Leadership: Transformational versus Transactional- Choose your trademark

One of the most important decisions individual must make as a leader is whether it will be transactional or transformational. ?

Transformational leadership is akin to charismatic or visionary leadership. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate followers in ways that go beyond exchanges and rewards. Transformational leadership operates especially well in close supervisory relationships, compared with more distant relationships. Transformational leadership is thought to increase the follower’s intrinsic motivation through the expression of the value and importance of the leader’s goals.

In contrast, transactional leadership is based more on “exchanges” between the leader and follower, in which followers are rewarded for meeting specific goals or performance criteria. Rewards and positive reinforcement are provided or mediated by the leader. Thus transactional leadership is more practical in nature because of its emphasis on meeting specific targets or objectives.

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Transactional leaders/coaches their teams as bunch of numbers who are meant to help them succeed and win. They focus on how everyone can help them find success and improve their coaching careers in order to rise up the ladder. Their teams exist to serve their career growth and pump up their egos.

Transformational coaches/leaders, on the other hand, see their role as a transformer of lives who helps each team member become the best version of him or herself. Transformational leaders believe their job is to serve their team members in order to help them grow in skill and character. Transformational leaders still want to WIN, but they know their foremost job is to develop people, serve their teams, and transform lives. Ironically, when ironically transformational leaders on these things, they often end up WINNING A LOT. Transactional coaches may win the SHORT RUN, but their approach is not sustainable. Transformational leaders invest in the root and, over time, it produces a lot of fruit.

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According to some researchers, transactional leadership is best while some think that transformational leadership is better. So the debate is?never ending, for the two leadership styles. There is no standard leadership style which is best suited to all the circumstances. So, an organization should not rely on a single leadership style. It must employ the essential leadership style as per its needs and prevalent conditions.

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?Ref- Psychiatr Serv. 2006 Aug; 57(8): 1162–1169, Mike Smith: You Win in the Locker Room First