THE midterm elections have just been concluded.
Will we have the same traditional politics ruling our country or can we finally see a breakthrough?
Reality is, nothing changes until transformation happens to the very core of each member of the society. And we need transformational leaders to do that. We need to bring them out in our families, businesses, and organizations, and nurture them in the hope that someday we can see its same transformative powers in a nationwide or global scale.
Transformational leadership breaks through traditional barriers as it empowers, inspires, and nurtures followers into reaching higher levels of performance not only at work or in service, but also in terms of moral standards. It’s found to be most effective in complex groups and organizations as it cares about personal needs and development and serves as a guide through uncertain environments. It brings collaborative growth founded on human connection that creates a positive change at the very heart of the community.
Coined by the leading scholar and author in the fields of leadership studies and organizational behavior, Bernard Morris Bass, Transformational Leadership encompasses the following aspects:
* Emphasizing intrinsic motivation and positive development of followers
* Raising awareness of moral standards
* Highlighting important priorities
* Fostering higher moral maturity in followers
* Creating an ethical climate (share values, high ethical standards)
* Encouraging followers to look beyond self-interests to the common good
* Promoting cooperation and harmony
* Using authentic, consistent means
* Using persuasive appeals based on reason
* Providing individual coaching and mentoring for followers
* Appealing to the ideals of followers
* Allowing freedom of choice for followers
He went on to establish the 4 components to transformational leadership, sometimes referred to as the 4 I's:
Idealized Influence (II) - the leader serves as an ideal role model for followers; the leader "walks the talk," and is admired for this. A transformational leader embodies the qualities that he/she wants in his/her team. In this case, the followers see the leader as a model to emulate. For the followers, it is easy to believe and trust in a transformational leader.
Inspirational Motivation (IM) - Transformational leaders have the ability to inspire and motivate followers through having a vision and presenting that vision. Combined, these first two I's are what constitute the transformational leader's charisma. A transformational leader manages to inspire the followers easily with clarity. The transformational leader convinces the followers with simple and easy-to-understand words as well as with their own image.
Individualized Consideration (IC) - Transformational leaders demonstrate genuine concern for the needs and feelings of followers and help them self-actualize. This personal attention to each follower assists in developing trust among the organization's members and their authority figure(s). For example, the transformational leader can point out the problems of a member working in a group. From this perspective, the leader can work towards training and developing a follower who is having difficulties in a job. This is an important element because teams are able to rely on and work together so decisions can be made more quickly, the transformational leader increases their buy-in.
Intellectual Stimulation (IS) - the leader challenges followers to be innovative and creative, they encourage their followers to challenge the status quo. A common misunderstanding is that transformational leaders are "soft," but the truth is that they constantly challenge followers to higher levels of performance.
Time is running out and resources are getting scarce. Basic services continue to be a dream for most Filipinos. We need leaders to step up, go beyond promises, and start implementing all those policies that have actually been placed a long time ago.
More than anything, we need to see our elected officials rise up to the challenge of finally embracing a transformative kind of leadership more than any personal, political, or business agenda.