essay on transactional and transformational leadership

Transformational and Transactional Leadership Compare & Contrast Essay

For a long period of time now in the human history, the successes of most engagements, morality notwithstanding, have been due to proper leadership. With good leadership and the associated outcome both in the ancient and present age, man has increasingly sought to find ways of identifying the best style of leadership that suits the demands of the time (Northouse, 2009). Researchers have also been attracted towards the need to understand the concept of leadership by developing personality-based theories and other approaches.

According to Northouse (2009), leadership can be defined as a complex process of aiding businesses or organizations achieve their goals. Ways of conceptualizing the idea of leadership include; viewing leadership as a trait/behavior or from an information-processing perspective or associative viewpoint.

Many organizations are constantly searching for individuals with outstanding leadership qualities and abilities so as to transform their operations for the better. The essay seeks to discuss in detail two major approaches to leadership; transformational and transactional. Through the discussion, their clear differences will emerge. Moreover, the essay will offer a critique of the transactional leadership according to Northouse.

Transformational leadership, just as the name suggests, is concerned with bringing change to the society or organization. It is a type of leadership characterized by stimulation and inspiration of the followers with an aim of helping them achieve extraordinary ends (Bass & Riggio, 2006).

Transformational leaders also seek to empower the followers and to help them unleash their own leadership potential. They strive to address and align the individual goals with those they have in mind as well as the achievement of organizational goals. Research findings have revealed that transformational leadership can inspire the followers to over-perform their mandate as a result of commitment to the organization as well as self satisfaction (Bass & Riggio, 2006).

There are four major components of transformational leadership. Idealized Influence (II) is the first component. This component allows the leader to behave in a manner that motivates the followers to imitate. Transformational leaders win approval from their followers and they like to be associated with their leaders. Persistence, determination and extraordinary potentials are some of the qualities that are admired by the followers.

This implies that followers have their own ideal behaviors as well as attributes that they expect from their leaders. The followers would like leaders who have a collective sense of mission and the assurance that all obstacles will be overcome (Burns, 1978). Moreover, such leaders with II are consistently willing to take risks without compromising their ethical and moral integrity.

Inspirational Motivation (IM) is the next component under the transformational leadership. This component enables leaders to act in ways that serve to motivate and inspire the followers through the provision of meaning and challenging the followers to achieve greater goals (Bass & Riggio, 2006). This attribute arouses a spirit of team work resulting in enthusiasm, optimism, and commitment in all tasks. The leaders set clear goals and ways of achieving them and demonstrate their own commitment to the course through action.

Intellectual Stimulation (IS) is the third component of transformational leadership which is characterized by the stimulation of the followers’ innovativeness and creativity. This is achieved by criticizing assumptions, redefining problems, and proposing new ways of addressing the existing challenges (Northouse, 2009). The leaders take all opinions from their followers as far as alternatives of solving problems are concerned.

The fourth and the last component is the Individualized Consideration (IC) where a leader takes the needs of each and every follower into consideration. The leader acts as the mentor for all and helps each one achieve the desired ultimate potentials. The leader acts differently towards each follower without raising any serious concerns.

To one is given more encouragement, to another more autonomy, and still another is given harder tasks to accomplish. Moreover, the leader encourages a two way communication especially when the task is being performed (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Under this component, the followers enjoy handling delegated tasks and they do appreciate being checked on just in case they need any further guidance. These components are very crucial in ensuring the success of any transformational leadership. This implies that the leader should be actively involved in the entire course of action rather than being a spectator.

There are some benefits of transformational leadership. The followers are inspired to think creatively and hence solutions to problems are enhanced. The type of leadership is useful in situations where facts alone may not suffice to bring change. It is also appropriate when employed by managers at the helm of an organization (Northouse, 2009).

However, transformational leadership has some inherent limitations. It is lacking in conceptual clarity in that it involves a ray of many activities hence making it difficult to define. Also, this type of leadership is difficult to measure and the four I’s seem to overlap.

Furthermore, the approach regards leadership as a trait instead of a behavior that anyone can acquire through learning. Finally, transformational leadership can easily be abused especially in propagating immoral behavior like by cults since it involves passionately changing the values and belief systems of the people (Northouse, 2009).

Transactional leadership, on the other hand, is another major approach that has been advanced by researchers. Transactional leaders have been identified as those who lead by embracing social exchange where one thing is given as a result of another. According to Burns (1978), politicians are a good example of transactional leaders since they usually pledge to offer jobs and other opportunities in exchange for votes. Transactional business leaders, on the other hand, offer financial rewards and promotion for the employees who demonstrate high productivity. They may also punish or deny the rewards in case of decreased or lack of productivity (Bass & Riggio, 2006).

There are two major components of this approach to leadership; Contingent Reward (CR) and Management-by-Exception (MBE). Contingent reward is characterized by agreement between the follower and the leader with actual rewards or the promise of a reward upon the successful completion of the assigned task (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Contingent reward can either be transactional if the reward takes a material form or transformational if it is psychological in nature.

Management-by-Exception (MBE), on the other hand, is classified as either active or passive depending on the point of involvement of the leader. Active MBE is characterized by the leader being directly involved in the monitoring of digressions from set standards while the followers are in action.

Passive MBE, on the other hand, is a situation where the leader waits passively until a deviation occurs before corrective measures are taken/proposed (Northouse, 2009). Followers of such leaders are more compliant since they take orders and act the way they are told. This is in contrast with transformational leadership where the followers are allowed to think and act the way they want to at some point.

According to Northouse (2009), this approach has some clear inherent benefits as well as weaknesses as far as leadership is concerned. Most importantly, such leaders are more predictable since the procedure to be used is already laid out. The type of leadership is quite appropriate in middle level management since everything has to be performed according to the policies and procedures, especially in large organizations.

The limitations, on the other hand, include the fact that the followers are neither motivated nor enthusiastic about what they do because they feel they are ordered (Northouse, 2009). Furthermore, leaders treat the followers as people who can be motivated by the promise of a reward.

This exposes the worker to predictability, where the consequences can either be positive or negative. The theory, therefore, ignores the role of other factors like emotions, and ethical values in shaping the followers’ behavior. Another limitation is that it can be effective when used at the helm of organizational management which requires inspiration and clear vision dispensation.

The essay has discussed the transformational and the transactional approaches to leadership. The discussion has brought out the clear differences between the two types of leadership and their respective goals. It has also offered the criticism of transactional leadership according to Northouse, a renowned author. We can therefore conclude that various situations call for the use of the appropriate approaches to leadership.

Bass, B. M. & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2 nd ed.). Routledge

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• Chapter 13 of the Leadership Book by Northouse
• Chapter 6 of Northouse's Leadership: Theory and Practice
• Chapter 9 of the Leadership Book by Northouse
• JT Steiny's Interview on Art and Leadership
• Contingent Workforce Phenomenon
• Leadership Types: Transformational, Transactional and Charismatic
• Motorola Inc.'s Contingent Workforce Planning
• Carve Electronics Company's Leadership Models
• Welch’s Transformational vs. Schultz’s Transactional Leaderships
• Reaction Paper: Valuing the Environment Through Contingent Valuation
• Blanchard and Fiedler Leadership Models
• Who is a Leader?
• Quality Management for Organizational Excellence
• Team Leader: Exploiting New Opportunities
• HR Department and Employee Relations

Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics pp 1–3 Cite as

Differences Between Transactional and Transformational Leadership

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• Aditya Simha 4  
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Key leadership theories

Introduction

Transactional and transformational leadership are two of the most well-known and widely researched areas of leadership (Bass 1990 ; DuBrin 2015 ; Humphrey 2013 ; Rafferty and Griffin 2004 ). Burns ( 1978 ) is the scholar who coined the terms transactional and transformational leadership. He termed transactional leadership as being exchange oriented, in that it is based wholly on exchanges. Essentially, a follower does the bidding of his or her transactional leader because he or she is promised something in exchange. It usually tends to be a reward-based exchange or reward-based transaction. Hence, Burns coined the term transactional leadership. In contrast to this form of leadership, transformational leadership does not explicitly require the presence of any sort of reward. Instead, it involves the leader inspiring his or her followers and making them more moral in the process. The interaction between a transformational leader and followers...

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Ahmed, S., Simha, A. (2022). Differences Between Transactional and Transformational Leadership. In: Poff, D.C., Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_1101-1

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Transactional and Transformational Leadership essay

Leadership is very important in the life of an organization. The type of leadership exhibited can enhance the organization or limit its performance. Transactional leadership is a brand of leadership that uses the “carrot or stick” framework. Leaders who subscribe to this brand tend to be directly concerned only with results and outcomes. The rewards or punishment will then be given based on such performance (Howell & Avolio, 1993). Transformational leadership on the other hand is not only concerned with the outcome but also with the processes that subordinates follow.

In addition to that, transformational leadership is forward looking in the sense that the leader empowers the subordinates to exceed expectations. In doing so, they are able to raise the morale and the level of performance of the subordinates (Bass, 1998). Although transactional leadership may be effective in cases where the organization needs direct control and action yet transformation leadership is more effective in the long run. When I was still new in the company I am working for, my team leader would often have a one-on-one chat with us, team members.

In the process, he successfully imparted the vision and mission of the organization to us. We also felt that we were significant members of the organization. By doing that, we managed to become more effective in our tasks and helped the organization more. Organizational Culture An organization develops its own set of rules, its ways of interactions and its own systems. As such, organizational culture refers to the collection of norms and values being shared by individuals and groups within an organization.

These norms govern the way that they interact with each other and with other concerned groups or individuals outside the organization (O’Donovan, 2006). One of the dimensions of organizational culture is formal structures and hierarchy. This helps define lines of authority, accountability and responsibility. I have been part of a team. I was accountable to my team leader. The team leader is also accountable to his superior and so on. I could not directly engage the senior management of the organization. I have to follow protocol. If I breach that protocol, I would be reprimanded.

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Another important dimension of organizational culture is myths and stories that we trade with each other to further strengthen our loyalty to the organization. In this regard, the organization I belong to has a monthly gathering where the managers give their accomplishment reports to the whole company. This is a venue for celebrating successes, rewarding the performers and also providing a challenge to those departments that are lagging behind. Although there is the sense of competition, people are willing to listen to stories so that they can be more attuned to what is going on inside the organization.

Even beyond the monthly gathering, people in the organization are collecting stories to be shared with each other and rely on the history of the organization to help them build confidence and boost their morale. The group did well in determining which member will do what. This can help establish accountability and responsibility. However, the vision and the goals they want to achieve were not sufficiently communicated and internalized by the group members. If they were to become a successful group, they need to move together with a common purpose and goal.

Without such unity, they may become fragmented and before long, they would be pursuing the goals that they see fit, instead of the agreed upon goal for the whole group. The class has been an immense help in my understanding of group processes. The leadership principles were also very helpful and yielded important insights, not only in the theory but also in the practical aspect of leadership. The principles discussed in the class were not only theoretically helpful but they also helped me understand the role of the leader and the followers in the accomplishment of common goals.

The discussions also pointed out the areas that I need to develop as a leader and as a follower. Leadership development is a continuous process. What I have learned from the class is a good starting point in my journey. I know that I have to learn continually and read books on leadership. Yet, I know that I have earned the foundation I need in leadership to succeed as a leader and as a follower. Whether in a leadership position or as a follower, I can apply the principles I have learned from the class.

Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industrial, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Howeel, J. M & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control, and support for innovation: key predictors of consolidated-business-unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78 (6), 891-902. O’Donovan, Gabrielle (2006). The Corporate Culture Handbook: How to Plan, Implement and Measure a Successful Culture Change Programme. U. K. : The Liffey Press.

Transformational & Transactional Leadership Theories

Introduction.

Organisational leadership is such a vital element, especially in shaping employees’ perceptions of work, responses to organisational change, and acceptance to organisational innovations to achieve high performance (Aarons 2006, p. 1162). Whereas transformational leadership aims at motivating and inspiring followers by paying close attention to their emergent needs, transactional leadership, on the other hand, seeks to bring about organisational exchanges and reinforcements aimed at evoking rewards that are solely reliant on performance (Aarons 2006, p. 1165).

As Moss (2006, p. 2) posits, high-performance work-delivery is a working mode that offers promise for greater productivity and one that ensures that the followers are motivated and engaged; it summons a fair degree of autonomy among the elect. Endeavouring to achieve greater performance is often the aim of every leader. Studies indicate that this is only possible under situations where leaders exhibit leadership styles appropriate for a given organisation, in a given place and time in history (Moss 2006. p. 2).

According to Moss (2006, p. 2), studies opine that the HR roles under these categories of leadership could also be instrumental in shaping and moulding the structure of leadership under which an organisation performs best. The literature on this area holds that success in an organisation is primarily a mixture of transformational leadership with a contingent reward factor of transactional leadership that will ultimately create a viable atmosphere for higher performance (Moss 2006, p. 6).

An aqueous mixture of both transformational and transactional leadership is an outright winning combination for ascending the ladder to the peak of high performance. In contrast, studies on this area, according to Moss (2006, p. 6), contend that management by exception and laissez-faire are specific leadership styles that have time immemorial undermined efforts to introduce a high-performance culture. This usually occurs because the management systems under these structures are often under duress, invisible up to and including the moment things begin to awry within an organisation.

Given the close connection between high-performance culture and leadership style, it is usually imperative for organisations to select leaders who exhibit contingent rewards and transformational leadership skills (Moss 2006, p. 2). Series of research profoundly reveals serious institutional impediments, especially in selecting the satisfying abilities or individuals to be precise. Of particular worry is when recruiters opt to tilt the criteria of selecting leaders to conform to their pre-conceived job specification (Moss 2006, p. 2). Because of these shenanigans, it ultimately makes leadership a duty so hard to measure and rare to predict.

According to Moss (2006, p. 2), these lessons are evidently recurrent in organisations within the public sector, where this kind of leadership selection considers much of an individual’s track record as the ultimate measure of introducing high-performance culture. The literature in this area evinces substantial evidence that organisations that have always provided little evidence for high working performance are those that have picked leaders, not based on transformational or transactional leadership platforms. Rather, interviewers in such organisations use a different set of methodology when picking candidates (Aarons 2006, p. 1162).

Also, in organisations where high working performance has been given more weight, the selection panel usually insists that a leadership criterion is based on job specification. Organisations that score high under these considerations are those that endeavour to take their managers through training while emphasising on the importance of such criteria and placing such managers in the context of a given leadership framework.

Essentially, such leadership domains focus on specific areas of competence usually experienced in several scores. As Aarons (2006, p. 1162) observe, these scores are explained in achieving active leadership and personal growth, fostering commitment, exploring diversity and moulding a learning culture, all of which points to the achievement of high performance which is after all the bone of contention in leadership and elsewhere.

Leadership Structure

Leadership expert and renowned historian, James MacGregor Burns, formally forwarded the idea of transformational leadership (Riaz and Haider 2010). By virtue of the power of their character and vision, transformational leaders adequately inspire their subordinates to alter their insights and prospects while motivating them to work towards a shared destiny. Transformational leaders engage subordinates by spending much time building trust while demonstrating great personal integrity levels, building bridges and reaching out to one another within the leadership hierarchy. As the name suggests, the eventual result is to transform an individual’s vision, goals, and sense of drive, thereby casting them into a single unit.

According to Riaz and Haider (2010), this leadership style normally focuses on the “bigger picture” and concerns for people and their emergent needs. Transactional (TRL) leadership enhances the leadership outcomes of transformational leadership. Contingent reward (CR) is a key TRL leadership outcome that greatly focuses on rewards to employees for their work. To motivate employees, strategies such as financial incentives, public recognition, and verbal praise are aligned to CR (Riaz and Haider 2010).

Novice employees are more comfortable with TRL leadership. In contrast, expert-novice employees frequently utilise TFL leadership and are more versatile with the different leadership styles to use in specific circumstances. Despite the numerous references to first-line nursing leadership, the relationships between leadership outcomes and the leadership styles on leadership satisfaction, and leadership effectiveness have not been explored extensively as per the expectations of different researchers ( Leadership Research Report 2012).

Transformational and transactional leadership theories

Transformational and transactional leadership theories as developed by Bass (1985) and Burns (1978) are better explored by using a developmental or a constructive theory base to illuminate the technicalities in personality differences in leaders who chose either to exhibit transactional or transformational leadership styles. Of much significance to the study of leadership theories are transactional and transformational leadership theories (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 235).

Over time, transformational theories and charismatic leadership styles have dominated leadership research. Several theorists, including Bass (1985 and 1996) have proposed various forms of transformational leadership with higher performance being the key factor in their considerations (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 235). Whilst most authors contend that transformational and transactional leadership are differentiated in theory and practice, majority of these authors hold that both leadership styles supplement each other, thus resulting in a higher level of personal and organisational performance (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 235).

Also, there is a popular belief that transactional leadership is a subsection of transformational leadership and that both of them work in tandem to produce higher performance. Transformational and transactional leadership theories delve much on a leader’s principles, standards, and personalities. According to Odumeru and Ifenyi (2013, p. 235), leadership research on transformational and transactional leadership theories focus on the need for achievement, orientation to power, personality, mental and physical capabilities, and emotional aspects.

Early leadership research on leadership theories holds that individuals are born with certain traits, while some traits affiliate to strong leadership. Under these considerations, people with “right” traits would make the best leaders. However, identifying the ‘right’ traits for good leaders remains a great puzzle. Research on these puzzles occasioned the birth of further theories of leadership. Perhaps the behavioural theory is just another idea that informed the new thinking about leadership (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 236). At the same time, trait theory holds that individuals are born with certain traits that make them exemplary leaders.

On the other hand, the behavioural theory contends that individuals can learn to be good leaders given that leadership is not caste in inborn abilities. Leadership styles based on behavioural theory stimulated research on power and leadership against the influences to undertake tasks to attain results. This consideration offers several openings through which we view leadership. Moving from this viewpoint, it is worthy to note that researchers have developed several other suitable models that shape leadership. Among those are transactional, transformational, Laissez-faire, contingency and situational leadership (Riaz and Haider 2010).

Overall, these theories of leadership hold that workers motivation is a key driver of individual and organisational performance, and recommend various management practices that have formed modern-day organisation practices (Klimoski and Zaccaro, 2002). These include employee empowerment, reasonable remuneration, job security, work design, monetary and non-monetary rewards, opportunities for growth and advancement, and training.

Transformational leadership

Among the greatest arguments forward by Bass (1985), as Dumdum, Lowe and Avolio (2002, p. 35) observe, transformational leadership naturally accounts for a bigger share of the variance in the performance outcomes, especially when compared with the somewhat traditional transactional leadership styles. For some time now, considerable evidence reliably show support for Bass’ original version having been backed by studies conducted under varying organisational settings (Dumdum, Lowe, and Avolio 2002, p. 35).

All the leadership styles apart from transformational leadership have often shown a greater propensity towards positive correlation with performance-based leadership initiatives ranging from junior class leadership to high-powered military performance (Dumdum, Lowe, and Avolio 2002, p. 35). In the past 30 years, transformational leadership concept has attracted the concern of scholars in various grounds of governance. Organisational leadership researchers have explicitly found it a necessary gradient in exploring their studies, especially with the aim of improving the quality of performance within an organisation (Givens 2008, p. 4).

Transformational leadership theory is premised on the assumption that leadership draws greatly from a leader’s abilities to motivate his/her followers to achieve more than what followers intend to achieve. In its idealised form, transformational leadership theory aims for the accomplishment of even greater and much better results (Givens 2008, p. 4). Bass originally forwarded transformational leadership as having four components, and these have been instrumental in leadership research, identified as inspirational motivation, individualised consideration, intellectual stimulation and idealised influence (Givens 2008, p. 4).

According to Givens (2008, p. 4), Buns in his study noted that a transformational leader is one with the ability to inspire followers to achieve higher performance by categorically factoring majorly on the followers’ abilities while helping them to align such values with those of the organisation. Also, Givens (2008, p. 4) opines that Burns in his theorisation identified transformational leadership style as a symbiosis between the leader and the follower constantly motivating each other concurrently to higher levels, which eventually results in some healthy interdependence between the follower and the leader.

Transactional leadership

The vintage standpoint from which to understand and analyse transformational leadership is to tailor it alongside transformational leadership structures (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 358). Burns, in his study, concluded that transactional leadership consists of an exchange between a leader and his/her followers. Under this leadership consideration, the follower usually receives specific valued outcomes such as wages, incentives and prestige among other things; this is normally so, especially when they operate within the wishes of their leaders (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 358). Borrowing heavily from Burns, Bass later noted in his studies that leadership research had been generally conceptualised either as transactional or as cost and benefit exchange practices (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 358).

Expressly, transactional leadership theories are founded on the ideology that relations between leader-follower are based upon a series of exchanges or better still, on the implicit bargains that exist between leaders and followers (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 358). The implication created by these elucidations is that whenever the job or the environment at work fails to offer the necessary motivation, satisfaction, or direction, the leader normally steps into the picture. Notably, it is only through the leader’s actions and behaviours that such deficiencies can be eliminated (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 358).

In this set of the arrangement, the leader has to clarify the performance criteria, categorically outlining what is expected of his/her followers. For that matter, clarify what they must receive in reciprocation of their outstanding performances (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 358). To date, numerous transactional leadership theories have been forwarded, many of which have eventually received significant empirical acknowledgement. Some of the known examples include the path-goal theory, and the vertical dyad theory – both of which were institutionalised in the 1970s.

Unlike the complex transformational leadership structure, transactional leadership passes out as a one-dimensional, or unidirectional exchange that exists between the leader and the follower, and this kind of realignment usually serves to preserve and exploit the status quo ( Leadership Research Report 2012). The role of a transactional leader in organisational management is to integrate and coordinate various organisational units or departmental functions within the system (Odumeru and Ifenyi 2013, p. 358).

Workplace motivation

These leadership theories have shaped modern organisational management practices. Fisher (2009, p. 348) argues that leadership theories suggest that managers are required to be aware of the various needs that influence the motivation of individual workers. The human relations approach presented ideas, which are relevant to modern-day business, especially regarding motivational influences, group norms, job satisfaction, effective leadership, as well as worker participation (King and Lawley 2013, p. 235). The need-hierarchy theory helps modern-day businesses in identifying areas where workers derive their motivation.

Some sources of motivation include reasonable pay to satisfy basic needs, good working conditions to satisfy safety and security needs, interpersonal relationships to satisfy social needs, promotion, responsibility, and recognition to satisfy self-esteem needs, and creativity, challenge, and interest to satisfy self-actualisation needs (King and Lawley 2013, p. 235). Similarly, the two-factor theory helps modern-day business to identify specific factors that may lead to workers’ dissatisfaction and those that could lead to workers’ satisfaction if fulfilled or not fulfilled in the workplace (King and Lawley 2013, p. 235).

Consequently, organisations today pay great attention to their human resource policies and the way their workers are treated by their supervisors and managers in terms of the working conditions, welfare, and salaries and benefits. Many companies, according to King and Lawley (2013, p. 235), always work to assure workers of their job security even at times when the company is facing financial difficulties, and even during downsizing situations. Besides, companies today adopt employee award programmes to recognise and reward employee achievements. Growth and promotional programs often accompany such programmes.

Additionally, job design has become a common practice in today’s companies. Bauer, Carpenter and Erdogan (2010, p. 345) summarised the implication of the acquired needs theory to modern-day business by emphasising the significance of understanding each worker’s motivation needs. This could be needed to gain approval from colleagues and supervisors in order to acquire influence over others or position that gives one high decision-making authorities (Fisher 2009, p. 348).

Follower motivation

Managers see employee motivation as a way to increase workers job performance. All the theories, for example, suggest that workers would put greater efforts and become productive if they believed their managers were giving them attention. This means that managers can motivate their subordinates to be more engaged in their work and increase productivity by paying attention to them and addressing their needs (Hall 2003).

In addition, they suggest that managers should improve the workplace atmosphere such that workers can develop a sense of belonging, interpersonal relationships, as well as collaborative relationships with the management (Hall 2003). It should also be noted that the existence as well as the importance of informal organisations, as suggested by the human relations approach, is highly accepted in the field of management (Cole 2004; Mullins 2013, p. 275). Cole (2004, p. 275) emphasises that informal organisations are essential to the operations of formal organisations since they promote communication, cohesion, knowledge sharing, cooperation, and coordination.

Mayo’s human relations approach, McClelland’s acquired needs theory, and Herzberg’s two-factor theory emphasise the need for employee training and professional development opportunities, as well as work design which are common best practices in the modern-day organisations.

Interpersonal relationship

The need for interpersonal relationships in the workplace suggested by the human relations approach, the two-factor theory, need-hierarchy theory, and the acquired needs theory imply that workers motivation can be best achieved by paternalistic leadership style. Under this leadership style, a leader assumes a more relationship-oriented kind of leadership. Amaratunga, Ginige, Haigh, and Thurairajah (2008, p. 315) described relationship-oriented leadership style as a kind of leadership that involves “encouraging participation, sharing power and information, enhancing self-worth, changing self-interests for an overall good, relating power to interpersonal skills, and believing in better performance when feeling good.”

Similarly, paternalistic leadership style involves offering fatherly leadership to subordinates by helping each one of them in each way possible (Anwar 2013, p. 109). Pellegrini and Scandura (2007, p. 567) note that paternalistic leadership involves taking a personal interest in subordinates’ lives off the job and attempting to promote their personal welfare. Arguably, this is what transformational leadership promotes.

This kind of concern is expected to motivate the workers to remain loyal to the manager or leader as well as to the organisation. Just as was proposed by the human relations theory, the paternalistic leader offers subordinates “a platform where they can give their ideas, but at the end, a mutual decision will be taken” (Anwar 2013, p. 109). This generally means that the leader cultivates a friendly working environment where the workers are encouraged to share their personal problems and are encouraged to make suggestions about issues related to their work. The leader provides social support to the subordinates and offers moral leadership by ensuring consistent, fair, and ethical practices and decisions (Anwar 2013, p. 110).

Competitive market

Constructive organisations do not only aim to survive or sustain their market base but also to thrive above their competitors. To meet these needs in the highly competitive market, organisations must persistently intensify their performance to outsmart their challengers. To achieve this, as Karamat (2013, p. 9) notes, leadership critically plays a major role in up an organisation performance.

However, prior research gives a miscellaneous opinion on the role of leadership in increasing an organisation’s performance. Therefore, these contradictory findings advocate a pressing need to analyse the role of leadership, which are presented at different levels in an organisation. Likewise, Leadership Research Report (2012, p. 2) indicates that every individual being has inherent personality, which makes every leader unique. Despite the character differences, there exist leadership traits that are common to successful management (Wells 2003, p.17).

Leadership at senior management levels

To start with the senior management level leadership, as (Wells 2003, p. 17) points out, senior managers have the sole responsibility to strategically manage the organisation, which the author indicates to involve not only formulating the goals or visions but to also ensuring that the goals and visions are implemented effectively. Further, Wells (2003, p.17) notes that strategic management is an incessant process, and thus for an organisation to achieve high performance, the managerial leaders must become strategic thinkers to change their organisational leadership and culture.

Similarly, Leadership Research Report (2012, p. 3) counters that at the senior management level the individual assigned has an obligation to delegate a task to the workforce, monitor the group’s work, mentor, motivate, and coach their workforce. The senior management team is liable for deploying and completing the implementation mechanisms developed for the strategic plan. In addition, the team is obliged to formulate mechanisms for involving their workforce serenely in steps, and to commit the time and resources necessary for achieving these ideals. A successful formulation normally results in high performance in the organisation.

However, Leadership Research Report (2012, p. 3) indicates that due to the work burden on the individual manager, obtaining positive results bears out to be more challenging to several organisations. Besides, junior employees tend to rebel with the management, as they are never part of the policy formulation, or perhaps, they may not be willing to abide by the stipulations.

Leadership at line management levels

In the line management level, leadership is subdivided into deferent levels. Leadership Research Report (2012, p. 4) describes the major levels of leadership as an individual contributor, first-level leader, mid-level leader, business unit leader, senior executive, and chief executive. Each level has its team of the workforce to manage and personal challenges. The first step in line management occurs when an individual contributor is offered a managerial obligation.

Interestingly, this compels the individuals to adopt a domineering habit ( Leadership Research Report 2012, p. 4). The individuals become instructive and opinionated, thus demanding to get the work accomplished as opposed to forming the social lash with their co-workers. In addition, Wells (2003, p.17) shows that leadership traits increase significantly up the leadership ladder, thus promoting the upward trend of drive, and moulding the leaders with courage and willingness to face risks ideal for their organisation’s improvement. However, as individuals climb to a higher level of management, individuals responsibility lessens.

This motivates the individual to work harder with little fear in order to move to higher levels of management. At the same time, other co-workers get motivated as they too instigate the urge for leadership. This kind of leadership will most likely result in high performance in the organisation. On the other hand, individuals who sluggishly, or do not move up the management ladder get demoralised. This can as well lower an organisation’s performance as opposed to increasing the performance as planned.

Impact on organisational performance

Organisational performance, as Karamat (2013, p. 20) indicates, is determined by the yield realised when an organisations input is fully utilised. With regard to this context, organisational performance shows the relationship between the input and the achieved output in a firm, hence determining the growth of an establishment. Karamat (2013, p. 20) asserts that an organisation’s successes rely on three issues, such as efficiency and process reliability, leadership and relation to workers, and innovation and adjustment to the environment.

Considering the leadership impact of an organisation, Karamat (2013, p. 27) states that the size of an organisation affects the efficiency of managing the organisation, which translates to the leadership’s structure. However, for high performance, every organisation irrespective of the size requires aggressive leaders who can bring their teams together and can establish appropriate organisation composition, systems and structures as well (Karamat 2013, p. 29).

Therefore, leadership, as the key influencers in making a decision, determines what the organisations acquire, develop, and where the organisations deploy their resources. In addition, Karamat (2013, p. 29) acknowledges that leadership determines the conversion of these resources to product and services and co-relation with the organisations’ targets. Therefore, leadership even though not the only determining factor, is an essential component in the mix of factors that impact on an organisation’s performance (Karamat 2013, p. 30).

Impact on individual workers

Just like leadership impacts on organisational performance, prior research indicates that transactional leadership influence the individual’s performance in an organisation. Karamat (2013, p. 31) recognise this by indicating that transactional leadership facilitate the organisation to achieve their objectives capably by rewarding good performing employees and ensuring that their workers get the necessary resources that ease their work.

However, global completion and new work environment slip in new challenges that require leadership beyond the basic transactional style. These challenges, as Karamat (2013, p. 31) notes, require a high level of interdependency and integration, which engage contingent reinforcement, inspirational, intellectual stimulation, and charismatic. In addition, Karamat (2013, p. 32) indicates that transformational leadership creates the organisational strategic vision and goal, communicates the vision, models it, and fabricates the path for its implementation and commitment towards the vision.

This kind of leadership promotes a high level of trust, a commitment by individuals, motivation, cohesion, and comfort, thus translating to high performance by the individual worker (Karamat 2013, p. 33). This view, as Karamat (2013, p. 34) ascertains, supports previous research and meta-analyses, which indicates how transformational leadership contributes greatly to positive individual performance.

The transformational and transactional theories discussed above suggest that employee motivation is a complex phenomenon, as it is influenced by different factors. This is expected because people have different characteristics, and organisations employ dissimilar leadership styles. Consequently, employees view issues differently. Therefore, it is natural that they are influenced by different factors, although the theories have consistently suggested that employees are always seeking an environment where they can meet their personal developmental needs.

It is fundamentally important that managers understand the individual needs of their subordinates and come up with ways to fulfil such needs and tailor them towards the full realisation of higher organisational performance. Arguably, both theories present different strengths and weaknesses, although the influences brought about by the situational variables on these sets of leadership differentiations often hold. Organisational leaders seeking to improve their capacity to lead their followers to greater levels of success need to moderate their styles of leadership to match the developmental paradigms that form the trajectories of their organisations.

Assessing the impacts of these sorts of leadership on various organisational and follower outcomes offer a value standpoint for both the organisation and the leaders. The standpoint gives a platform from which to view leadership and rate employees’ behaviours. Consistent with prior research, the demonstration is rife that transformational leadership offers a direct influence on an organisational social responsibility factor, hence categorically shaping behaviour, organisational vision and culture, as well as performance.

Reference List

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Amaratunga, D., Ginige, K., Haigh, R., and Thurairajah, N 2008, Role of women leaders in the UK construction industry and their career barriers , University of Salford Press, Salford.

Anwar, H 2013, ‘ Impact of paternalistic leadership on employees’ outcome: A study on the banking sector of Pakistan ,’ IOSR Journal of Business and Management, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 109-115.

Cole, G. A 2004, Management theory and practice (6 th ed.), South-Western Cengage Learning, London.

Dumdum, U. R., Lowe, K. B. and Avolio, B. J 2002, ‘Transactional leadership correlates of effectiveness and satisfaction: An update and extension’, Journal of applied psychology , vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 35-66.

Fisher, E. A 2009, ‘Motivation and leadership in social work management: A review of theories and related studies,’ Administration in Social Work, vol. 33, no. 9, pp. 347-367.

Givens, R. J 2008, ‘Transformational leadership: The impact on organisational and personal Outcomes,’ Emerging Leadership Journeys , vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 4-24.

Hall, A. 2003, Behavioural management theory applied to the field of criminal justice . Web.

Karamat, U, A 2013, Impact of leadership on Organisational performance . Web.

King, D., and Lawley, S 2013, Organisational behaviour, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Klimoski, J., and Zaccaro, S 2002, The nature of organisational leadership: Understanding the performance imperatives confronting today’s leaders , John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ.

Leadership Research Report 2012. Web.

Moss, G 2006, Crack the leadership combination to secure high-performance working . Web.

Odumeru, J, A. and Ifenyi, G 2013, ‘Transformational vs. transactional leadership theories: Evidence in literature,’ International Review of Management and Business Research , vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 355- 361.

Pellegrini, E. K., and Scandura, T. A 2007, ‘Paternalistic leadership: A review and agenda for future research,’ Journal of Management, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 566-593.

Riaz, A. and Haider, M. H 2010, ‘Role of transformational and transactional leadership on job satisfaction and career satisfaction,’ Business and Economic Horizons , vol. 11, no. 7, pp. 29-38.

Wells, L, D 2003, Strategic Management for senior leadership: A handbook for implementation . Web.

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The Impact of Transformational Leadership in the Nursing Work Environment and Patients’ Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Line miray kazin ystaas.

1 Department of Health Sciences, School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia 1700, Cyprus

Monica Nikitara

Savoula ghobrial, evangelos latzourakis, giannis polychronis, costas s. constantinou.

2 Department of Basic and Clinical Sciences, Medical School, University of Nicosia, Nicosia 1700, Cyprus

Associated Data

The articles’ data supporting this systematic review are from previously reported studies and datasets, which have been cited. The processed data are available in Table 2 and in the reference list. Further information can be requested from the corresponding author.

Background: With the increasingly demanding healthcare environment, patient safety issues are only becoming more complex. This urges nursing leaders to adapt and master effective leadership; particularly, transformational leadership (TFL) is shown to scientifically be the most successfully recognized leadership style in healthcare, focusing on relationship building while putting followers in power and emphasizing values and vision. Aim: To examine how transformational leadership affects nurses’ job environment and nursing care provided to the patients and patients’ outcomes. Design: A systematic literature review was conducted. From 71 reviewed, 23 studies were included (studies included questionnaire surveys and one interview, extracting barriers and facilitators, and analyzing using qualitative synthesis). Result: TFL indirectly and directly positively affects nurses’ work environment through mediators, including structural empowerment, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Nurses perceived that managers’ TFL behavior did not attain excellence in any of the included organizations, highlighting the necessity for additional leadership training to enhance the patient safety culture related to the non-reporting of errors and to mitigate the blame culture within the nursing environment. Conclusion: Bringing more focus to leadership education in nursing can make future nursing leaders more effective, which will cultivate efficient teamwork, a quality nursing work environment, and, ultimately, safe and efficient patient outcomes. This study was not registered.

1. Introduction

Patient harm caused by errors in healthcare is the leading origin of morbidity and mortality internationally [ 1 ]. Researchers are linking adverse patient safety outcomes to a lack of effective leadership, while relational leadership styles, like transformational leadership, continue to be associated with reduced adverse patient outcomes [ 2 , 3 ]. Nursing is dynamic and requires inspiring and engaging leaders and role models. However, the development of nurse leaders is challenging for the nursing profession.

Currently, nurses face a burnout epidemic rooted mainly in the work environment influenced by excessive workloads and a lack of organizational support and leadership [ 4 ]. Maben et al. (2022) reported that nurses globally face a heightened vulnerability to mental health issues and suicide, surpassing other occupational groups, while the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing challenges in their work environment, further intensifying the already demanding conditions [ 5 ]. The engagement in emotional labor within the nursing profession exposes practitioners to a notable susceptibility to experiencing burnout, moral distress, and compassion fatigue. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, the international cadre of nurses was already confronting considerable hurdles, encompassing prolonged duty durations, rotation schedules, inadequate staffing, and periodically arduous situations [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Throughout the pandemic, nurses encountered a range of stress-inducing factors, including managing heightened public expectations and pressure, adapting to new work responsibilities, facing elevated mortality rates, dealing with the infectious nature of COVID-19, experiencing psychosocial stress, confronting the scarcity of personal protective equipment, handling demanding job requirements, and contending with inadequate psychological support [ 8 ]. At the same time, scholars have found poor working conditions for nurses and inadequate staffing to predict adverse patient outcomes based on the low-quality nursing job atmosphere and the absence of appropriate leadership styles [ 9 , 10 ].

Safety issues in care, such as adverse events, medication errors, falls, and surgery mistakes, have plagued healthcare systems internationally for decades. Several investigations have acknowledged healthcare environments as high-risk with a lack of safety culture, causing long-delayed discharge, disability, or even death [ 2 , 11 ]. Inherently, the nursing profession and current healthcare climate are chaotic, and a positive safety culture has been proven to come from a creditable and visible leader who supports patient safety behaviors [ 12 ]. It is important to recognize that nurses have the highest patient interaction, making nurse leaders central catalysts to positively influencing patient safety culture to reach safer patient outcomes [ 13 , 14 ].

The quality of the nursing work environment is an indicator of nurse satisfaction. A leader who involves staff fosters teamwork, rewards good performance, and encourages motivation can impact the quality of work life [ 15 , 16 ]. The leadership style describes how the leader interacts with others and can be categorized into two main styles: task-oriented and relational [ 17 ]. Historically, leadership theories started with the Great Man Theory during the Industrial Revolution with strong hierarchical leader-centric decision making, focusing on command-and-control, productivity, and seeing the organization as linear, operating like a machine [ 18 ]. This leadership style model in healthcare is no longer sustainable, as proven by a lack of change and persisting patient safety issues. Researchers have found that healthcare innovation requires nonlinear and emergent social processes that result in improved organizational outcomes [ 19 ]. In recent years, the two relational styles, transformational and transactional leadership, have been explored through nursing literature and have become high profile in general healthcare research.

Transformational leadership is composed of four key components. Firstly, “idealized influence” involves the leader behaving as a robust role model toward followers, demonstrating a work ethic and strong values while preaching the organization’s vision, thereby winning the staff’s trust and confidence [ 20 ]. The second type of behavior is referred to as “inspirational motivation”. It includes creating a compelling and inspiring vision for the future and communicating it to followers through emotionally charged speeches, vivid imagery, and captivating symbols. This encourages followers to strive to reach this shared vision, thus creating a deeper level of commitment and higher performance [ 17 ]. The third type of behavior is called “intellectual stimulation”. Intellectual stimulation encourages followers to think outside the box and consider different approaches to everyday issues, enabling them to devise innovative solutions to these problems [ 21 ]. The final category of behaviors is “individualized consideration”, including coaching, helping followers achieve goals, and providing a supportive climate. By carefully listening, leaders can help fulfill those needs [ 22 ]. For instance, some followers might require explicit guidance regarding how to get a job done, while others require the provision of needed resources so they can figure out the solution on their own. Nonetheless, TFL’s four behaviors construct a transformational leader if performed consistently and are found to bring respect and admiration by followers [ 23 ].

1.1. Rational

Healthcare systems are globally facing a crisis, with nurse shortage being a perennial issue. Nurses have the highest patient interaction, making nurse leaders central catalysts in positively influencing patient safety culture to reach safer patient outcomes [ 13 ]. At the same time, negative nursing work environments cultivate dissatisfied nurses who are likely to suffer from emotional exhaustion or burnout because of ineffective leadership [ 14 ]. Amidst these challenges, there is growing recognition of the potential impact of transformational leadership in healthcare settings.

Transformational leadership is characterized by its focus on relationship-building, empowering followers, and emphasizing shared values and vision. This leadership style has been found to positively affect various industries and sectors, including healthcare. However, there remains a gap in knowledge regarding its specific effectiveness in healthcare settings. A comprehensive analysis of the potential benefits of transformational leadership in the healthcare context is warranted. This systematic review aims to address this gap by investigating the effectiveness of transformational leadership and its potential to create better working environments, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes. We have identified a crucial area of inquiry that has not been thoroughly examined in the existing literature—a systematic review that delves into the relationship between transformational leadership and its effects on both the working environment and patient outcomes. We have identified a single literature review from the preceding decade (2002–2012) that focused on the efficacy of transformational leadership in relation to both work environments and patient outcomes [ 24 ]. Considering this, our current investigation is oriented towards delving into scholarly works spanning the subsequent decade (2012–2022), with the intention of comprehensively examining the evolving discourse on this subject matter. By exploring and synthesizing the current body of knowledge on this topic, our study will contribute valuable insights to the field, allowing healthcare organizations to better understand the impact of transformational leadership and make informed decisions regarding their leadership practices.

The significance of this research lies in its potential to shed light on a promising approach to address the pressing challenges faced by healthcare systems—nurse shortage and dissatisfaction—through effective leadership strategies. By providing evidence-based insights, this review seeks to guide healthcare leaders in adopting transformational leadership practices to create a positive work environment for nurses, reducing emotional exhaustion and burnout, and ultimately enhancing patient care and safety.

In conclusion, the dearth of research on the relationship between transformational leadership, work environment, and patient outcomes in healthcare settings highlights the necessity of this review. By examining the effectiveness of transformational leadership and its potential impact on nurses’ well-being and patient outcomes, our study aims to fill this critical gap in knowledge and contribute to the advancement of healthcare leadership practices.

1.2. Objective and Research Question

Having delineated the rationale and imperative for conducting this systematic review, our primary aim was to search, retrieve, and critically evaluate all pertinent studies centered around the concept of transformational leadership, with a particular focus on its efficacy in fostering an improved working environment for nurses and influencing patient outcomes comprehensively and systematically.

Our aim was to synthesize and analyze studies, and therefore, we used the PICo framework for studies to determine a research question. PICo is the simplest of the frameworks to use for qualitative questions; it stands for Population, Interest, and Context and can be used to find a range of primary literature. The Population in our study is nurses; the Interest is transformational leadership, working environments, and patient outcomes; and the Context is hospitals. Based on the PICo framework, we formulated our research question as follows: “What is the impact of transformational leadership on staff nurse work environments and patient outcomes?”

2. Methodology

To effectively accomplish our aim and investigate our research question, we utilized a systematic review approach following the guidelines outlined in the PRISMA 2020 statement [ 25 ]. The PRISMA 2020 checklist is available in Appendix A . In the subsequent subsections, we provide a comprehensive overview of our methodology.

2.1. Eligibility Criteria

Each of the chosen studies incorporated in this systematic review had to fulfill specific inclusion criteria, as outlined in Table 1 provided below.

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria.

2.2. Information Sources and Search Strategy

We used the following databases to choose the articles: MEDLINE, CINAHL, and SCIENCE DIRECT. The search approach employed the Boolean operator OR between the keywords nurse, working environments, patients’ outcomes, and transformational leadership and comparable MeSH phrases. To refine the search, phrases with diverse meanings were joined using the Boolean operator AND. The search approach used on the EBSCO platform for the aforementioned databases is described in Table 2 We limited the search to journal articles in English with the full text available. However, numerous studies were rejected as they referred to other leadership styles than transformational leadership in addition to other healthcare settings than a nursing work environment.

Search approach.

* The asterisk in Ebsco platform wildcard in search finds words with a common root.

2.3. Selection of Studies Process

Two researchers (the first two authors) conducted independent searches, retrievals, and selections of studies, initially based on three primary criteria: (a) the presence of primary research, (b) the inclusion of transformational leadership as a topic, and (c) relevance to nursing care. Subsequently, additional criteria, such as peer-reviewed articles published in journals or conference proceedings, as well as the publication date, were employed for further refinement. Upon completing the initial selection process, the two researchers engaged in discussions and compiled a list of prospective articles. This list was shared with four other researchers, who collectively determined the final articles to be included in the review, making any necessary additions or removals as deemed appropriate.

2.4. Data Collection Process

The data from the selected studies were independently collected by two researchers. They extracted the components, items, statements, or competencies that had achieved consensus among experts during the final round of each study. Specifically, the following data from each study were extracted: title of the study, authors’ names, publication year, study design, tools, sample characteristics, and summary of main findings and results. Subsequently, the researchers thoroughly reviewed the extracted data multiple times and proceeded to code and identify overarching themes.

2.5. Synthesis Methods

The data were synthesized by content analysis, and the findings were categorized into themes. After carefully examining the results and findings section of a chosen article, an initial set of codes was created. These codes underwent further improvement as more articles were analyzed. Each line of text was assigned a code, and a code tree was utilized to identify emerging themes. From the interpreted meanings, sub-themes were derived and combined. These sub-themes underwent further analysis and were eventually condensed into a single overarching theme. Content analysis can aid in the identification and summarization of submerging key elements within a large body of data during the review process [ 26 ]. The themes of the effectiveness of TFL in the nursing environment were organized according to the content analysis suggested by Zhang and Wildemuth (2009) [ 27 ].

To ensure the validity of the results, a two-level quality assurance process was implemented. The authors of this paper independently followed the review procedure, including coding, categorization, revisiting the studies, and refining the codes and categories. Subsequently, they convened, engaged in discussions, refined the analysis, and finalized the results.

This review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement ( Figure 1 ) [ 25 ], which provides a set of guidelines for conducting reviews and meta-analyses in a comprehensive and systematic manner.

PRISMA flowchart with the search strategy of the systematic review.

3.1. Studies Selection

The initial search process resulted in 71 articles related to transformational leadership. There were no duplications ( Figure 1 ), and therefore, 71 articles were included for advance screening. Fourteen (14) articles did not relate to nurses’ work environment and were omitted. Two researchers thoroughly reviewed the remaining 57 articles independently. From this process, 34 articles were excluded as they did not satisfy the criteria for inclusion. The final number of articles that met the criteria for inclusion was twenty-three (23).

3.2. Studies Characteristics

These 23 articles were conducted in various countries and assessed the effect of transformational leadership in a nursing clinical work environment. Most of the studies included a multifactor leadership questionnaire to evaluate nurses’ perceived effectiveness of transformational leadership (1–10, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23). Further information about the articles, such as author, year, tool, methodology, sample, and main results, is described in Table 3 below.

Articles Description.

3.3. Study Assessment

The quality of the articles included in this review was checked by the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument Critical Appraisal Checklist. The Joanna Briggs checklist evaluates the methodological quality of a study while determining the possibility of an indication of bias in its conduct, design, and analysis. As can be seen from Table 3 , there were 21 cross-sectional studies (1–11, 13–19, 21–23), 1 descriptive–correlational study (12), and 1 qualitative study (20).

All the included studies largely adhered to the Joanna Briggs criteria, providing comprehensive and detailed descriptions of their respective methodologies and procedures Table 4 , Table 5 and Table 6 . However, it was observed that two of the cross-sectional studies did not explicitly outline any specific strategies to address the stated confounding factors. Nevertheless, as Dekkers et al. (2019) argue, confounding is not dichotomous but rather a continuum where varying degrees of confounding influence can exist [ 28 ]. Furthermore, in accordance with the Joanna Briggs guidelines, the qualitative study failed to disclose the researcher’s cultural or theoretical standpoint, as well as the potential influence of the researcher on the research process. It is worth noting that such omissions are common in qualitative studies, where the focus is on understanding the subjectivity of the participants and allowing their perspectives to emerge naturally.

JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies.

Risk of Bias Assessed by the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Study Results.

JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies Reporting Prevalence Data Results.

3.4. Results of Synthesis

Two major themes emerged, effectively addressing the research questions. Within each theme, several categories were identified, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of the topic under investigation. The themes and their corresponding categories were as follows.

Theme 1: Staff nurses’ work environment:

• Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment;
• Reduce Nurse Retention;
• Nurses’ Empowerment and Autonomy;
• Nurses’ Compliance with Safety Measures.

Theme 2: Patients’ outcomes:

• Patient Safety Culture;
• Reporting Adverse Events.

3.4.1. Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

Various studies that investigated the mechanism of TFL detected its strong influence on employee attitudes and behaviors in nursing. Nurses’ work attitudes are reflected in their levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment [ 29 , 30 ]. It was clear from the literature that TFL frequently positively influenced nurses’ work environment by indirectly increasing job satisfaction [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Employees’ positive perception of jobs and organization is revealed through job satisfaction [ 30 ]. Researchers link TFL and empowerment to the establishment of self-determination and competency, which is proven to impact job satisfaction, suggesting the direct relationship between nurse empowerment and nurse job satisfaction, enhancing the quality of the nurses’ work environment [ 9 , 32 ].

There is also evidence to construct a strong link between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Interestingly, the statistics showed that nursing staff committed to their organization with a strong sense of loyalty and dependence also had higher levels of job satisfaction [ 29 , 33 ]. Further, higher levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction were also associated with increased health status in the nurses [ 33 ]. More specifically, TFL was related to more excellent supervisor support, increasing job satisfaction among the nurses, and resulting in more significant organizational commitment [ 29 ]. In a study examining the effectiveness of TFL in the environment of elderly care, TFL was found to effectively strengthen the nursing staff’s sense of belonging to the organization, reducing their burnout. The clan culture established through TFL effectively influenced organizational commitment and job satisfaction, where the atmosphere of a home culture created within their work environment promoted the intrinsic values of nursing staff while improving cohesion between the nurses and the quality of care [ 33 ]. However, TFL was found to have a direct positive effect on organizational commitment [ 33 , 35 ].

3.4.2. Reducing Intention to Leave the Job/Organization

Studies also found that TFL can reduce the nurses’ intent to leave the job, which is closely related to the previous category, as job dissatisfaction can be the primary precursor of nurses’ intent to leave [ 29 ]. The literature generally highlights that the TFL style shapes employees’ perceptions and feelings around their nursing managers and affects their desire and obligation to maintain the intent to stay in their organization [ 36 ]. A recent cross-sectional study examining 645 nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic found that a supportive workplace culture can construct an adaptive mechanism through which transformational leaders can improve retention [ 37 ]. Additionally, the literature found TFL to decrease emotional exhaustion amongst nurses by encouraging a spiritual climate, indicating that a positive spiritual climate facilitated through TFL can reduce burnout and decrease nursing staff’s intent to leave [ 31 ]. However, there was insufficient evidence proving a direct correlation between TFL and staff nurses’ decision to stay or leave their job [ 33 , 35 ], but it was suggested that TFL has the potential (but not the primary factor) to slow down attrition and retain nurses by improving job satisfaction and organizational commitment, creating a positive work environment and increasing nurses’ probability of staying [ 35 ]. TFL seems to not act directly on job satisfaction or intent to stay but rather create a multifaceted positive work environment leading to a quality nursing environment. Consequently, it was reported that TFL indirectly influenced willingness to stay by positively influencing staff organizational commitment and job satisfaction [ 29 , 33 , 35 ].

3.4.3. Nurses’ Empowerment and Autonomy

Literature highlights that the TFL style within nursing can give staff nurses increased autonomy through empowerment strategies and meaningful participation in decision-making [ 30 , 31 , 36 ]. In turn, TFL-facilitated empowerment has been proven to increase employee commitment within their units by delegating power to nurses, leading to increased authority within their work environment [ 30 , 36 ]. Empowerment through decision-making involvement via removing formal organizational barriers has been found to reduce powerlessness in the nurse work environment, reducing job burnout and increasing job satisfaction [ 30 ]. RN-MD collaboration and teamwork within and across units were thought to be necessary for the nurse’s autonomy [ 38 ]. Further, the literature relates to the concept that a well-functioning patient safety climate requires nurses with autonomy to deal with problems regarding patient safety while proposing specific solutions and getting support and encouragement from organizations to facilitate patient safety-based innovations [ 39 ].

TFL and transactional leadership behaviors were found to affect empowerment amongst the nursing staff positively. However, TFL behaviors allowed nursing managers to reach even higher levels of success without congruence and reward, embedding empowerment into the clinical environment [ 40 ]. Some studies also identified the empowerment subscale, autonomy, as the statistically significant predictor of commitment, indicating that managers can engage nurses in appropriate decision making about patient care and safety in their work environment [ 30 , 36 ]. Management that does not accept decision-making participation dissembles empowerment, which frustrates and makes staff dependent on an authoritarian structure [ 36 ].

3.4.4. Nurses’ Compliance with Safety Measures

Lievens and Vlerick (2014) found a strong association between TFL and nurse safety compliance [ 41 ]. The more transformational the leader was perceived, the more the nursing staff participated and complied with patient safety practices. Further, staff nurses’ structural empowerment also experienced a significant correlation with the degree to which they perceived nursing managers’ (NMs) TFL behaviors [ 36 , 40 ]. Research also suggested that when nurses perceived their TFL to facilitate an innovative work climate, they automatically contributed to developing innovation behaviors [ 39 ]. Previously mentioned research suggested that nurses need to feel a part of their work environment. However, countries where staff are hesitant to challenge authority create a reluctance to change, and compliance can breed a lack of stimulation [ 31 ]. It was reported that nurse managers should be trained to challenge nurses to resolve problems and specialize their competence to foster innovation and grow talents and creativity [ 36 ].

Lievens and Vlerick (2014), in their cross-sectional study which included 145 nurses, also found intellectual stimulation to strongly impact knowledge-related characteristics, suggesting an indirect link between safety performance and TFL through skills and ability demands, where the more knowledge-related job characteristics were perceived, the more nurses complied with safety rules [ 41 ]. Skill utilization or intellectual stimulation was further found to be the strongest single predictor of work engagement, compared to TFL, where nurses appreciated opportunities for personal development, learning new things, and achieving something meaningful, encouraging work engagement [ 2 , 42 ].

Patients’ outcomes:

The literature shows a positive relationship between TFL and the improvement of patient safety climate and culture, emphasizing that nursing managers are key to developing a safety climate and maintaining a culture of patient safety, preventing adverse events.

3.4.5. Increase Patient Safety Culture

There was a significant prevalence of findings reporting TFL to facilitate patient safety either directly [ 2 , 9 , 38 , 42 ] or indirectly [ 32 , 39 , 41 ]. Seljemo et al. (2020), in their cross-sectional study, questioned 156 nurses; Ree and Wiig (2019), also in a cross-sectional design study, questioned 139 nurses and found TFL to be the strongest predictor of patient safety culture and overall perception of patient safety compared to job demands and resources [ 2 , 42 ]. This was suggested to result from TFL having a positive direct effect on the psychosocial work environment. Further evidence also links TFL directly to quality patient outcomes, reducing the possibility of adverse patient outcomes and increasing the quality of care [ 9 ].

Patient safety culture includes themes such as teamwork within units, managers’ support, organizational learning, overall perceptions of safety, feedback and communication openness about the error, frequency of events reported, staffing, handoffs and transitions, and non-punitive response to errors. “Teamwork within units” generally had a common positive perception amongst the nurses, indicating collaboration within their units as effective within TFL [ 38 , 43 , 44 ]. Anselmann and Mulder (2020) asked 183 geriatric nurses in their cross-sectional study, and they support the above, finding that TFL has a positive impact on team performance when a safe climate is fostered [ 45 ]. Even though nurses found cohesion within their units, literature revealed a common theme of insufficient “teamwork between units”, indicating that each unit had an independent culture [ 38 , 43 , 44 ]. Further, a generally weak perception of the effectiveness of RN-MD collaboration was also observed [ 38 , 43 ].

Researchers stressed the necessity of having efficient teamwork between units and on a multi-professional level to create an effective patient safety culture [ 9 ]. Another reoccurring subdimension, “feedback and rewarding”, was also identified as a weak component of TFL in relation to patient safety culture, illustrating a lack of adaptation and implementation of TLF behavior [ 9 , 43 , 46 ]. The TFL nursing manager generally seemed to conduct insufficient work around feedback and rewards, resulting in staff nurses not being encouraged and ensuring that medical errors were prevented and learned from [ 43 , 46 ].

3.4.6. Reporting Adverse Events

Adverse events can result in patient disability or death, prolong the time necessary to provide care, and increase healthcare costs and patient dissatisfaction [ 47 ]. However, a part of the literature showed that when TFL and transactional leadership were compared, reporting errors without blame and discussing errors openly were the two initiatives that transactional leadership implemented better than TFL [ 40 , 48 ]. A significant finding in the literature was the reoccurring theme of weak patient safety culture in relation to “non-punctual reporting of adverse events” in hospitals with TFL, where staff nurses rarely reported occurring medical errors to their NMs [ 34 , 44 , 46 , 48 , 49 ]. In a Finnish study, one in four nurses showed to not have reported one or more medication errors using their units’ adverse event registration system [ 46 ]. Tekingündüz et al. (2021), in a cross-sectional study with 150 participating nurses, also found a significant weakness in their organization’s patient safety culture, where 52.7% of the nurses did not report any adverse events in the last 12 months, 31.3% reported 1–2 adverse events while 10% reported 3–5 adverse events [ 49 ]. Further, in a qualitative study, the eleven nurse manager participants expressed the importance of nursing staff reporting the occurrence of adverse events to detect why each event happened and identify patient safety risks and solutions [ 50 ]. There was evidence to suggest that nurses reported that the occurrence of errors only sometimes led to a positive change, whereas at other times, it did not lead to any change, and errors were repeated [ 38 ]. The literature explained blame culture and fear in the nurse’s work environment as a factor distancing them from punctuative reporting of medical errors [ 46 , 49 , 50 ]. It was suggested by researchers that nursing staff were not encouraged to report and discuss adverse events openly and blame-free [ 48 , 49 , 50 ]. This involves handling adverse reports by nursing managers without making nursing staff feel guilty.

Managers reported that a culture where it is recognized that everyone makes mistakes is imperial, while it was observed that nurses tended to report other colleagues’ mistakes compared to their own [ 50 ]. Further, nursing managers noticed that nursing staff may blame themselves for a patient safety incident where they feel ashamed and worry about their colleague’s perception of them [ 49 ]. These perceptions were confirmed by nursing staff in another study, expressing their tendency to avoid reporting due to fear of punishment, humiliation, damage to reputation, disciplinary action by a licensing board, malpractice lawsuits, and limited follow-up after reporting loss of job [ 48 ]. Tekingündüz et al. (2021) also found the defect in reporting medical errors to be rooted in nurse’s fear of punishment and lack of confidentiality [ 49 ]. Generally, fear was perceived as a major reason for not reporting adverse events, and nursing managers saw this as a barrier to the effectiveness of their leadership and the attempt to develop their operational models to improve patient safety [ 46 , 49 , 50 ]. However, visionary leadership styles such as TFL correlate positively with both incident reporting and patient safety outcomes. Additionally, TFL is linked to improved patient safety, including reduced mortality rates, fewer medication errors, lower incidences of pneumonia and urinary tract infections, and fewer patient falls, attributed to the leaders’ approach of using errors as chances to enhance processes and promoting the reporting of near misses and adverse events [ 17 , 51 ].

Interestingly, a part of the literature showed that when TFL and transactional leadership were compared, reporting errors without blame and discussing errors openly were the two initiatives that transactional leadership implemented better than TFL [ 40 , 48 ]. These findings confirm the weakness around reporting adverse events and blame culture within TFL units.

4. Discussion

This review has collectively reviewed literature that has examined the effectiveness of transformational leadership (TFL) in a nursing work environment and patients’ outcomes. TFL has a complex, interconnected effect on nurses’ intrinsic environment and patient outcomes.

Nurses’ Work Environment:

The literature revealed substantial evidence that TFL can significantly enhance nurses’ psychosocial work environment by indirectly increasing job satisfaction. Three significant mediators between TFL and job satisfaction were nurse empowerment, organizational commitment, and spiritual climate, which altogether were thought to prevent retention in nursing [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 37 ]. Simultaneously, TFL was not the primary factor in job satisfaction but instead a facilitator and constructor of structural empowerment, organizational commitment, and spiritual climate. It is, therefore, evident that the literature revealed a positive domino effect that transformational leaders in nursing can generate. Generally, the literature revealed a strongly positive relationship between TFL and workplace culture in nursing [ 33 , 37 ]. Specific TFL attributes created an inclusive and supportive work environment, either directly or indirectly enhancing the nurses’ work environment and decreasing the risk of nurse burnout [ 37 , 52 ]. Nurses continuously reported managers’ support as a particularly important resource in their work environment, where establishing a high-quality relationship with their leaders was seen as imperial for patient safety culture [ 38 , 42 ].

The correlation observed between supportive leadership and favorable patient safety outcomes underscores the significance of Transformational Leaders (TFLs) possessing a comprehensive grasp of patient safety protocols, as well as recognizing the pivotal role played by bedside nurses in advancing improved safety outcomes. [ 17 ]. More specifically, managers’ support was also found to reinforce innovative behavior [ 39 ], increase job satisfaction [ 35 , 37 ], and even be the primary factor in a positive work environment, compared to TFL [ 29 ]. Conversely, the literature also described managers’ support as a core transformational behavior, where the more transformational the leader was perceived, the more the staff nurses experienced individual support in their clinical environment [ 29 , 42 , 46 ]. As concluded by the literature, TFL is not the primary factor but rather a mediator to job satisfaction, which was determined as an essential nursing outcome, shadowing quality work environment and may be an effective retention strategy in nursing. Previous studies confirm that safety outcomes are improved when workplace empowerment takes place in a positive nurse–leader relationship based on trust and respect, where they, together, work toward a patient safety culture [ 53 ].

Therefore, incorporating transformational leadership in nursing has numerous implications, with a direct and positive impact on job satisfaction. By nurturing a sense of purpose, providing support and empowerment, and promoting individual growth, transformational leaders create a fulfilling work environment that motivates nurses to excel. As nurses experience greater job satisfaction, patient care quality also improves, resulting in cooperative success for healthcare organizations, nursing staff, and the patients they serve.

Patients’ Outcomes:

The connection between supportive leadership and positive patient safety outcomes points to the importance of the TFL’s understanding of patient safety processes and the role of bedside nurses in promoting better safety outcomes [ 38 ]. However, several researchers reported not having a visible leader [ 43 ], which is documented as essential for patient safety changes to occur [ 53 ].

Researchers are linking negative patient safety outcomes to a lack of effective leadership, while relational leadership styles like transformational leadership continue to be associated with reduced adverse patient outcomes [ 17 ]. However, TFL nursing managers were repeatedly reported by the staff nurses only to communicate errors and problems after the adverse event, waiting for the event before resolving problems and taking proactive action [ 36 , 50 ]. Literature highlights that organizations that have successfully created a non-blame culture have better patient safety outcomes because the staff are encouraged to report errors, unsafe practices, and adverse events, perceiving safety around seeking help and assistance without threat [ 54 ]. Therefore, avoiding a blame culture and developing a reporting system serves as a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating risks, ultimately preventing errors and recurring mistakes, which, when left unaddressed, can result in significant social and economic burdens due to fatalities and preventable incidents [ 51 ] Additionally, developing a safety culture through managers’ interdisciplinary walkabout safety rounds has been associated with safety outcomes [ 17 ].

Transformational leadership in nursing has far-reaching implications for patient outcomes and care quality. By fostering a collaborative and patient-centered approach, empowering nursing staff, encouraging continuous learning, and promoting a culture of excellence, transformational leaders enhance the overall care experience for patients. Ultimately, the positive impact of transformational leadership on patient outcomes establishes it as a key factor in ensuring the delivery of high-quality healthcare services in nursing settings.

This literature review enriches nursing practice and research in a time where nursing leaders are sought to have an important and prominent role in healthcare policy development and improvement. Increased demand and complexity of patient care require effective and competent leadership skills and an understanding of TFL’s function in the current healthcare environment. Even though literature has constructed the idea of the nexus between patient safety and leadership, patient safety outcomes are unlikely to improve without facilitating and fostering the professional growth of future leaders. Additionally, factors influencing organizational job satisfaction and organizational commitment are significantly under the influence of TF nurse leaders. Therefore, healthcare organizations and the educational sector should invest in leadership training and curriculum to implement it further into nursing to support and ensure safe, quality work environments for both nurses and patients.

5. Limitations of the Study

This literature review predominantly incorporated quantitative research methodologies, which, in certain instances, can present challenges in contextualizing a phenomenon comprehensively, as the data may not always possess the robustness required to elucidate intricate issues. Additionally, it should be noted that the review’s scope was confined to studies published exclusively in the English language, with no inclusion of relevant content from the grey literature beyond the stipulated publication sources, and unpublished dissertations were also omitted from consideration. Consequently, it is essential to acknowledge that this review may not provide a fully representative overview of all pertinent scholarship within the field.

6. Conclusions

Despite the global recognition and attempted implementation of TFL in healthcare, the statistics still show that TFL is yet to be mastered within nursing. The strong relationship between TFL, structural empowerment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment signify that an improved quality work environment may be the most essential element to enhance job effectiveness and patient safety in nursing. TFL is a vital facilitator that could help healthcare to improve job satisfaction and reduce adverse events. Evidence suggests that nursing managers who possess effective TFL attributes are likely to influence their nursing staff’s satisfaction and mitigate the risk of burnout by establishing a supportive and inclusive work environment directly or indirectly. Focusing on the adoption of a blame-free culture through effective leadership is likely to break down barriers to safety culture, which has resulted in poor patient care worldwide. Patient safety outcomes rely on a well-established patient safety culture, which is most influenced by the bedside nurse, either directly or indirectly. With effective leadership engagement and education, emerging nursing leaders can be supported while the nursing team can be empowered to make the necessary changes to reach levels of excellence within their units. It is important to comprehend that leaders are not just in executive and senior positions but include any part of the healthcare team that is influential to patient care. Effective TFL engagement has the potential to enhance patient safety, where it is conveyed that all healthcare workers, from executive to bedside nurses, participate in a positive safety culture.

PRISMA 2020 Checklist.

From: Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 2021;372:n71. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n71. For more information, visit: http://www.prisma-statement.org/ , access on 26 March 2023.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, search, coding, and drafting, L.M.K.Y. and M.N.; search and quality assurance, coding, and feedback, S.G., E.L., G.P. and C.S.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Data availability statement, public involvement statement.

No public involvement in any aspect of this research.

Guidelines and Standards Statement

This manuscript was drafted against the PRISMA 2020 Statement. A complete checklist is found in Appendix A of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

• Key Differences

Know the Differences & Comparisons

Difference Between Transactional and Transformational Leadership

On the other hand, Transformational Leadership is a type of leadership which becomes a reason for the transformation (change) in the subordinates. In this style, the leader works with the subordinates to ascertain the desired change in the organization.

Many people have trouble understanding the difference between transactional and transaformational leadership.

Content: Transactional Leadership Vs Transformational Leadership

Comparison chart, definition of transactional leadership.

A leadership style whereby the objectives and goals are predefined and the leader uses reward and punishment to motivate his followers is known as Transactional Leadership. It focuses on improving the current situation of the organisation by framing the steps and controlling the organisational activities. The basic purpose of this type of leadership is to revamp the existing corporate culture and to enhance current policies & procedures.

In 1947, the style was first proposed by Max Weber followed by Bernard Bass in the year 1981.

In this leadership style, the leader uses his authority and responsibility as his power as well as the style has a formal approach. Prize and penalties are the two primary tools employed by the leader to inspire his subordinates i.e. if an employee achieves the target within the stipulated time he is given initiative for his work, whereas if the task is not completed within the required time, then he will be penalised for the same.

Definition of Transformational Leadership

The style of leadership in which the leader uses his influencing power and enthusiasm to motivate his followers to work for the benefit of the organisation. Here, the leader seeks the requirement for a change in the existing organisation culture, gives a vision to his subordinates, incorporates mission and implement the change with the dedication of his followers.

In transformational leadership, the leader acts as a role model and as a motivator too who offers vision, excitement, encouragement, morale and satisfaction to the followers. The leader inspires his people to increase their abilities and capabilities, build up self-confidence and promotes innovation in the whole organisation.

James MacGregor Burns first proposed the concept of this leadership style in the year 1978. The main idea of this leadership style is that both the superior and subordinate work for lifting each other for improving their morale and motivation.

Key Differences Between Transactional and Transformational Leadership

The following are the major differences between transactional and transformational leadership:

• Transactional Leadership is a type of leadership whereby rewards and punishment are used as a basis for initiating the followers. Transformational Leadership is a leadership style in which the leader uses his charisma and enthusiasm to influence his followers.
• In transactional leadership leader, is lays stress on his relationship with followers. Conversely, in transformational leadership leader lays stress on the values, beliefs and needs of his followers.
• Transactional Leadership is reactive whereas Transformational Leadership is proactive.
• Transactional Leadership is best for a settled environment, but Transformation is good for the turbulent environment.
• Transactional Leadership works for improving the present conditions of the organisation. On the other hand, Transformational Leadership works for changing the present conditions of the organisation.
• Transactional Leadership is bureaucratic while Transformational Leadership is charismatic.
• In Transactional Leadership, there is only one leader in a group. In contrast to transformational leadership, in which there can be more than one leader in a group.
• Transactional Leadership is focussed towards planning and execution as compared to transformational leadership which promoted innovation.

According to some researchers, transactional leadership is best while some think that transformational leadership is better. So the debate is never ending, for the two leadership styles. In my opinion, there is no standard leadership style which is best suited to all the circumstances. So, an organisation should not rely on a single leadership style. It must employ the requisite leadership style as per its needs and prevalent conditions.

If you are searching for the best leadership style between transactional and transformational leadership, then you will end up saying that both are having its merits and demerits. It depends on the situation which leadership style will be most appropriate to it.

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lucas owuor says

March 1, 2018 at 1:58 pm

well defined…………….

September 10, 2018 at 8:51 pm

December 10, 2018 at 5:59 pm

Goutam says

December 25, 2018 at 5:46 pm

Best explanation

November 4, 2019 at 3:38 pm

Well defined.

September 11, 2020 at 3:57 pm

Ajay V says

August 5, 2021 at 11:59 pm

very well explained the difference between 2 leadership styles…Transactional and Transformational

Michael Lee Cerda says

September 21, 2021 at 4:10 pm

Thank you for the concise and straightforward breakdown of the two types.

Ermiyas says

November 17, 2021 at 1:45 pm

Best Explanation!

December 9, 2022 at 3:45 pm

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What is Transformational Leadership? (Examples + How-To)

You're on a quest to become a better leader, and you've stumbled upon a term that keeps popping up: transformational leadership. You're in the right place to find out what it means, why it matters, and how it could change your life and the lives of those you lead.

Transformational Leadership is a leadership style where the leader inspires and motivates team members to exceed expectations, fosters an environment of trust and respect, and ultimately drives positive organizational change.

Don't just skim the surface; let's get into the nitty-gritty of transformational leadership. We'll uncover its roots, its impact, organizational effectiveness, and even its criticisms.

What is Transformational Leadership?

Transformational Leadership is a term that gets tossed around a lot, especially when people talk about great leaders who've made a real difference. But what does it actually mean?

Imagine you're in a boat and everyone's rowing. But there's a catch: You're not getting anywhere because everyone's rowing in different directions. A great transformational leader steps in and not only aligns everyone to row in the same direction but also makes them want to row harder and faster.

In simpler terms, a good transformational leaders' leader isn't just a boss; they're more like a mentor or coach.

Transformational Leadership is when you, the leader, motivate and inspire your team to exceed usual expectations and performance levels. You achieve this through various ways: communicating a compelling vision, fostering creativity, and building strong, respectful relationships with team members.

Importantly, transformational organizational leadership is not about directing or controlling. It's about nurturing growth—in both individuals and organizations.

The History of Transformational Leadership

You now know what transformational leadership is, but where did it come from? The concept of transformational leadership isn't as new as you might think; it has roots that date back to the late 20th century.

The term was first introduced in a presidential address by sociologist James V. Downton in 1973. But the concept really gained traction when James MacGregor Burns penned his seminal book "Leadership" in 1978.

Burns drew a line between transactional leaders , those who operate on an exchange basis like "do this for me, and I'll give you that," and transformational leaders , who ignite the internal motivations of their team members to exceed expectations.

Burns argued that effective transformational leaders create a more ethical and empowering environment.

The 1980s brought more meat to the bones of transformational leadership theory. Researchers like Bernard M. Bass expanded upon Burns' ideas.

Bass introduced the concept of Charismatic Leadership , which is a component of transformational leadership. He said that transformational leaders often have strong sense of charisma, but charisma alone isn't enough. You also need to empower your team, listen to them, and encourage their personal growth.

By now, you're starting to see how this leadership style has evolved over time. Knowing its history gives you a richer understanding of why it's so impactful today.

And as you'll find out, transformational leadership is not just a theory but a practice that has been embraced across diverse settings—from businesses to politics and education.

The Four 'I's of Transformational Leadership

You're probably thinking, "Okay, transformational leadership sounds great, but what makes it tick?" Experts usually break it down into four key components, often referred to as the Four 'I's.

First up is Idealized Influence . This is all about being a role model. You set high standards for ethical behavior and show dedication. When your team sees you walking the walk, they're more likely to trust you and follow your lead.

Second is Inspirational Motivation . Imagine you're a coach giving a halftime speech. You're uplifting your team, filling them with energy and enthusiasm for the tasks ahead. You set exciting visions for the future and show how everyone plays a vital part in reaching that vision.

The third 'I' stands for Intellectual Stimulation . Here, you're not just giving orders; you're encouraging your team to think creatively and solve problems. Imagine a teacher who doesn't just want the correct answer but challenges students to explain how they got there.

Last but not least, is Individualized Consideration . This means you're tuned into each team member's needs and potential for growth. It's like a gardener knowing exactly how much water, sunlight, and nutrients each type of plant in the garden needs. You provide coaching, give feedback, and open doors for individual consideration and opportunities that will help them grow.

Together, these four components make the transformational leadership style what it is—a holistic approach to guiding a team to reach and exceed their potential.

Transformational Leadership vs Other Leadership Styles

By now, you're getting a pretty good grip on what transformational leadership entails. But how does it stack up against other leadership styles? After all, it's not the only game in town.

You might have heard of Authoritarian Leadership , where the leader calls all the shots and expects the team to follow without question. It's like a strict parent dictating every move their child makes.

Transformational leadership, in contrast, gives room for creative thinking and individual growth. Instead of telling you what to do, a transformational leader guides you in discovering the best course of action for yourself.

Then there's Laissez-Faire Leadership , a style of organizational structure where the leader takes a hands-off approach. Picture a laid-back supervisor who lets the team figure things out on their own.

While this approach can foster independence, it often lacks the motivational spark that transformational leadership provides.

Don't forget about Transactional Leadership , which we touched on earlier. This management style is more about give-and-take. It's like a business deal: "You complete this task, you get a reward."

While transactional leadership can be effective, it doesn't aim to transform or inspire on a deeper level.

Transformational leadership has its own unique flavor. It combines the best of different worlds: it's motivating but not controlling, structured but not rigid, and inspirational without being unrealistic.

Examples of Transformational Leaders

1) Nelson Mandela

First, let's talk about Nelson Mandela. He led South Africa out of apartheid and into a new era of racial equality and democracy.

Mandela didn't just give orders; he inspired a nation. His leadership wasn't about transactions; it was about transformative change.

He exemplifies Idealized Influence , one of the Four 'I's we talked about earlier, by being a moral compass for his followers.

2) Oprah Winfrey

Next up is Oprah Winfrey. She broke multiple barriers in her career, and her impact extends beyond television to education and philanthropy.

Oprah is a fantastic example of Inspirational Motivation . She has the unique ability to connect with people, inspiring them to take action and make positive changes in their lives.

3) Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, transformed the way we interact with technology. He pushed for innovative designs and user-friendly interfaces, changing our relationship with computers, smartphones, and tablets.

Jobs exemplifies Intellectual Stimulation by encouraging his team to think differently and challenge the status quo.

4) Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai stood up for girls' education in Pakistan, despite facing life-threatening dangers. Her courage and advocacy have inspired a global movement.

Malala represents Inspirational Motivation and Idealized Influence by standing up for what she believes in and motivating others to do the same.

5) Richard Branson

The founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, is known for his adventurous spirit and willingness to take risks. He has created a culture that fosters innovation and creativity across various industries, from music to air travel.

Branson illustrates Intellectual Stimulation by continually encouraging new ideas and approaches.

6) Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany for over a decade, was a stabilizing force in European politics. She managed multiple crises, from the financial downturn to the refugee situation, with a balanced and humane approach.

Merkel shows Individualized Consideration by focusing on long-term solutions that consider the well-being of all parties involved.

7) Tony Dungy

Tony Dungy, former NFL coach, transformed the Indianapolis Colts into a Super Bowl-winning team. More importantly, he did it while emphasizing the importance of character and moral integrity.

Dungy is a prime example of Idealized Influence because he led by example, setting a standard for both sportsmanship and leadership.

The Psychology Behind Transformational Leadership

You might be wondering, "What's the secret sauce that makes transformational leadership so effective?" Well, it's not just about actions; it's also about the psychological impact on the team.

Firstly, this leadership style taps into Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs . Remember Maslow? He's the guy who said we have a pyramid of needs , from basic survival up to self-actualization. Transformational leaders aim for the top. They're not just offering you a paycheck (survival); they're helping you fulfill your potential ( self-actualization ).

Second, there's the concept of Emotional Intelligence , or EQ. Transformational leaders usually score high in EQ. They're tuned into their own emotions and can read the room, sensing the team's mood and adjusting their approach accordingly.

Lastly, let's talk about Intrinsic Motivation . This means you're doing something because you genuinely want to, not because you're getting a reward or avoiding a penalty. Transformational leaders excel at firing up this kind of motivation. They inspire you to give your best not for external rewards and punishments, but because you're committed to the vision and the team.

So, the psychology of transformational leadership is a mix of meeting higher-level needs, emotional intelligence, and intrinsic motivation. It's a compelling blend that not only gets results but also fosters a positive, engaged, and loyal team.

How to Cultivate Transformational Leadership Skills

By now, you've got a solid understanding of what transformational leadership is and why it works so well. You've even seen it in action through real-world examples and psychological frameworks. But here's the kicker: you can develop these skills, too. Let's break it down step by step.

First on the list is Self-Awareness . Before you can lead others, you need to know yourself . Take some time to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses. There are tools like the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) that can help. Knowing where you stand enables you to be a more effective leader.

Second, work on Communication Skills . Effective communication is more than just talking; it's about listening, too. If you can clearly articulate your vision and also pay attention to what others are saying, you're on the right track.

Last but not least, cultivate Empathy . This means putting yourself in someone else's shoes and understanding their perspective. Empathy allows you to connect on a deeper level, making it easier to inspire and motivate your team. It turns out, being a good leader is also about being a good human.

So there you have it—three achievable steps to hone your transformational leadership skills. And guess what? As you develop these skills, you'll not only become a better leader but also a better teammate, friend, and overall person.

Applications of Transformational Leadership

You've read about how transformational leadership works and how to cultivate the skills it requires. But where does this leadership style really shine? Let's unpack its applications in various fields, showing you that it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal.

In the Business World , transformational leadership helps companies adapt and innovate. Whether it's a tech startup or a century-old manufacturing firm, this leadership style can invigorate a company's culture. Leaders inspire employees to be proactive, solve problems creatively, and feel a stronger commitment to their roles.

Workplace Scenario: Improving Productivity in a Sales Team

• Identify the Issue : The sales team is not meeting its targets.
• Open Dialogue : The manager arranges a meeting to understand the challenges faced by the team. This is a form of Individualized Consideration .
• Clear Vision : The manager outlines a new sales strategy, which focuses on relationship-building with clients rather than just meeting quotas. This falls under Inspirational Motivation .
• Skill Development : The manager organizes training sessions to improve customer communication skills, tapping into Intellectual Stimulation .
• Celebrate Wins : Small victories, like landing a big client or successfully implementing a new sales tactic, are celebrated, reinforcing Idealized Influence .

Now, imagine a Healthcare Setting . Medical professionals often face high stress and life-or-death situations. A transformational leader in this space focuses on team well-being, encourages continued education, and fosters an environment where everyone feels valued. This can lead to improved patient care and job satisfaction.

Hospital Scenario: Reducing Stress and Improving Patient Care

• Identify the Issue : The nursing staff is stressed due to high patient load, leading to decreased patient satisfaction.
• Foster Team Cohesion : The head nurse organizes team-building activities aimed at reducing stress and improving collaboration. This is an application of Idealized Influence .
• Streamline Processes : The head nurse introduces a new roster system that distributes workload more evenly, embodying Inspirational Motivation .
• Education and Upskilling : Workshops are arranged to train nurses in stress management techniques and advanced patient care methods, encouraging Intellectual Stimulation .
• Personal Attention : The head nurse holds regular one-on-one meetings with each nurse to discuss challenges and offer solutions, showcasing Individualized Consideration .

Let's not forget Education . Teachers and administrators can significantly benefit from applying transformational leadership principles. By inspiring both educators and students to strive for higher standards and increased performance, learning environments become more enriching and productive.

Classroom Scenario: Boosting Student Engagement in History Class

• Identify the Issue : Students find history boring and are disengaged during class.
• Vision and Inspiration : The teacher decides to tie historical events to current social issues, making it more relatable and exciting. This is an example of Inspirational Motivation .
• Involve the Students : The teacher includes students in the lesson planning, asking them to pick current events that interest them. This exemplifies Individualized Consideration .
• Empower and Educate : The teacher breaks the class into small groups and asks them to research and present their chosen topic, fostering critical thinking and teamwork.
• Feedback Loop : After the presentations, the teacher praises individual and group efforts and gives constructive feedback, reinforcing Idealized Influence and Intellectual Stimulation .

And it doesn't stop there; transformational leadership can be applied in Non-Profits , Community Organizations , and even in Home Settings . It's that versatile. You see, this transformational leadership characteristics and style is more than just a management tactic; it's a strategy for enhancing collective effort and well-being, regardless of the context.

So there you have it—a broad look at where transformational leadership can be effectively applied. No matter the field, the core principles hold true: inspire, engage, and bring out the best in everyone.

Criticisms of Transformational Leadership

Alright, we've talked a lot about the good stuff, but nothing is perfect, right? Transformational leadership also has its fair share of challenges and criticisms. It's crucial to be aware of these to get a well-rounded understanding.

First off, there's the Hero Syndrome . Sometimes, transformational leaders are put on such a high pedestal that they become viewed as irreplaceable . This can lead to problems like lack of accountability or an over-reliance on a single individual for the group's success. It's vital to remember that even great leaders have limitations.

Then there's the issue of Manipulation . Because transformational leaders are so good at inspiring people, they could potentially use their influence for personal gain rather than the collective good. This could lead to ethical dilemmas, where the line between motivation and manipulation gets blurry.

Finally, let's talk about Sustainability . Can a leader keep up the high levels of enthusiasm and vision indefinitely? Burnout is a real concern. Additionally, once a leader has successfully transformed an organization or team, what comes next? Continuous transformation isn't always feasible or desirable.

So yes, while transformational leadership has numerous benefits, it also comes with its set of challenges. But don't fret; understanding these potential pitfalls prepares you to navigate them effectively.

The Future of Transformational Leadership

So, where is transformational leadership headed? In a world that's changing faster than ever, this style of leadership seems more relevant than ever. Let's explore some future trends and how they might shape or be shaped by transformational leadership.

First, we've got the Digital Age . Technology is revolutionizing how we work and communicate. Transformational leaders will need to adapt by fostering digital literacy and creating an environment where innovation thrives. Embracing tech tools can facilitate better communication, real-time feedback, and more efficient ways to inspire a remote workforce.

Second, there's an increasing focus on Diversity and Inclusion . Future transformational leaders will need to be well-versed in managing diverse teams . It's no longer just about being a great leader; it's about understanding different cultural perspectives and working towards inclusive growth. These leaders can act as bridges, uniting varied talents to achieve common goals.

Lastly, we have the Gig Economy . More people are opting for freelance or part-time roles . Traditional leadership models may struggle in such a setup, but transformational leaders could excel. They're skilled at quickly building rapport and aligning even short-term team members with a larger vision.

The world is evolving, and so are the challenges and opportunities that leaders face. The transformational leadership style, with its adaptability and focus on genuine connection, seems well-suited to navigate these changes. Whether you're an aspiring leader or already in a leadership role, understanding this future landscape empowers you to stay ahead of the curve.

From the very origins of transformational leadership, tracing back to James MacGregor Burns, all the way to its practical applications and future relevance, you've journeyed through a comprehensive understanding of this leadership style. You've even seen it in action across different settings like classrooms, workplaces, and hospitals.

While transformational leadership isn't the only game in town, its focus on genuine relationships, inspiration, and growth makes it incredibly relevant for today's challenges. It's a style that adapts well to change, making it a strong fit for our ever-evolving world.

Now, you're not just familiar with transformational leadership; you have the tools to implement it. Whether you’re an aspiring leader or already steering the ship, the principles you've learned can help you become more effective, empathetic, and yes, more transformational leader.

Related posts:

• 45+ Transformational Leaders (Examples + Quiz)
• Skinner’s Box Experiment (Behaviorism Study)
• 121+ Strengths Examples for Job Interviews
• Kurt Lewin Biography - Contributions To Psychology
• Fallacy of Composition (27 Examples + Definition)

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