Transformational Leadership: The Style that Inspires Change and Empowers Teams

Transformational Leadership: The Style that Inspires Change and Empowers Teams by Casey Reason, Ph.D.

I am passionate about helping leaders unlock their full potential and create a lasting impact.  Longer explanation aside, truly impactful leaders move their organization by creating a culture that drives the desired results. Culture is a feeling we have based on the consistent words and actions shared and experienced each day in the organization. If you have a positive, energetic feeling when you come to work, it’s due to the actions and words that go on each day—or your culture.  There’s a lot of ways to build culture.  You take the right actions, and use the right words. However, one of the most powerful things as a leader you can do is to develop a leadership style that creates conditions for a strong culture.  The research is clear that a transformational leadership style is one of the best approaches you can use to indeed create this kind of desired result.

In this article, we will delve into one of the most universally accepted, effective approaches, which is the transformational leadership style. For many decades this approach has been proven to drive positive change within individuals, teams, and organizations. Let’s explore its key characteristics and practical tips for leading from a transformational perspective.

Characteristics of Transformational Leadership

1. A Strong, Leveled-Up Vision: Transformational leaders don’t settle for the status quo. They have a clear vision of where they’re headed, and they are consistently seeking a leveled up version of the best of what the system can produce.  This makes teams hungry, and curious.  What if we could aspire to this?  What if we could do that?  This type of leader inspires their teams by effectively communicating this vision, fostering understanding, and igniting motivation (Reference: Farahnak, L. R., Ehrhart, M. G., Torres, E. M., & Aarons, G. A., 2019 ).
2. Committed to Challenging and Profoundly Changing Even Winning Ways: To a transformational leader, success in the moment isn’t enough.  They have the wisdom to understand that nothing stays the same, and even successful winning ways will not guarantee future success due to changing working landscapes, and evolving customer or conditional needs. As a result, transformational leaders are always seeking ways to change and improve on everything that they do. The old adage, if it isn't broken, don't fix it is Blasphemy to a transformational leader. Finally, this type of leader isn't seeking change around the edges. They're looking for opportunities to truly transform, perhaps the way the work is done or transform how their services are received.  In 1994 Jeff Bezos started an online bookstore called Amazon. His transformational vision saw a different kind of company evolving and went from a wildly successful online bookstore to a wildly, unprecedentedly successful online everything store. He transformed book sales and then transformed virtually everything else. That doesn't happen with small changes around the edges. It comes from a transformational leader who believes in deep, profound, unimagined industry disruption, and evolution.
3. Charisma and Inspiration: Transformational leaders are charismatic and inspirational figures. They mentor and develop their direct reports, stepping alongside them to encourage growth.  If this level of personal dynamism doesn't come natural, the best transformational leaders will still find a way of being authentic and inspirational (Atlassian.,2024). If for example giving a thunderous motivational directive to your team isn't something that you're good at, being the strong guide on the side and personally inspiring each and every individual you work with in smaller scale conversations might be the thing that you simply excel at more dynamically. Either way, don't sleep on your desire to be a beacon of inspiration. It's one of the most important things you can do as a transformational leader.
4. Open-Mindedness: Early 20th century economist John Maynard Keynes famously said “when my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do Sir?”  I've always loved that quote! Furthermore, it speaks to one of the most important elements of what it means to be a transformational leader (Verywell Mind, 2023). Inexperienced leaders often mistake charismatic, public facing communication as a demarcation of an unwavering perspective. In other words, if you have the charisma and confidence to speak to the vision of the organization, you can't possibly change your mind or move in a different direction. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The more confident you become as a leader, the more willing you are to take in new information, remain open minded, and indeed use that new information to synthesize a new pathway forward. In a world that's so deeply interconnected, and has the ability to search old quotes and perspectives, it's easy to find yourself cross-examined and find your new perspective at odds with maybe your old perspective. If you find yourself in that place, be satisfied because this is again the demarcation of an educated, evolved human being. You are able to continue to change your perspectives and grow. Every organization must do this and if the leader is truly going to be effective, they have to be willing to walk this talk.  So, transformational leaders are known for being willing to flex and change. They are hungry for innovation. Furthermore, they actively seek the diverse perspectives of others and encourage out-of-the-box thinking. They want to consider what's different, even if those considerations aren't embraced. It only makes you wiser and stronger.
5. Individualized Consideration and Intellectual Stimulation: Transformational leaders genuinely care about their team members. They take time to understand each person’s unique needs, strengths, and aspirations, and want to make sure everyone is challenged and intellectually engaged (Explore Psychology,2023). This is especially true for transformational leaders with a little bit of experience. It's easy for a leader trying to move in a transformational way to consistently point with optimism into the future, talking almost exclusively about forthcoming, big goals and perspectives. This is empowering and necessary, but in some respects, it can take away from what's happening on the front lines, in the moment, and with each individual person involved in the organization. This is why the more evolved transformational leader slips between macro and micro. They stay macro in their perspectives and are always talking about what will be coming down the road in the next three to five years. Conversely, they can get micro and focus on what's happening today on how even the small steps an individual is taking can contribute to a bigger, more overarching opportunity. 

Tips for Leading from a Transformational Perspective:  

All of this likely sounds good to you.  But how do you develop a style that’s transformational?  Here are a few tips:

1. Identify a Compelling Vision: The vision for a team or an entire organization must be made clear, for everyone.  Sadly, in so many organizations I work with, there is resolute cloudiness about exactly where the organization is going. To that end, the vision is always best when it is Co constructed. If you're in a job interview and someone asks you your vision for the organization, I would suggest that you share from your perspective what you see what might be possible, but then be willing to also suggest that the best vision is indeed Co created with the perspectives of everyone involved also contributing to the visual representation that we will be carrying around together in our minds and in our hearts. A truly transformational leader will push a team to aspire to a vision that is outlandishly optimistic, bold, and perhaps paradigm breaking. They will push the team beyond the limitations of current constructs, and try to get them to dream a little about what could be possible if everything went right. After that, a strong transformational leader works on continuously clarifying what that vision actually means. It can't be a statement that hangs on the wall in permanent abeyance without constant recitation and illumination. Once this vision for what's possible is articulated, a transformational leader should spend time every day talking to people about it, asking them about their functionality in supporting that destination, and continually getting others to talk about what they see and what they feel when they think about that vision. This is the only way to make it real and to create a very different type of culture that will make that vision come to fruition.
2. Challenge the Status Quo: Just Because we've always done it that way, why must we continue? Is there a better way? Sure what we're doing is working, but can we even do it better? What if we stopped doing what we're doing in this area entirely. What if we put all of our energies over here instead of over there? Sometimes the best transformational leaders ask really disruptive questions, even if they totally suspect that a significant change may not happen in that area, they are truly trying to get everyone to think creatively about the work that they do. This can be disruptive within the organization and to some degree a transformational leader must announce to the team that they intend to start asking those kinds of questions and to receive them correctly. Otherwise, rumors can begin to persist that with every question comes a budget busting, paradigm shattering change. While this certainly can happen, it doesn't have to happen with every inquiry. That said, an organization that is OK with asking those kinds of penetrating questions will be far more creative in finding the best solutions. I coached a leader just a few years ago working in an extremely large consulting company that provided human resources services. As part of the innovation he was part of, his job was eliminated. He knew full well that was happening and he went on and had a fabulous next step in his career. However, he was open enough as a transformational leader to realize this was what would indeed transform the organization. He was handsomely rewarded on the other end for his creativity and innovation, and that's what transformational leaders receive and provide.
3. Remain relentlessly optimistic: The most impactful transformational leaders are relentlessly optimistic in every conversation, at every moment within the organization. If they are entering a season of loss and even business contraction, they will loudly observe the emergent opportunity to start fresh, do it better, and realize unprecedented growth. It's important when speaking and living a truly optimistic leadership perspective however that the leader remain observant of the true deficits they are facing, so that even in the face of the optimism, they appear to be moving beyond hyperbole. It is however in those moments when the chips are down that the truly transformational leadership perspective can emerge, and through that optimism and the ability to construct a better vision for the future, hope will go from being lost to found, resulting in the opportunity for an unrestrained ascension.
4. Create Individual and Team Psychological Safety: Stephen Covey senior and junior have spent their entire careers talking about the impact of trust on an organization. Without question, the one brain science observation that will never be questioned in your lifetime or mine is the discovery that fear shuts down learning in its tracks. Indeed, fear is the biggest factor in keeping your individual and collective cognitive energies from being at their best. To that end, in order to truly operate at the highest levels, transformational leaders must create individual and team psychological safety. This means that time spent helping people to feel comfortable, to feel part of the group, to recognize that their contributions are worthy and that they are welcome, and that it is an environment free of bullying and other types of negative, off putting behavior all represent key elements to creating that safety that will then ultimately allow for the more creative angels within all of us to emerge. Truly, even if you have trouble creating that all inspiring vision, and delivering ad hominem positivity throughout your organization, if you can build strong levels of psychological safety, and truly care about and empower your team, the chances of amazing things happening and growth occurring increases exponentially. You will indeed be on your way

Remember, transformational leadership isn’t about maintaining the status quo—it’s about leaving a positive legacy. By embodying these characteristics and following these tips, you can inspire change, empower your team, and drive meaningful results.

References:

1. Farahnak, L. R., Ehrhart, M. G., Torres, E. M., & Aarons, G. A. (2019). The Influence of Transformational Leadership and Leader Attitudes on Subordinate Attitudes and Implementation SuccessJournal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 27(1), 98–111 1.
2. Atlassian. (2024). Transformational leadership: Definition, examples, tips 2.
3. Verywell Mind. (2023). Transformational Leadership: How to Inspire and Motivate 3.