Over the previous decade or so, researchers have become increasingly interested in studying charismatic and transformational leadership. The terms charismatic and transformational are very closely related. They refer to the process of influencing major change throughout an organization and its membership in order to push an organization toward common goals and objectives (Slack, 1997). The transformational leader is one with certain personality traits. Ross and Offerman (1997) showed a distinct link between transformational leadership style and personality attributes. Transformational leaders had high scores in nurturance and pragmatism and lower scores in areas related to criticalness and aggression. Overall, transformational leadership involves leaders and followers raising each other to higher levels of achievement (Slack, 1997). This ability to raise levels of achievement in students is a crucial characteristic of a successful academic adviser.
Burns (1978), who is generally credited with the first real analysis of transformational leadership, realized that not all leaders were transactional and that leadership could involve more of an emotional bond with subordinates (in this case, advisees). He termed this new style transformational. Transformational leadership involves stimulating subordinates into action and requires personalities that are more active and ideas that are more proactive than reactive (Bass, 1985). Bass (1985), one of the earliest theorists to study transformational leadership, stated that, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, transformational leaders could elevate those around them from a lower to a higher level of need. Maslow stated that people must satisfy the need for survival and can only then satisfy other needs in hierarchical fashion according to importance for survival. These leaders succeed in raising subordinates to a greater awareness of surroundings and the effects of action upon those surroundings. The awareness of surroundings and the understanding of tasks necessary to change surroundings ultimately result in a transformational organizational culture (Bass, 1985).
Lee Iaccoca is well-known as a successful transformational leader who had the ability to transform the ideals and attitudes of those surrounding him. Iaccoca took over the head of the Chrysler Corporation when it was in a time of distress—the most important time for the emergence of a transformational leader, according to Bass (1998). Although Chrysler was a very large corporation, Iaccoca had the ability to transform the ideals of his closest subordinates and, as a result, to reshape the corporate culture. Because a transformational leader encourages others to become transformational leaders, eventually the hierarchy of the corporate culture is filled with effective transformational leaders at all levels (National Research Council, 1997).
Even though most theorists agree that transformational leaders are more effective in smaller organizations, Iaccoca is considered a good example of transformational leadership as it relates to Maslow's hierarchical needs theories (Bass, 1998). Iaccoca had a high level of interaction with a small group of people and, within Chrysler, created levels of organization that did not previously exist. This development of organizational levels was tantamount to the reinvention of Chrysler corporate culture. In today's world, organizations that have transformational leaders throughout all levels of management have become the most successful (Joyce, 1999).
Transformational leadership involves several key factors: emotions, values, self-esteem, goals, and needs. When incorporated into leadership style, these factors can result in greater aspirations, greater efforts, lower turnover or absenteeism, performance beyond expectation, and higher job satisfaction (Chelladurai, 1999). According to Burns, transformational leadership involves leaders and followers (in this case, advisers and advisees) who raise one another to higher levels of motivation, as the leader appeals to the ideals and values of subordinates. Later, Bass expanded upon the earlier theories of Burns in the development of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Slack, 1997), suggesting that transformational leaders enhance subordinate confidence and increase awareness of goals.
Bass identified seven areas of leadership behavior that would identify transactional and transformational leadership. These seven areas are charismatic leadership, inspirational leadership, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, contingent rewards, management by expectation, and laissez-faire. The first four areas identify transformational leaders. Items five and six identify transactional behaviors. Finally, the laissez-faire characteristic identifies individuals who do not possess leadership characteristics. These first four areas and the concept of laissez-faire characteristics should be considered in order to fully understand transformational leadership style.
Behaviors of Transformational Leaders
Charismatic leadership is the degree to which the leader is seen as charismatic by followers. Although the term charisma may be overused, charisma is used in the realm of political and social science to describe leaders who have profound and extraordinary effects on their followers (Bass, 1985). Charisma was examined in conceptual terms in relation to the organizational sciences by House (1977), who incorporated charisma into his path-goal theory. Bass examined several characteristics of charisma and how they relate to transformational leadership style. Charisma depends on followers as well as leaders: a charismatic leader receives an intense emotional component of devotion, reverence, and blind faith from followers (Bass, 1985). During a crisis or distress situation, a charismatic leader is seen as a savior, and a transformational leader is most effective. The connection between charismatic and transformational leadership is the crisis or distress within an organization. Thus, charismatic leadership is a characteristic of transformational leadership (Bass, 1985).
Inspirational leadership relates to how a leader inspires an organization as a whole. Inspirational leadership is the continuation of charismatic leadership. Charisma motivates individuals whereas inspirational leadership motivates the entire organization. The inspirational leader is capable of arousing the subordinates to become part of the organizational culture and environment. The inspirational leader instills pride in individuals, using pep talks and motivational speeches to build organizational morale, and uses his or her own behavior to set an example of what is expected (Bass, 1985). Inspirational leadership is also similar to charismatic leadership in that it must be perceived by the followers in order to be effective. The inspirational importance of a leader is important when subordinate commitment is essential for effective organizational performance.
Individual consideration is the characteristic that shows how much a leader gives personal attention to subordinates. Subordinates are considered individually and treated differently according to their needs and capabilities. This individual consideration can take many forms. Expression of appreciation for a job well done is the most frequently used individual consideration (Bass, 1985). Individual consideration is also a major part of leader member exchange, in which the leader shares expectations with subordinates. Individual consideration is most important in development behaviors and delegation. Consideration is given to subordinates in the areas of development such as career counseling and performance progress. The consideration of the capabilities of individuals can also allow a leader to determine the capability for responsibility and workload of a subordinate and to assess the amount and importance of delegation to subordinates. Individual consideration is an important aspect of transformational leadership (Bass, 1985).
Intellectual stimulation allows a leader to promote new ideas and to challenge the old ways of operating within an organization. In addition to the other characteristics of leadership, transformational leaders can stimulate extra effort from their subordinates through intellectual stimulation. Intellectual stimulation involves the arousal and change in followers' problem awareness and problem solving through the use of thought and imagination with relation to beliefs and values (Bass, 1985). This aspect of transformational leadership allows for long-term focus on strategy and intellect in addition to the short-term thinking involved with crisis control and immediate problem solving. Leaders can articulate vision to followers. Intellectual stimulation is also related to the charismatic proponent of transformational leadership. Charismatic leaders tend to have excellent abilities in communicating vision. The intellectual stimulation by the transformational leader is most often needed when the organization faces poorly structured situations. Intellectual stimulation results in the transformation of structure into well-structured solutions for organizational problems (Bass, 1985). Possibly the most important aspect of intellectual stimulation is how it relates to the intelligence of the subordinate. The leader must be able to determine the intellect of the subordinate and then, through the use of individualized consideration, decide the level of task that can be intellectually assigned to that subordinate.
With analysis of the four main areas or characteristics of the transformational leader, it can be seen that they are interdependent and must exist effectively with each other. The absence of any one area results in the ineffectiveness of the transformational leader. Additionally, the improper use of such characteristics results in loss of follower loyalty and consequently loss of leadership effectiveness (Slack, 1997).
Empowerment versus Laissez-Faire Leadership
Empowerment is a term that has been linked to transformational leadership in recent studies (Fullam, Lando, Johansen, Reyes, & Szaloczy, 1998). Empowerment is moving decision making to the levels at which competent decisions can be made. In order for empowerment to be effective, solid leaders must be present throughout all levels of management in an organization. Through one study, it was found that the majority of nurses exhibit transformational leadership behaviors. Nurses tend to have a high degree of sociability with superiors, subordinates, and patients. This high degree of sociability accompanied by the “human factor” within the field of nursing allows transformational leaders to be successful as managers in the health care field (Tracey, 1998). Once again, the emergence of transformational leaders occurs with groups of people educated in small, close-knit groups with a high opportunity for participation during learning. Nurses tend to be successful in situations of empowerment by using well-built transformational leadership skills (Fullam, Lando, Johansen, Reyes, & Szaloczy, 1998).
What happens when empowerment goes bad? This kind of leadership is referred to as laissez-faire leadership. Laissez-faire leadership is the extent to which the leader abdicates or relinquishes his or her leadership role. This type of leader avoids providing direction and support, shows lack of caring for what the followers do, and buries himself or herself in busy work (Bass, 1998). Laissez-faire leadership has also been termed “the dark side of empowerment.” This poor leadership most often results in negative effects for the organization. This type of academic advising results in a lack of academic direction and goal setting from the student. Other effects of laissez-faire leadership are social loafing and over-delegation (Bass, 1998). It is crucial that the transformational leader avoid laissez-faire leadership in order to remain an effective leader.
Transformational leaders tend to do several specific things. They tend to question organizational assumptions and to use nontraditional thinking for problem solving, to exhibit collaborative problem solving and decision making behaviors, to contemplate a future orientation and to consider the future impacts of current decisions in relation to the organization as a whole (Tracey, 1998). Academic advisers who are transformational leaders are sensitive to feelings and relationships. They tend to lead through empowerment (Scott, 1999).
Summary
In relation to academic advising, transformational leadership can influence major changes in the attitudes and assumptions of students and help build a commitment for academic goals and objectives (Slack, 1997). It is important for university leadership to identify transformational leadership behavior in potential academic advisers and campus leaders. Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, and Fetter (1990) helped to develop a self-assessment questionnaire designed to evaluate charismatic and transformational leadership behavior. If transformational characteristics were shown to manifest themselves during undergraduate education, hiring committees could target potential employees from specific styles or types of undergraduate institutions.
With a more complete understanding of transformational leadership, future application of this leadership style is possible. Researchers, instructors, and academic advisers should explore the realm of transformational leadership as it relates to their role in the organization and profession. Current university leaders should actively pursue transformational leaders and place them into advising roles on campus, allowing for the evolution of the advising structure and increasing the success of academic advising strategies. According to Slack (1997), we cannot ignore the role that transformational leadership plays in the successful organization.