Welcome to another week of the Transformational Leadership Series.
Leadership is defined as, “influencing people—by providing purpose, direction, and motivation—while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization”.
Influence is derived by inspiring others not manipulating them. Followers can be inspired by leaders providing:
- PURPOSE: Giving followers a reason for being, an end, effect, or an aim which inspires, stimulates and empowers them in pursuing a particular enterprise or matter—good or bad
- DIRECTION: Showing followers how to fulfil purpose; instruction in what manner to proceed;
- MOTIVATION: Stimulating followers toward a particular end or goal; involves inner or social stimulus for an action; enabling them to follow the direction
Leadership also involves taking actual operating steps.
IMPROVING
Notice the word ‘improving’ in the definition above. Whiles inspiring followers, a transformational leader must make sure they improve whatever is entrusted to them: their human resource, time, equipment, facilities, training, and resources. A transformational leader leaves the aforementioned in a better state than s/he found it.
Noah Webster defines to improve as follows: To make better; to advance in value or good qualities. To grow better or wiser; to advance in goodness, knowledge, wisdom or other excellence. To improve also means to cultivate or tend something so it gets better.
Transformational leaders cultivate people, organizations and resources in such a way that they improve these things. Should they leave, they leave things in a better state than they met them. They live to build and not tear down. They edify and do not destroy—unless the tearing down of a thing will lead to improvement.
Leadership is not transformational if it does not improve the lot of followers, organizations and society. Exploitative leadership is not transformational, but rather derogative/counter-productive. Leadership that improves is transformational.
