Transactional and Transformational Leadership in the Work Place In the following paper I will discuss what transactional and transformational leadership are. I will also provide examples of how each of these leadership styles plays a role in the workplace. James McGregor Burns first introduced the concept of transforming leadership; he established two concepts “transforming leadership and transactional leadership” (Burns, 1978).
According to Burns (1978) the transforming approach creates a compelling change in the life of people and organizations. It creates a new way of perceptions and values. For employees, it changes their expectations and ambitions. Bernard M. Bass developed the concept of Burns’ work. He used the term transformational rather than transforming. He explained the personality traits that influence transforming and transactional leadership. He also added on to Burns’ work by explaining how transformational leadership could be measured and how it impacts follower motivation and performance (Bass, 1985). A commonly used survey called “the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X)” is used to measure each component of the full range leadership. The transactional leadership style is a style which is more concerned with keeping the status quo. The transactional leaders use various incentives and power to motivate employees to perform to their best ability. These leaders tend not to see the long term in strategically guiding an organization; they are focused in the here and now (Ingram, 2014). Transactional leadership has 3 components, the first being contingent reward. This approach is when a leader obtains agreements on what needs to be done and in return promises rewards or will reward others for carrying out the assignment. This method has been found to be effective at times (Oberfield, 2014). The second component is passive