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Components of Transformational Leadership

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Components of Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership plays an essential role in bringing changes within

organizations. Change is always uncomfortable for employees, but leadership can help foster

effective transformations. In transitional leadership, leaders encourage employees, promote

innovation, foster teamwork and help increase employee satisfaction. When organizations are

going through change, leaders must motivate each other and help each other take responsibility

for their actions. Such a gesture ensures that there is a positive change in the workplace while

raising employees’ expectations. There are four key components of transformational leadership:

1. Idealized Influence

This is a form of leadership where leaders must act in a way that subordinates can emulate.

Under this component, leaders must behave like role models for their juniors to impact ethical

values, employee performance, and organizational performance. A leader’s idealized influence

on his juniors can positively impact how employees perform, consequently affecting

organizational performance. In various areas, idealized influence leaders must consistently

impact the employees and the organization. This may include gestures such as showing concern

for people, supporting colleagues and acting as role models for the organization.

The impact of CEOs’ industrial motivation and idealized influence on the performance of top

managers in Kenya’s private sector was investigated through a study. The study used a

descriptive correlational and positivist research philosophy research design to assess the findings.

Means and standard deviation were used to assess the responses of the 183 CEOs in the private

sector, which made up the sample size. According to study findings, CEOs’ idealized influence

highly impacted senior managers’ production, ultimately boosting organizational performance.

When employees have a leader they can emulate, they tend to follow his directives and copy his
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behaviors (Nyokabi et al., 2017). It changes how they identify, approach, interpret, and solve

organizational problems.

Idealized influence proves that senior managers give their best when the CEO adopts a

transformational leadership style. They help articulate the company’s goals and objectives while

promoting clarity on organizational performance. There is a positive direct relationship between

idealized influence, CEO performance, senior managers’ performance, employees’ performance,

and overall organizational performance.

2. Inspirational Motivation

This is a crucial factor in transformational leadership. As a transformational leader, it is

important to communicate exciting visions about the future while inspiring people to take action

presently. Leaders with inspirational motivation encourage their followers to keep pursuing their

goals and objectives no matter what they face. They encourage their followers to elevate their

consciousness concerning the organization’s mission and vision while keeping them committed.

Inspirational motivation has key indicators that can be used to determine its presence in

organizations. These indicators include offering followers challenges and solving them together,

organizational mission, communication, and giving autonomy on tasks (Nyokabi et al., 2017).

Inspirational motivation is essential because it helps keep leaders on their toes and work towards

organizational goals no matter what comes their way.

When the workforce is inspired, the management can create goodwill by promoting an

employee-friendly organizational culture. Such an environment is conducive and fosters

organizational and motivational loyalty. Inspiration boosts motivation and creates job

satisfaction. When employees are motivated and satisfied, they tend to work more, influencing

organizational performance positively. Followers can willingly accept challenges, and inspiration
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gives them autonomy to find solutions (Nyokabi et al., 2017). The presence of motivation plays

an important role in the realization of organizational goals because they find meaning in their

work and a reason to stay committed to the mission and vision.

3. Individualized Consideration

This is another important factor in transformational leadership. Transformational leaders are

all-round and do not only deal with large groups. Instead, they also work with individuals to

show concern for individual progress. They act as mentors who are genuinely invested in the

well-being of individuals within groups. Individualized consideration is when leaders help their

followers attain maximum potential and equip them with the necessary resources. It plays an

important role in promoting job satisfaction. Studies have shown that adopting individualized

consideration is effective in helping employees attain job satisfaction (KHALIL &

SAHIBZADAH, 2021). Transformational leaders pay attention to individual performance, and

this helps in promoting growth and achievements.

In such an environment, new learning opportunities are introduced within the organization,

creating room for a supportive climate. This factor also positively impacts organizational

performance because the leader’s behavior creates room for accepting individual differences.

Different employees have different capabilities, and attending to their performance individually

promotes authenticity and improvement of individual tasks. Individual monitoring also promotes

effective listening because the leader deals with individuals one-on-one. Leaders also delegate

tasks based on individuals’ capabilities. The delegated tasks are then closely monitored to see if

there is a need for more intervention at a personal level or to assess progress (Chebon et al.,

2019). Individualized consideration positively influences job satisfaction because employees

know that even when the tasks are challenging, transformational leaders will guide them and

monitor their progress to help achieve organizational goals.

4. Intellectual Stimulation

Transformational leaders do not leave out their followers in the decision-making process.

They allow team members to engage in decision-making to stimulate their creativity and

promote innovation. This brings a healthy working environment because leaders can share their

vision with the team to help them understand the organization’s mission and vision and the

necessary steps to achieve them. When employees are intellectually stimulated, they develop

new ways of coming up with solutions to problems and help them confront their old ways of

thinking (Chebon et al., 2019). They become more creative and innovative and develop new

approaches that help solve organizational problems and improve organizational performance.

Transformational leaders encourage their followers to focus on their reasoning behind any

decision. The goal is to help them reasonably make decisions and not follow the traditional ways.

Transformational leaders are more interested in innovation, and this desire prompts them to

motivate and intellectually stimulate them to focus on the same goals. Results show that this

stimulation fosters improved performance for both the employees and the organization (Chebon

et al., 2019). Leaders also encourage employees to take risks that are new but beneficial to help

in increasing organizational commitment.

Leaders who consider this factor enjoy the benefits because they create unity through

diversity. They create a genuine pool of authentic initiatives and ideas by pooling together

different brains. The main aim of intellectually stimulating employees is to yield the highest

level of creativity and innovation within the organization. Change is the key process of

transformational leadership, and intellectual stimulation goes a long way in promoting job
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satisfaction to positively influence organizational performance. Studies indicate a positive

relationship between transformational leadership and creativity (Chebon et al., 2019). Therefore,

it is important to intellectually stimulate the employees because they will work towards

implementing change through a smooth transition.

References

Chebon, S., Aruasa, W., & Chirchir, L. (2019). Influence of Individualized Consideration and

Intellectual Stimulation on Employee Performance: Lessons from Moi Teaching and

Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya.

https://doi.org/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335924313_Influence_of_Indivi

dualized_Consideration_and_Intellectual_Stimulation_on_Employee_Performance_Less

ons_from_Moi_Teaching_and_Referral_Hospital_Eldoret_Kenya

KHALIL, DR. S., & SAHIBZADAH, S. (2021). Leaders’ Individualized Consideration and

Employees’ Job Satisfaction. Journal of Business & Tourism, 3(2), 183–191.

https://doi.org/10.34260/jbt.v3i2.81

Nyokabi, M., K’Aol, P. G., & Njenga, Dr. K. (2017). EFFECT OF IDEALIZED INFLUENCE

AND INSPIRATIONAL MOTIVATION OF THE CEO ON PERFORMANCE IN THE

PRIVATE SECTOR IN KENYA.

http://erepo.usiu.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11732/4188/Effect%20Of%20Idealized

%20Influence%20And%20Inspirational%20Motivation%20Of%20The%20Ceo%20On

%20Performance%20In%20The%20Private%20Sector%20In%20Kenya.pdf?sequence=1