I have worked with many different leaders throughout my career both in the military and in the corporate world. There were leaders who inspired me to be better and leaders who made me want to run for the hills. I have had managers who thought they were leaders and leaders who were never in a management position. There is only one time in my life though where I had the pleasure of working for a true Transformational Leader. Much as the name implies, a transformational leader transforms people by being “concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals” (Northouse, 2016, p. 161). This leader ultimately became a mentor to me as he helped me navigate my transition from military to civilian life, and took a vested interest in my future. He was a leader who fit the transformational leader definition to a “T”.
When I look at the four Transformational Leadership factors attributed to Bass’ (1985) model, which are idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Northouse, 2016, p. 167), my mentor excelled at all. Idealized influence, also known as charisma, refers to a leader who can create a vision and a sense of mission for their followers (Northouse, 2016, p. 167). While I was transitioning from the military, I honestly felt somewhat apprehensive about this change and did not have a mission, or even a vision, for my future. Everything that I was good at revolved around being in the military and I did not understand how that would translate to the corporate world. My mentor worked with me for months to understand who I truly was and what I really wanted before he even began to recommend new careers for me to possibly pursue. He understood that in order to help me, he needed to understand what motivated me, and this took a lot of time.
Inspirational motivation refers to the extent of which a leader can inspire a follower(s) to achieve their best through motivation (Northouse, 2016, p. 169). When my mentor and I discussed what I wanted to do and my expectations for my future, he did not let me settle for anything but the best. He helped me create goals for myself that would lead to a successful transition and ensured that I was always “raising the bar”.
Intellectual stimulation refers to a style of leadership that “stimulates followers to be creative and innovative and to challenge their own beliefs and values” (Northouse, 2016, p. 167). Much as I stated above, my mentor did not let me fall in-line with the “status quo” but rather forced me to think outside the box and look at the world in a different way. When I was contemplating my fit in the civilian world, he would say things to me like “the world is your oyster, you decide when to take the pearl”. This creativity and innovation in regards to my own career path really helped me understand what I wanted and allowed me to ensure I was never settling for anything other than the perfect fit.
Lastly, individualized consideration refers to leaders who provide a supportive climate by listening to their followers and understanding their individual needs (Northouse, 2016, p. 167). Although my leader had 30+ years in the corporate world and was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation with massive amounts of experience, the first thing he did was allow me to talk and lay my own foundation for where I wanted our relationship to go. He allowed me to mold our interaction in a manner that worked well for me and refused to inject his input unless it was going to stimulate my own thoughts.
Now that I understand what a transformational leader really is, it is apparent to me that my mentor is the first true transformational leader that I have ever met. His ability to transform my own thoughts, emotions, and beliefs about myself was unbelievable. He took what I had inside me and found a way to lead me to my own conclusions and create my own future. He never once demanded anything of me and made it known from our first conversation that all he truly cared about was my future and my needs. I am forever thankful that I had someone like him in my life and he is a role model for me to try and emulate my own style.
Reference:
Northouse, Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th Ed.). SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA. Print.
GMC says
Hi,
I really enjoyed reading your post and also have a situation in which I was inspired by what I thought to be a transformational leader. As with your leader/mentor, my leader also exhibited what it takes to be a TRUE transformational leader.
I find that ethical and transformational leadership go hand in hand and I believe ethics to be the heart of leadership because you need it to run a good business. A business where employees feel comfortable and want to come to work every day because they know that all is right and all is fair. My TRUE transformational leaders name is “Ken” and he lived and breathed what it took to be the best leader he could…and it showed.
He was the manager at a small bank where I worked when I was 21 years old and living on Long Island. I actually met him while I was waitressing and going to school but looking for a more stable job. I ended up working at the bank during the day, which provided security and benefits and waitressing at night at the same restaurant for extra money.
“Ken”, was (and still is) a very smart, warm, intelligent, and kind human being. He exhibits qualities from both virtue based theories, teleological and ideontological where his main focus was on duties and obligation to not only the company but the employees and himself. He has many virtues including generosity and was known to be very liberal with raises. I’ve seen him in tense situations and he always remained calm, cool and collected displaying self control. He was always very honest. Even if it was something “bad”, he would sit you down and make sure you understood what the situation was so it wouldn’t happen again or you would know how to handle it in the future. He was a very sociable person. He would always be a part of luncheons and holiday parties. He was very modest. And above all, he was always very fair and just. He also exhibits perseverance, public spiritedness, integrity, truthfulness, fidelity, benevolence and humility. also qualities that Velasquez says to apply to becoming a good leader.
The five principles of ethical leadership appear to go hand in hand with the above virtues. I find it hard to believe that one that has the above virtues doesn’t also exhibit these five principles. He was respectful and considerate of others and made it his priority to treat everyone fairly. He placed our needs in front of his own (ethical altruism) and in the process was open in his quest to portray the reality of our operations or positions there as clearly as possible while attaining our goals.
I considered Ken to be “highly ethical” on various levels. He didn’t only display these qualities on the “outside” but I believe they were an innate part of who he really was, he seemed to live and breathe “coolness”. He was always very open and honest. He made his family part of his work family and you could just tell that they were “good” people. His wife was a very respected lawyer with her own practice. They were on the up and up and could have everything to show for it but didn’t. They didn’t brag or boast, they were very modest people. To this day I am friends with both him and his wife and occasionally when I get to go to Long Island we’ll have lunch. I learned a lot from this man and I highly respect him.
“To be a good leader, one must be honest”. (Northouse, 2016 Pg 345) and “By telling the truth, people become truthful”. (Northouse, 2016 Pg 336) And I’d like to add that I believe that it all begins by being honest and truthful to yourself, utmost and foremost before anything. Fore, if you are not honest and truthful with yourself, WHO ARE YOU?
This post was very well written and informative.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Reference:
Northouse, Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th Ed.). SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA. Print.