Integral Leadership Model Perspective: Application of Transformational & Adaptive Leadership style in Organization.

Integral Leadership Model Perspective: Application of Transformational & Adaptive Leadership style in Organization.

The words of Marie Curie,?“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals.” apply to 21st-century organizational leadership. An individual who desires to lead effectively in any organization in our current global market must develop the associates as leaders in their roles, be it individual, team, or organizational. Adopting this mindset encourages integral leadership, which is a mechanism of working with associates, teams, systems, and organizations to create thriving leadership at all levels of the organization (Northouse, 2022).??

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

According to Northouse (2022), leadership is a process whereby an individual impacts a group of individuals to achieve a shared vision. Densten & Gray (2001) defined leadership as an influence relationship among leaders and followers engaged in fundamental changes that reflect shared purposes. Scholars have defined leadership through the ages based on factors such as control, influence, traits, behavior, relationship, competency, skills, group dynamics, and power-sharing (Wren & Bedeian, 2020). Leadership entails influencing the followers based on the ability to communicate effectively with the group the central goal of the group or organization to the followers. Leadership exists within the group; followers earn, give, or accept it based on the leader’s ability to establish a shared vision (DeRue,2011; Dess & Picken, 2000; Wren & Bedeian, 2020). Finally, (Hogan & Kaiser, 2005) concluded in their study that leadership is mainly concerned with building and maintaining effective teams: persuading members to relinquish selfish pursuits and pursue the team's shared goals.

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE LEADER?

?Leadership and management literature are filled with several factors suggested ensuring effective leadership. According to Fabac et al. (2022) and Northouse (2022), effective leadership can be viewed through the lens of competencies exhibited by leaders. Such competencies include problem-solving, social judgment, emotional intelligence, etc. To lead effectively, the leader should recognize that leadership resides within the group, and each member gives and takes feedback at some point in the continuum of the leadership process (Northouse, 2022). Other skills highlighted by empirical works include excellent listening skills, the ability to communicate with clarity, developing a compelling vision and sharing with associates, stewardship, delegating authority, challenging the associates to be creative, agility, and integrity that can lead to effective leadership (Dugan, 2017). The leader must learn to listen, receive member feedback, and have cognitive adaptability (Reinsch & Gardner, 2011; Vroom & Jago, 2007).?

Effective leaders think and act like change agents by creating an environment enabling members' performance. This implies connecting with the staff and teams, challenging them to be creative and participatory through the organization's processes of change and evolution. The leader must understand how to design mechanisms to capture the progress of change, utilize available data to assess milestones or specific achievements, and celebrate the wins with the staff and teams to inspire and persuade them to continue accomplishing the overall goals and vision (Penava & Sehic, 2014).?

Transformational Leadership?

????????????Transformational leadership has been researched widely and is suggested as one of the most effective leadership styles, especially within the Full Range Leadership Model (Lassez-Faire, Transactional, and Transformational), which can be used in leading contemporary organizations. The transformational leadership theory addresses the idea that the leader involves the followers based on a shared purpose with mutual complement in raising the other to a higher state of motivation and morality (Nelson & Squires, 2017). Transformational leadership requires a leader who can inspire associates and the organization to understand the vision, expected outcomes, and benefits to the staff and teams. The leader combines the skills of motiving followers, enthusiasm, and commitment to the firm's business direction and communicating the desired future state to everyone (Nadler & Tushman, 1990).?Transformational leadership shows the influence of human synergy between leaders and followers. According to Bratton (2020), transformational leadership theory proposes that leaders can create a culture that will make informal learning possible and motivate associates to perform at levels (individual, team, and organizational) that surpass expectations. Transformational leadership is described as a process in which the leaders and members lift each other on a high level of morality and motivation (Duger, 2022).

Consequently, they are motivated to do more than expected (Dugan, 2017; Duger, 2022). A transformational leader treats the staff as individuals, provides them with opportunities, and serves as a coach and mentor to improve their competencies. This condition increases the exchange and bond between the leader and the staff (Duger, 2021). Dugan (2017) highlighted four essential transformational factors associated with leadership. These factors or principles are the four I’s, including idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. The four factors “or 4 I’s” of transformational leadership (TL) are considered the essential behavior of the TL. According to Duger (2021) and Elkordy (2022), idealized influence is the leader’s behavior within ethics and principles. It reflects the leaders’ ability to establish respect and trust in the staff and inspire them to act ethically. The leader is a role model to the followers and shares ethical values within the team or organization. Followers are influenced by the leader's commitment to organizational gains and acting consistently with integrity and emotional attachment to followers to meet organizational goals without compromise (Dugan, 2017). Another factor is inspirational motivation, which is the ability of the leader to inspire members to perform beyond expectations. The leaders inspire, push, and encourage associates to new heights by giving meaning and challenge to accomplish set goals. The transformational leader communicates vision and creates enthusiasm and optimism, enabling the followers to develop a shared vision for the team. It involves the leaders’ ability to motivate the staff through a strong sense of aspiration, vision, and value (Bratton, 2020; Sokhela & Murhula, 2022; Thanh & Quang, 2022).

????????????The third factor is intellectual consideration. The leader engages the followers in showing bias-for-action, challenging or questioning assumptions, and getting creative and innovative in the organization's processes. With this principle, the leader creates psychological safety for the staff, thus enabling them to try new methods instead of the status quo. Associates are encouraged to gain the skills needed to solve problems. Finally, the last factor is individualized consideration. This principle involves a leader's skill of increasing the motivation and satisfaction of the followers by giving specific attention to their needs. The leader identifies with members and shows sincere concern for their needs. In the individualized consideration principle, the leader adopts mentoring, coaching, and personal developmental approaches according to the members' unique needs (Bratton, 2020; Dugan, 2017; Northouse, 2022).

Adaptive Leadership?

????????????Due to increased changes in technologies, automation, globalization, government regulations, and the digitalization of processes, a leader must be flexible and responsive to developments or issues facing the organization today. Dess & Pickens (2000) commented that for organizations to compete in the information age, leaders must adapt to relying on skills, knowledge, and team’s experience. Adapting to ambiguous situations and delivering services or value products to customers is essential in our current business environment. Adaptive leadership enables leaders to adjust to another leadership style, such as transformational, situational, or leader-member-exchange (LMX), whenever an obstacle to implementing the program or project is encountered. An adaptive leader is prompt to use the organization’s strategic vision to inspire the staff and motivate them to stay on course, empower the staff, access information or knowledge and share with relevant stakeholders, and drive the opportunity to change the status quo (Dess & Pickens, 2000; Nadler & Tushman, 1990). According to DeRue (2011), adaptive leadership (AL) is based on the theory of dealing with a socially complex and adaptive process. An adaptive leader exhibits the ability to adjust to challenges the team encounters during a project or program implementation. Agility is an essential competency an adaptive leader exhibits when facing challenges in executing the company’s vision. (Nelson & Squires, 2017; Yukl & Mahsud, 2010).

Conclusion.

21st-century organizations face several challenging factors, both internal and external. Harnessing the firm’s resources to drive organizational capabilities, dealing with continuous changes in the global market, and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage over rivalries requires a leader with a vision, who is people-oriented, inspiring, emotional intelligence, and cognitive adaptability (Bass, 1990). The leader must be able to communicate with followers, provide a supportive climate and exhibit high skills in active listening, delegating responsibilities, and providing learning opportunities to enhance the growth and development of the associates. The writer suggests that modeling the transformational and adaptive leadership styles in our contemporary organizations will lead to an integral leadership model, which involves developing capacity at individuals, teams, and organizational levels in the leadership process (Denstein & Gray, 2020; Northouse, 2022; Penava & Sehic, 2014).

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