After reading the section on Transformational leadership, it has been made clear to me that the company I work for fosters a more transactional leadership environment when placed on the leadership continuum.
As defined in the lesson, transactional leadership “occurs when leaders and followers are in some type of exchange relationship in order to get needs met. There may be no purpose to hold leaders and followers together once the transaction has been made. This type of leadership is seen in most leadership models and does not result in any kind of organizational change” while transformational leadership “serves to change the status quo by appealing to followers’ values and their sense of higher purpose. Transformational leaders engage with followers and create a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower.” (PSU WC Lesson 10, p4)
The reason I believe the company I work for falls closer to transactional leadership stems from the way management is trained to “motivate” the team. From corporate down, management uses rewards to motivate the team. Corporate promises management meetings to be held at restaurants when budget goals are surpassed repeatedly, teams are rewarded with bi-monthly parties for the sole purpose of positive moral and individual employees are rewarded with redeemable points when they perform above expectation. The decision of what counts as “performing above expectation” is decided by the managers and is used very loosely. At time points will be rewarded just for doing jobs no one else wants to do or even running and getting the managers food on their breaks. This exchange of rewards is meant to simply get the company’s needs met by the employees or for the managers’ personal gain. According to the commentary, this exchange of value to advance the managers’ own agendas fits perfectly with the ideas of a transactional leader. (PSU WC Lesson 10, p6)
Although the reward system already in affect is a good start, there needs to be some boundaries on administering these points to avoid encouraging transactional leadership. Points should only be administered for employees who take initiative towards actions that are not based around personal agendas. A few examples would be volunteering to do something that no one else wants to do or generally working hard. Although there is still a transaction occurring, the act is done without the expectation of receiving a reward and comes from pure personal motivation. It should also be encouraged the management foster this motivation by communicating their vision to the employees, bonding with their team personally and building trust through an image of self-confidence, moral conviction, and personal example and self-sacrifice. (PSU WC Lesson 10, p5)
References
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2013). PSYCH 485: Leadership in Work Settings. Lesson 10, Transformational Leadership.https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa13/psych485/002/content/10_lesson/08_page.html