How can you distinguish transactional from transformational leadership?

Transactional leadership is like playing tennis with a wall - you get out what you put in. Smart leaders using this style focus their time and energy on designing and improving the processes and incentives in this system. They think of themselves as engineers working with their teams to perfect processes so their jobs get faster, cheaper, better. Shortsighted leaders using this style are task managers. They view themselves as supervisors making sure people are following instructions. Which one would you rather work for?

There is nothing that should be “transactional” about (real) “leadership”, so I will reframe this to be “transactional management”. There is a time and place for transactional management - where both management and team members have a clear mutual understanding that “the work” is simply that: an exchange of money for services performed and nothing more. Transactional management is perfectly fine as long as neither side expects transformational (“family-like”) engagement or loyalty in return.

It might be easy to dismiss transactional leadership as something from another, less evolved era, but as many workers choose to put their jobs in a smaller and more defined place in their life and identity, transactional leadership can be an effective approach. Work is, after all, a transaction of labor for money for most people, not a calling or a life mission. Leaders should never disrespect, micromanage, or punish their people; those words have no place in leadership. But to clearly articulate expectations and align incentives accordingly is a completely reasonable approach to leading many roles and many individuals.

Rewards and punishment are things of the past. Processes, Communication, and collaboration are the keys to any true leadership. Lead with love, education, inspiration and the removal of instutional barriers are the keys to any success!

When the task are simple, routine & well defined maybe there is no need for a "leader" (to set the goals). What is the value that you as a "leader" bring to the Team. Are you just the messenger from the management or the control mechanism. Probably depends on the industry but I would say this form is outdated.

Leadership, and especially “transformational leadership”, is all about PEOPLE. It’s about learning (with humility) each individual’s story, motivation, fears, hopes and dreams, and formulating (and keep refining) a special elixir of empowerment - highly personalized for that individual - to help them envision the best future for themselves, and to connect the dots between the tasks at hand and that bright future. When you have transformational leadership, each individual is enabled and empowered to reach their own definition of full potential.

This approach is not only beneficial to the leader, for he or she sees over the time the grow impact of the employee that is mentored/coached, it also beneficial to the culture of the team. Due to the inspiration obtained, it then opens up the potential to build and advance peer coaching, sharing and encouraging others on the team. Arise a sense of purpose in the employee to want to advance and expand his or her responsibilities. Eventually, the employee can then become a well rounded leader. As a result build a better culture.

For me the best way to manage a team but what if the manager does not have this personality but has the title of TL ? On paper everything makes sense but takes a lot of confidence & experience to be transformational leader.

I personally have found it to be beneficial to apply both styles. It depends upon the people you have working for you. Some employees need transactional for some time to develop and some need transformational. Personally my goal is to work with the employee enough to build them up to only needing transformational leadership.

Whether to use transactional management or transformational leadership is highly dependent on the situation and the individual. If the task is simple and repetitive - transactional; nuanced and complex - transformational. If the individual is a 9-5er, transactional; if the individual is intrinsically interested in learning and growing - transformational. What’s most important is having a clear mutual understanding/contract of how both parties would like to conduct the work and relationship.

To excel as a transformational leader, you must put your ego aside. The real value and power comes from everyone's collective knowledge, skills, and talents, the team becoming more than the sum of its parts. At their best, transformational leaders coach, support, and champion their teams. They aren't the stars; they're on the sidelines and in the locker room.

There is a place in business for both transformational and transactional approaches. I believe Servant Leadership, emphasizing team well-being, effectively combines the shared goal orientation of transformational leadership with the task-focused efficiency of transactional leadership. The Servant approach enables leaders to achieve tasks, inspire teams toward common objectives, and meet individual needs, creating a well-rounded leadership style that bolsters collective success.

It is really a dance of both leadership styles. You must use transactional while giving direction and enforcing policies & procedures; the basics of projects that must be completed. But the use of transformational is imperative to learn your employees and stay personal with your people while helping them grow. Your employees must have a voice and feel heard in order to stay around or you will lose your team.

Transformational leaders develop personal accountability. They find ways to continuously improve, reach goals, and if they miss, they do not blame others. Taking the time to understand your strengths and weaknesses, analyzing and setting yourself up to learn and grow is how to develop those transformational skills. Seeing the potential in others and helping them to develop and grow is how you translate those transformational skills to your team or mentees. Enabling someone to develop, possibly to the point where they may be your new superior, is the best way to exercise those skills and build a better team and future for your company!

Transformational managers show they care. That could be in the form of preparing study questions and giving time to study. It could be in acknowledging (to yourself) the personality of your team members and putting tasks to the members that are within the boundaries of their personalities. Always stretching, reaching for the company goal. And always, acknowledging that each team member plays a part in its achievement. A donut isn't everyone's friend. Everyone is different. To be happy at work, some people just lay low and try not to get the attention of others. Some with bounce on their toes with anticipation of new orders. Guide them all. Don't assume that your team work without you. Coach them that they can do it on their own.

Transactional leadership is task oriented and Transformational leadership is a balance of task and people orientation. In the Blake Leadership Grid, it is the (9,9) - high on task orientation as well as high on people orientation. Example : During crisis situations, leaders have to get the things done. Pure transactional leaders do it by hook or crook. Transformational leaders do it by taking everyone along with them and by explaning the situation and motivating people to do it. Team members work with fear of authority with transacational leaders. Team members work with genuine interest and motivation with the transformational leaders. Transformational leaders use "Empathetic conversations". This is the KEY differentiator!

In my opinion leaders need to have skills of transactional and transformational. Sine approach may bring results, but i think a hybrid approach is the best and need of the hour.