Transactional and Transforming Leadership 

Transactional and Transforming Leadership 

Susan Nevin 

In the article, “Transactional and Transforming Leadership,” by James MacGregor Burns, he discusses what the definition of leadership is. Burns claims that leadership is “leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent…both leaders and followers.” I would agree with Burns in that being a leader is not only having this power over your audience, but rather the motivation to get them to make a stand for a certain topic. The strongest movements usually have an inspiring leader or figurehead that brought them together is some way. Burns then discussed two types of leadership, transformational leadership and transactional leadership. He explained that transformational leadership raises the motivation of his audience, while transactional leadership is more doing something for the exchange of valued things. I would agree that these are accurate, but I would argue that transformational leadership has a bigger and longer lasting impact on society. 

In the next article, Bass mentions Burn’s work on the topic, but claims that our current society calls for more transformational leaders, as we live in a time where we leaders need to empower their followers. This is because transformation leaders inspire motivation and confidence, and don’t just have one end goal in mind, but are looking for improvement as a whole. Altogether, transformational leadership is the most important kind, as change is the first and most necessary thing needed.