LDR 711 UP WK 3 Transformational Leadership Like a Feminine Style Discussion
Read the question and student response.
Question 1: Complete the Interactive Leadership Assessment at the end of Ch. 8 in the Northouse text. What is your leadership style? Based on the Suggestions for Improving Your Leadership at the end of the assessment, discuss three strategies you will implement to improve your leadership.
Student Response: Based on the scoring of the Interactive Leadership Assessment, I am a Transformational leader. As its name implies, transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people (Northouse, 2019). Before taking the assessment, I thought I was a Servant leader. Upon learning that I possess a transformative leadership style, I became intrigued to better understand how I lead. This style encompasses traditionally feminine behaviors such as being considerate and supportive and is strongly associated with leadership effectiveness (Northouse, 2019).
Although one of the most popular contemporary leadership styles, transformational leadership has been presented as both a universal as well as a contingency theory (Andersen, 2015). As stated by Vito et al. (2014), the transformational leader optimizes his or her power and influence using charisma or vision. I have been told I am charismatic and possess the skill of persuasion. Therefore, I must be conscious to use my influence to advance my organization’s vision and not willed it in a way that is destructive to the team I am charged to lead. Transformational leaders have been accused of being elitists, so a strategy I will consistently execute is being collaborative, open-minded to hearing and receiving the perspectives of others. The label, “Transformational leader” can equate to someone who uses their authority to control the actions of others. According to Antonakis (2012), researchers have not established that transformational leaders are actually able to transform individuals and organizations. With this knowledge, I must work on not believing the hype, that I can change another human being’s behavior. I aim to be a thoughtful leader, mindful of learning from and with my team, so we can collectively work to advance our organization’s vision.
References:
Andersen, J.A. (2015), “Barking up the wrong tree: on the fallacies of the transformational leadership theory”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(6), 765-777.
Antonakis, J. (2012). Transformational and charismatic leadership. In D. V. Day & J. Antonakis (Eds.), The Nature of Leadership (2nd ed., pp. 256–288). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Vito, G.F., Higgins, G.E., & Denney, A.S. (2014), Transactional and transformational leadership. Policing, 37(4), 809-822.
Question 2: Read the leadership materials in this week's Learning Activities folder. Choose one leadership style that resonates with you, and write a 250- to 300-word substantiated discussion on how that leadership style would be applicable to your professional field.
Student Response: The leadership style that best resonates with me in my professional field is the servant leadership style. I find this leadership style to be effective in my nonprofit organization of service to others. According to Northouse (2019), Servant leadership emphasized that leaders be attentive to the care and concern of the followers with an emphasis to nurture them. My organization, which is a social service organization that serves the community to better the lives of others, also seeks to empower employees to be their best to be of service in our mission (Volunteers of America Greater New York, 2022). Allen et al (2018) noted servant leaders seek to serve the larger community inside and outside of the organization and are said to be empathetic to followers and stakeholders, focusing on building the community.
The service of our organization is to aid those who are at risk of being homeless, domestic violence victims, mental health clients, at risk youth, those with developmental disabilities and others (Volunteers of America Greater New York, 2022). Being in a nonprofit that is service oriented is about service, and those who work in this field can find fulfillment and purpose in service to others. According to Allen et al (2018) those who work in nonprofits seem likely to experience greater fulfillment in their participation of their organizations’ mission.
Over the last few years, I have seen our leadership from the top down become more involved with employees and focus on empowering employees, which has led to increased productivity in the services we provide. Even our President and CEO is very approachable and is involved in the mission of our organization by being available to staff of the entire organization. Allen et al (2018) stated essential leadership behaviors of practicing what he/she preaches by focusing on the well-being of others. This creates better outcomes from those in the organization
Sfetcu noted (2021) although servant leadership has received little attention in nonprofit leadership literature, it has the potential to be good leaderships style in nonprofits because of the emphasis on mission and its follower-centric way of reaching organizational objectives.
Allen, S., Winston, B. E., Tatone, G. R., & Crowson, H. M. (2018). Exploring a model of servant leadership, empowerment, and commitment in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 29(1), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21311
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership theory and practice (8th ed.). Sage Publishing.
Sfetcu, L. (2021). An Introduction to Servant Leadership and Its Potential for Nonprofit Organizations. Journal of Community Positive Practices, 21(4), 48–60. https://doi.org/10.35782/JCPP.2021.4.04
Volunteers of America Greater New York, 2022