A Practical Guide to Transformational Leadership
Have you ever asked yourself what your leadership team does all day long? Apart from strategic and tactical decisions, this article will describe the 4I’s framework and provide some practical examples of what transformational leaders do in their day-to-day activities.
One of the easiest ways to define transformational leadership is to compare it to what it isn’t — transactional leadership, another leadership approach where followers are rewarded for following the direction and orders of the leader, focused more on completing a task on-time and being rewarded for this, rather than relationships. Transformational leadership, on the other hand, aims at developing positive change in subordinates and their development as future leaders, focusing on intrinsic motivational factors — respect, trust, creativity, responsibility, autonomy, etc.
Leadership, according to the transformational approach, begins with what actually motivates the follower. Motivation factors can either be extrinsic or intrinsic. An extrinsic motivational factor refers to rewards and reinforcements, such as higher salaries, working conditions, bonuses or perks. While nearly everyone can relate to wanting to better improve these extrinsic benefits, there are other factors, called intrinsic motivational factors, which also motivate us. Think of interest and enthusiasm in…
