Leadership assignment on applying transformational leadership to middle and high-level managers

Question

Task: Write a leadership assignmenton how managers try to be leaders of subordinates and at the same time followers of senior managers. Critically evaluate the topic and compare and contrast models about the topic.

Answer

Introduction
In every walk of life, there is a significant role which is to be played by the leaders. Leadership as per Daniëls, Hondeghem and Dochy(2019), refers to the ability of an individual to lead other individuals or groups. The leader has to show the right path, guide the followers, influence them and motivate them. The entire team follows the footsteps and instructions of the leader. As per research in the leadership assignment, it is not necessary for the leader to always give directions or instructions. The leader might also give the decision making power to the followers, through mutual group discussions. Supervision is a part of leadership. In this competitive world, the organisations and political parties which are running successfully owe their success to their effective and strong leaders. There are various approaches or styles of leadership. These include autocratic, democratic, transformational, laissez faire, etc. In this leadership assignmentliterature review, the focus will be on transformational leadership.

Application of Transformational Leadership in the leadership assignment
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership as per the leadership assignmentis a specific approach or style of leadership in which the leaders facilitate change in the social systems along with guiding the individuals. According to Busariet al(2019), the transformational leadership fosters creating positive and valuable change among the group of followers. These leaders enable their followers to achieve the end goal by encouraging them to take up leadership roles. In transformational leadership discussed in the leadership assignment, there are four core factors which impact the leadership approach. These factors are known as the 4 ‘I’s of transformational leadership. The factors comprise idealised influence, intellectual simulation, inspirational motivation and individual consideration. Each of these factors facilitate the managers to implement the transformational leadership approach to workplace settings (Klinkum, 2020).

(Source:Alqatawenah, 2018)

The transformational leadership style is quite relevant in today’s fast changing world. The transformational leader as opined by Bonsu and Twum-Danso(2018), encourages the followers, motivates and inspire them to innovate and bring about a positive change which would be beneficial for the organisation as well as the society as a whole. As per the leadership assignment, the success and future of the organisation is shaped by its leaders. The transformational leadership is characterised by commitment towards active listening, being open to newness and innovative ideas, trusting the team members, etc. The transformational leaders possess the talent for broadening perspectives. They are tolerant towards intelligent risks and are willing to take responsibilities. These leaders have the ability to inspire the followers so that they can be future leaders (Alqatawenah, 2018).

Advantages of Transformational Leadership
According to Asbari, Santoso and Prasetya (2020), there are several advantages of implementing the transformational style of leadership to a workplace. AS per the leadership assignment the leaders are able to establish strong relations with their seniors as well as followers. These transformational leaders are aware of the fact that for laying the foundation of a strong business, there is a need for establishing healthy and sturdy relationships. The transformational leadership approach fosters harmony and eliminates unhealthy relations from the organisation.According to the leadership assignment this reduces the conflicts across the organisation. Besides, the transformational leaders act as an ideal influence on the followers.

The ingredient of successful leadership is not authority but influence.

(Source: Jia et al, 2018)

The transformational leaders expect their followers to exhibit effective leadership behaviour (Jia et al, 2018). Furthermore, it is found in this leadership assignment that the transformational leaders facilitate bringing motivation and enthusiasm to the organisation. The transformational leaders have their own charisma with which they develop a vision on behalf of the organisation and makes the followers believe in it. With the enthusiasm at work, these leaders motivate their team members to bring in more energy to work and enhance the productivity. Transformational leadership facilitates effective communication. The other advantages of transformational leadership is that it encourages innovation, stimulates higher level of creativity and fosters learning. These leaders mentioned in the leadership assignmentboost the morale of the employees and aim at improving their satisfaction. The growth of the employees would become stagnant. However, the transformational leaders push their employees towards achieving higher goals. The employee engagement is also improved through transformational leadership. A very critical problem in organisations today is high employee turnover. Due to this, the organisations need the support of their leaders to retain the employees. When an organisation has effective leaders, the employees look up to them as role models and do not easily quit their jobs (Chen, Lee and Wang, 2020).

Limitations of Transformational Leadership
There are various limitations of transformational leadership mentioned in theleadership assignment. The basic problem of transformational leaders is that they lack the required focus at work. These leaders are so involved in the operations of the organisation that there is huge potential for burnout. The routines could be disrupted by the transformational leaders while trying to give freedom to their subordinates to act and decide. As per the leadership assignment the transformational leaders impose least monitoring measures over their employees. This could often lead to imbalance at work due to few checks. The power could also be misused by the team members as they enjoy more autonomy under transformational leaders (Valiga, 2019). The loss of significant details due to high involvement of the employees, favouritism by the leader and constant maintenance cost are few other limitations of transformational leadership. Applying Transformational Leadership to Middle and High-Level Managersin the leadership assignment The transformational leadership style can be applied and adopted by the middle and high level managers. The middle managers as stated by Birkenet al(2018), refer to the managers who are at the central position of an organisation. They hold a crucial place in the organisational hierarchy. These middle managers mentioned in theleadership assignmentare below the high level managers and are responsible for reporting to their senior management. They need to implement the strategies developed by their senior managers. The middle managers need to bridge the gap between the employees and senior managers, while exercising control over the former and following the instructions of the latter. The high level managers as per Abdiet al(2019), include the Chief Executive Officers (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Company President, Company Vice President, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and few others. They constitute the senior management of an organisation. Transformational leadership when applied by these leaders could prove to be effective because they can direct the efforts of the employees, shaping the success of the organisation. These top level managers can reap the benefits of transformational leadership. They can lead the employees by setting an example. As per the leadership assignment they can communicate effectively and resolve disputes easily. The high level managers need to be transformational leaders so that their organisation implements innovation and creativity. These leaders would value their team members and their efforts if they follow the transformational approach of leadership (Aldulaimi, 2018). The middle managers and the followers are given challenging tasks by their transformational high level members. They can also maintain the transparency at work.

Leader or Follower
As per the findings in the leadership assignment the middle managers or the departmental managers mainly have to play two roles in an organisation. These managers are in charge of specific departments and have certain individuals or groups working under their supervision. The managers are expected to guide them, lead them, motivate them and encourage them to perform better to benefit the organisation. In this leadership assignment, these middle managers need to give instructions, control their junior staff and get the work done (Alegbeleye and Kaufman, 2020). Thus, the transformational leadership approach can be implemented by these middle managers to foster better growth and success of the organisation. These managers have another role to play, where they act as followers instead of leaders. When these middle managers have to report to their senior management, they become followers. These middle managers as transformational leaders might have been successful in achieving their short term project goals or organisational goals set by the senior managers. However, when it comes to the senior management, the middle managers are followers as per theleadership assignment, who take instructions from their senior managers, follow their orders, work under their guidance, etc. The managers in this situation have to be efficient followers so that they can work by the orders of their senior management, without bringing in the arrogance of leadership in such situation. As per the leadership assignment this is a challenging role for the leaders. Being transformational leaders, it becomes easier to remain humble as leaders and effective as followers (Gächter and Renner, 2018).

Conclusion
It can be concluded in the leadership assignmentthat the transformational leaders can be assets for an organisation. They foster productivity and facilitate innovation and creativity. There are several benefits of applying the transformational style of leadership, like building better relationships, enabling better employee engagement, developing a clear vision for the organisation, etc. However, the leadership style is not free from limitations. The limitations as discussed include lack of adequate focus, allowing favouritism, misusing power, etc. The middle level transformational leaders bridge the gap between the employees or subordinates and the senior management. These transformational leaders however have a dual role to play. As per the facts mentioned in the leadership assignment they are leaders to the subordinates or employees while they are followers before the senior management. Therefore, they must know how to follow as well as to lead. The high level transformational leaders bring about a change in the organisation which fosters professional growth of the employees, facilitates the success of the organisation and also has a positive impact on the society at large.

References
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