Excellent leadership and its effects.
In the traditional leadership culture, also known as transactional leadership, managers motivate their employees mainly by agreeing targets, assigning tasks and delegating responsibility to them. At the same time, they monitor their employees’ performance, reward them through material and immaterial compensation, and sanction undesired behaviours with criticism. Such a working relationship is characterised by a rational exchange (transaction) of services for compensation.
By contrast, the modern transformational leadership style describes a broadened and enhanced concept of transactional leadership. Transformational managers develop (transform) their employees both on a technical as well as personal level. They are perceived as socially competent role models and highlight the purpose and importance of common goals and ideals. In other words, transformational managers know how to create enthusiasm and optimism, and thus how to foster followership.
In order to truly live such transformational leadership, managers need to change their attitude. But they also need to develop a broader range of leadership styles they use actively and appropriately whilst taking into account the individual situation, people involved, context and resources available.
Furthermore, companies that are thinking and acting in terms of classic structures and perspectives are now facing a momentous challenge. They have to be able to respond with even greater agility and flexibility to the rapidly increasing levels of complexity of today’s world (of work). Despite existing examples of best practice, generally it is up to each organisation to find its very own way. And this process usually is accompanied by a serious agony of change. In this regard, excellent leadership, which means a combination of transactional and in particular transformational leadership, serves as a type of preventive therapeutic strategy which can help companies find gentle pathways into the agile world of work. Excellent leadership boosts the organisational immune system which is able to respond independently to new challenges and master them.
