Has “transformational leadership” lost its impact as a rallying cry in American business due to overuse? Great ideas can wear out if the ignorant overuse them to appear smart. Even if the central idea has tremendous value, it loses the ability to inspire. This attrition comes from too many sycophants (or consultants!) Wandering around mindlessly spitting it out without understanding how it has to work to be effective.
Mix the bath water. Stay with the baby.
A great idea like “transformational leadership” deserves to be reclaimed and rehabilitated whenever we see it slide into a cliché. It has real value because it accurately describes a truly helpful mindset for leaders who want to build sustainable productive cultures within their area of responsibility.
Let’s leave behind the meaningless chatter of the phrase as “business language”, and take the time to understand the original intent behind the phrase and how to use it correctly. Let’s review the core concept:
Transformation vs. Transaction
We emphasize “transformation” in an effort to distinguish “transactional leaders” from leaders who innovate, engage, encourage, and motivate (the latter two are not the same) their teams to consistently perform at higher levels. . Not for a month, not for a special project, but all the time.
- The verb “perform transactions” implies performing a series of tasks. Most leaders who come forward go that far. Transactional leaders drive performance. They focus on results and “get what they can” with limited time and resources.
- The verb “transform” captures what a leader must do to create a fully engaged, highly productive, and innovative workforce. Transformational leaders are also results-focused, but they solve the problem of limited resources by unlocking additional productivity within their team, fully engaging with them to harness more of the capabilities, energy, and desire inherent in each team member.
Transformational leaders view employee engagement as “Job 1”.
Transactional leaders get things done. They focus the energy that their staff is willing to give (around 60% in most companies) to achieve the objectives assigned to the team. They hit the mark, as an actor would say, but they don’t win any academy awards because they don’t go further. They are reliable, but not inspiring.
A transformational leader must also be trustworthy and hit the mark. But these leaders create a culture that produces results almost as a by-product of their contribution, which keeps the organization moving forward constantly, regardless of the specific goals imposed by management, because employees simply want and enjoy the challenge.
Going from “transacting” to “transforming” is the hard part of leadership, and it’s the leap that so many assigned leaders (those in official leadership roles) fail to make.
This failure is not due to a lack of desire to be the best. Most people want to be successful and gain recognition for what they accomplish. But, if your organization doesn’t provide the training, tools, and permission to build a sustainable production culture, team leaders won’t make the transition from transactional to transformational.
If you want to become a transformational leader within your organization, start by adopting a more engaging communication style that is grounded in personal responsibility and is action-oriented:
Eliminate the “blame game”:
- Take the lead in identifying and advocating in conversations involving guilt or adopting “victim status.” Teach your team members to let go of the need to blame and adopt your future-focused mindset instead.
- Redirect the energy in the group by asking “What can we do now?” We call this “keeping a focus on the next action.” It is your job to train everyone to adopt that mindset permanently.
- Publicly accept personal responsibility for any results, good or bad. Challenge your people to do the same and never stop leading by example.
Open communications:
-
Stop directing, start listening and supporting. If you are always the one talking, you will never find out about a problem or a new idea.
-
Expand your definition of “need to know.” Engaged employees need to know a lot about the company’s goals, its limitations, and the truth behind those energy-sapping rumors. Employees work harder if they know how their piece of the puzzle fits together strategically.
Communicate with a “next action approach”:
- In meetings, define the desired outcomes for each discussion.
- Convert every discussion you have about the work of cause of trouble what to do next
- End each meeting with a summary of mutually agreed actions
- Follow-up based on these actions. You must be reliable and predictable in applying these habits to all your coworker interactions.
Whenever you meet with your team members (one on one or in meetings), focus relentlessly on these three key mindsets or communication habits and you will find that the conversations between you and your team will constantly improve, usually within 90 days. Set a goal to make these habits standard behavior within your team, and keep that goal at the top of your to-do list forever!
Great leaders, at any level within an organization, are transformative rather than just transactional. They work hard to inspire performance through commitment rather than frenzied supervision. Leaders who adopt a transformative mindset will achieve greater success simply because the people who follow them will bring more passion to what they do.
