Human Resource Management: Leadership

HRM Course Name School Date Human Resource Management Leadership is observed as the art of motivating and inspiring individuals to behave or act on achieving certain set goals (Barker, 1997). In a business environment, the above explanation can mean directing people to a common purpose of achieving the business needs. Thus, effective leadership is based on the utilization of ideas, which might be original or borrowed. These ideas will however not function until they are communicated to the target group and this should be conducted in a manner that the target group will be engaged to act as the leading advocates. Leaders do help others and themselves to do things right. By setting direction, creating something new and developing an inspiring vision. According to Eisenhower (1991) leadership is the art of getting an individual to do something that the leader wants it done because the individual wants to do it. As human beings are not static and behave differently to the same nature of factors, different leadership skill and theories tend to perform differently. This paper is going to analyze whether transformational leaders are superior to the transactional leaders and look at why people resist change. Among the common leadership model in the world today, the transformational leadership model has gained popularity and in this generated great research and discussion (Jung, Chee, and Wu, 2003). One of the reasons it has received all this attention is because it represents a change in what is observed as effective leadership. The concept of transformational leadership is honoured to James MacGregor Burns a leadership expert. According to Burns (1993), this type of leadership is witnessed when followers and leaders make each other in a manner that they reach higher levels of motivation and moral. The transformational and transactional models are widely compared, but MacGregor distinguishes the two by explaining that a transformational leader will engage with his/her followers, will raise consciousness about the implication of precise outcomes, will focus on higher order intrinsic needs and will engage in new ways on achieving outcomes. Burns observes transactional leader as those who reward with tangible gifts for loyalty and service/work from the followers. Distinguishing characteristic of the transformational leadership and transactional include; transformational leadership tends to be proactive, change the organizational culture by utilizing new ideas, while in transactional leadership the model tends to be responsive and functions within the organizational culture. In transformational leadership setting the employees, the objective is achieved through a high level of moral values and ideas and the leader motivate the followers through encouraging them to put the interest of the group first (Bass, 1999). While in the transactional leadership the employee's objectives are achieved through punishments and rewards developed by the leader who motivates by appealing followers to their self-interest. Transformational leadership model does promote innovativeness and creative ideas while solving problems and it does direct each behavior to individuals (Gregory Stone, Russell, and Patterson, 2004). On the other hand, transactional leadership is mainly management by exception that maintains the status quo. However, there has been an argument that the transformational leadership model is superior to the transactional leadership. Research shows that in the long term the transformational leadership model tends to be more effective (Den, Van and Koopman, 1997). It is observed that a group led by transformational leaders tend to have high satisfaction as well as performance than the other employees led by other models. Reason believed to have factored most is that leaders in transformational setting believe that their followers are in their best and this makes the followers feel inspired and empowered. According to Howell, J.M, and Avolio (1993), transactional leadership works where the environment has procedures, standards, and rules that are essential in transactional leadership. The followers are not in a position to find new solutions or be creative. It is observed that leaders in the transactional model are more effective in situations where problems are clearly defined or simple. Although transactional leadership is effective, in some situations, it is generally not considered an effective model, and it does hamper both the followers and the leaders to achieve their full potential. Transformational leadership works in an environment where the leaders are in a position to inspire and stimulate followers and enable both achieve higher outcomes as they also develop leadership capacity. In the transformational leadership model, followers are developed into leaders by the leader focusing on the individual follower's need and investing in them through aligning the goals and objectives of a distinct follower, the team, the organization, and those of the leader. Having looked at both the leadership style it is now easy to see why the two are comparable and why transformational leadership is regarded as a better leadership strategy among the two. Earlier critics of transformational leadership implied that it only reflected good management. However looking at today's business world where it is fast paced and increasingly becoming complex, the leadership strategy fits. The business world today is increasingly demanding for individuals, organization, and groups that adapt to change, grow continually or change completely without losing focus. Leaders are today expected to listen to their followers and be very responsive to their needs. Followers have also continuously changed, and today they are more knowledgeable, enlightened, and informed and in most cases know how to get the job done than their leaders. They want to be motivated and empowered to help their leaders to get the goals achieved. William Edwards Deming is one of the best examples to refer to in the transformational leadership style (Dionne et al., 2004). They are known as the father of statistical quality control he spent most of his career life consulting for the United States government. He was of great help to the army during the WWII and later went to Japan to help in agriculture-related matters. His goal to make Japan a world industrial power in five years was achieved in four years. According to Deming, a bad system will beat a good person every time. Another key leader in this section is the popular Steve Jobs, known to be one of the iconic transformational leader to this generation, his simplicity; perfection and sophistication were the key drivers of the company. He always made sure that his passion is engraved to his followers at Apple. He was always challenging his followers to think beyond what he had already laid down at the company and in this respect; the company has continued to produce products never seen before in the world. Other notable names in this category may Include Barack Obama and Mahatma Gandhi. Transactional ...