The World Needs These Types of Leaders!
By Amanda Da Silva, B.Hkin, B.Ed, and M.Ed
5-minute read
Most managers tend to believe that when their employees start considering quitting their job, it’s due to a salary issue, a lack of excitement in their current position, or a bad fit with company culture.
While these reasons make perfect sense, employees and their managers don’t exactly see the world from the same perspective.
In fact, 75% of employees quit their job because of a bad boss. Management theory tells us that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers. Now given how much employees depend on their bosses, it isn’t surprising that the actions or inactions of these leaders affect job satisfaction, and by extension, the decision of their team members to stay or leave.
Managers are the main key point that drives engagement and retention. They influence the entire work experience of their employees since they determine the projects these work on as well as the people they work with. They’re also the designated person to resort to when a problem arises in the workplace.
Therefore, now more than ever, the world needs leaders who can take the initiative, convey a clear vision of the company or team’s goals, inspire others with both their passion to excel and their actions to drive positive change, but most importantly, make their employees feel energized and motivated to adopt the company’s core mission as their own.
This kind of person is what we call a transformational leader.
What is Transformational Leadership and Why Do We Need It?
Transformational leadership is a concept initially introduced by American historian and leadership expert James MacGregor Burns.
According to James, a transformational leader has the ability to inspire and empower employees to embrace a collective organizational vision. They encourage innovation, creativity, intellectualism, risk-taking, personal development, and lifelong learning. A transformational leader is a role model that uses motivation, positive encouragement, and magnetic influence to develop both their team members and their organization.
While there are more traditional leadership styles, namely Kurt Lewin’s autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, and laissez-faire leadership, they are too overly simplistic for the nuanced business landscape in this modern day and age. The framework he proposes is rooted in behavioral psychology, which is more centered around personality archetypes than leadership styles.
As a leader, you cannot afford to stick to one philosophy no matter the circumstances because good leadership is about critical thinking, understanding and analysis, judgment calls, and most importantly compromise.
The Authoritarian, Autocratic Leader
Makes all the decisions. While they’re able to improve productivity, their intransigence is detrimental to long-term employee engagement, motivation, and retention.
The Democratic, Participative Leader
On the other hand, always involves the whole team in decision-making. While they’re able to boost engagement and promote creativity, this type of behavior can be too time-consuming and unsustainable in the long run.
The Delegating, "Laissez Faire" Leader
Lets the team members make all the decisions. This hand-off leadership only works in self-motivated teams, and even then, it still comes at a cost -a decline in productivity.
So, what can you do to become a transformational leader?
By focusing on the needs of your employees, being an inspirational role model, instilling optimism, and motivating others to buy into a shared purpose.
You can also adopt a transformational leadership style by creating an inspiring organizational vision, displaying a sincere commitment to that vision, and clearly communicating expectations. Moreover, you should strive to establish a welcoming and supportive environment that is focused on your employees’ growth, preferably one that relies on coaching and mentoring to empower employees and help them realize their full potential.
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Hi! I’m Amanda Da Silva.
I’m a mother of two boys, a wife, daughter, teacher, entrepreneur, former CEO, and life-long learner. I’m all about personal growth, community 💕, and being of service. (Find out more about me here.) In addition to being passionate about personal development, I’m an educator and coach with 20-years experience teaching and leading in the BC school system. I have a B.Hkin, B.Ed, and M.Ed, specializing in leadership and administration. Creating community and leading thriving teams are two of my favourite things to do. I also love helping people live empowered and growth-oriented lives.
I hope you’ll join me as we build our success together! 🙌
