Week 9- Theories in Action- Transformational Leadership

During this week in my internship, I have been able to notice some instances where transformational leadership has occurred at Wells Fargo. As I have had the opportunity to meet and interact with many leaders during the internship, I have noticed who has exhibited the most transformational leadership. This theory of leadership was developed by James McGregor Burns. In this theory of leadership, a leader works with teams to identify needed change, inspiring them to achieve remarkable or unexpected results. It gives team members autonomy over specific jobs as well as authority to make decisions once they have been trained. 

This type of leadership directly describes the leadership that our hiring managers exhibited. During my time as an intern with Wells Fargo, I was able to meet and network with multiple hiring managers besides my own hiring manager. I had meetings with other interns and their hiring managers, and I noticed that each hiring manager exhibits many of the qualities seen in transformational leadership. The hiring managers want the best for their interns, so there were many instances where I noticed hiring managers inspire their interns in telling them that they are on paths to success and that if they work hard after college, they can be successful in their chosen career path.

Additionally, the idea of transformational leadership that gives team members autonomy over specific jobs directly relates to the hiring managers giving their interns autonomy over tasks and projects that they delegate to them. This trust in interns once they have been trained allows them to become more confident. Moreover, a hiring manager’s leadership is not based on transactional leadership, but rather is focused on raising the interns to higher levels of motivation, as stated in Burns’ definition of transformational leadership. This motivation brought to the interns was much needed for the nature of the internship. It was definitely difficult at times to stay completely engaged and connected with others, especially when interns are staring at their work computers all day and not having the opportunity to interact with anyone in person. This type of leadership was all the more beneficial due to the virtuality of this year’s program.