize their followers to come alongside the vision while the leader gives positive reinforcement and promotes sharing the work of the vision through enthusiastic teamwork. 3. Intellectual stimulation This involves raising awareness to problems while creating environments for examination, encouraging creativity, and empowering others with the leader’s radical ideas for change. 4. Individualized Consideration The leader takes each person’s abilities, talents, goals (whole person consideration) into consideration for better use and management, while utilizing people skills to communicate with their followers. Simply put, first you gain trust by leading in charismatic example and embodying ethical decisions. Second, come up with and get support for a vision by sharing the work to achieve the goals. Third, be sure to keep the people informed and activated in ideas for change. This may be allowing your ideas to become their ideas. Last, continue distributing the vision by further involving the followers in their gift and call. I love transformational leadership because it is visionary and involves others participation and empowering to work.