I really thought it was interesting how Burns stated that leadership should include the leaders encouraging their followers to act towards a common goal. I think this is a very important aspect to leadership because in order for followers to have respect for or listen to a leader, that leader needs to have control over the group and fight for their needs and values. This is also why I think transforming leadership is a much more effective way to lead compared to transactional because Burns mentions how transactional doesn’t bind the leader and follower in the same way that transforming does; in order to have a mission met or a common goal achieved, there needs to be a sense of community or fellowship among the leader and followers.
Although I believe transformational is ideal, I think that leaders need to use transactional leadership as well in order to receive resources to accomplish goals and it’s hard to be a transformational leader, due to the training, education, and development required to become transformational that Bass details. I also thought it was intriguing that he said that the hardest part to teach was the willingness to be transformational rather than the ability, which makes sense because it seems difficult/strenuous to be a transformational leader.
On another note, I thought it was pretty cool that it stated that women are usually more transformational leaders than men. I believe like this is right because women tend to be more aware of others’ feelings when making decisions, while men tend to be more decisive and therefore more able to just exchange or do the deal, not saying that men can’t be transformational though.
Be First to Comment