Transformational Leadership

Leadership scholars recognize that the most successful leaders revitalize and transform their organizations. Accordingly, these leaders’ style is often referred to as “transformational leadership.” Transformational leadership is perceived as a leadership approach that effects change in individuals and in groups. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. In its authentic form, transformational leadership enhances the motivation, morale, and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the followers' sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance.

Required Reading

Carless, S. A., Wearing, A. J., & Mann, L. (2000). A short measure of transformational leadership. Journal of Business and Psychology, 14, 389-405.

This article can be found in the ABI/INFORM (Proquest) database.

Assignment

Read the article by Carless, Wearing, & Mann, L. (2000). Then after gaining a clear idea of the meaning of the seven behavioral manifestations of transformational leadership, determine your transformational leadership score following these rules:

1. Give yourself a score between 1 (rarely or never) and 5 (very frequently) on each of the seven dimensions.
2. Add up your scores and divide them by 7 to get your average score on the scale.
3. Ask someone who knows you well (preferably someone who works with you) to rate your leadership behavior on the scale and calculate the average score.
4. Compare the results obtained by yourself and your friend/peer.
5. What do you think about your scores on that scale? Are they high/low? What does it say about your leadership style?
6. Based on the results you obtained, what aspect of your leadership behavior do you think you should focus on to improve your leadership style? How might this translate into actual behaviors at the workplace? What might be the results of such an improvement?

It is vital that you get a second opinion about your leadership behavior from someone who knows you, preferably in the work context. If you cannot get a second opinion as part of this exercise, be sure that you provide a thorough explanation of why it's not possible. Just ignoring this part of the exercise will cost you part of a grade.

Your paper should be short (2-3 pages, not including the cover sheet, references, and assessment sheet) and to the point. You are expected to deal with these issues in an integrated fashion, rather than treating them as a series of individual questions to be answered one by one.

Keys to the Assignment

The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered in your paper include:

• Complete the assessment according to the guidelines and interpret the results.
• Include the actual instrument and results.
• Based on your results, explain how you could improve your leadership behaviors and under what conditions.
• Based on your results, explain how improving your leadership behaviors might translate into actual behaviors at the workplace? And what might be the results of such an improvement?

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the following five (5) criteria:

• Assignment-Driven Criteria (Precision and Breadth): Does the paper fully address all Keys to the Assignment? Are the concepts behind the Keys to the Assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements? 
• Critical Thinking (Critical Thinking and Depth): Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?
• Business Writing (Clarity and Organization): Is the paper well written (clear, developed logically, and well organized)? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included in all papers? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the Keys to the Assignment, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations? 
• Effective Use of Information (Information Literacy and References): Does the paper demonstrate that the student has read, understood and can apply the background materials for the module?  If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student’s use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used in paper provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper? 
• Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate understanding of APA Style of referencing, by inclusion of proper end references and in-text citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all end references been included within the body of the paper as in-text citations?