What is Leading?
- Is Leadership Commanding, or Convincing?
- Should Leaders be Feared, or Loved?
There are multiple conceptions of what Leaders do, and How they should behave.
A popular conception is the one that considers that Leaders should Convince more than Impose.
That is called a Transformational Leadership.
A Transformational Leader is someone who, as its name indicates, tries to Transform things and Mindsets, to achieve something.
- Usually a Vision, which is a buzzword for a Goal.
Transformational Leaders Convince rather than Impose.
* A famous Spanish essayist, Miguel de Unamuno, said to the coup military during the Spanish Civil War:
- “You’ll win, but you’ll not convince“.
There is no better phrase to define what is and what is not a Transformational Leader.
But, How do these Leaders Convince?
Characteristics of a Transformational Leader
They convince by explaining the reasons for the Decisions.
- In this way, people understand why things are done this way.
- We are never convinced about something until we understand it.
They are Empathic.
- For convincing, you must know How other people feel.
- What others consider to be important, transcendent…
They Have a vision of How things should be.
- A vision to follow, a goal to achieve.
- And they never give up until they get there.
You may have heard of another type of Leadership, whose name is very similar, but is “supposedly” the complete opposite:
Let’s see the differences between both types of Leadership:
Difference between Transformational and Transactional Leaders
A Transactional Leader Regards Relations as Transaction Processes.
- You do this, You get that.
That is why it is called Transactional Leadership.
They are often “accused” of Imposing rather than Convincing.
Although, to be fair, both Leadership styles need each other:
- A Transactional Leader, commonly, also wants to change things.
- A Transformational Leader also applies rewards and punishments to those who refuse to change.
The purest forms of these Leadership Styles are just Utopias.
In reality, one tends to predominate over the other, but both are used simultaneously.
Examples of Transformational Leadership
Teaching something to your kid.
- When we explain something to our kids, we try them to understand it.
- We truly want to convince that something is best for them.
A Change in Management.
- When a New Boss comes, he/she wants to convince everybody of his worth.
- They also want to do things in a New (more efficient) way.
Restructuring a Company.
- When a Company needs to Restructure, Managers need to offer a New Future.
- A Vision that must be achieved for the Company to survive.
Breaking a Bad Habit.
- The first thing you learn is that you will change for the rest of your life.
- Either you Transform or you will never Break a Bad Habit.
