What kind of president do I want leading my country?
I want one that will bring change to the country that will go beyond his/her possible two year term. I want a leader that motivates the nation to become greater than what they are now and calls us to change for the better. We should all want a leader that isn’t satisfied with current standards, but seeks to create newer and higher standards, instead of leaving the U.S. behind in relation to other first world countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.
Feel the Bern!
If the leader above I just described is the kind of leader you want for this country then you are looking for a person that exhibits the transformational leadership style. Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is just such a transformational leader.
In the video below a question is asked by college student about Bernies’ plans for free tuition and student dept financial aid. He was asked a very legitimate question on how he planned on achieving such a goal. His answer is one to be remembered by all.
Bernie seems to be aiming the country on path that will transform its people. If you listen to his speeches you will hear someone that values the 99%, he has long term goals that as they are accomplished will build on the ethics of what it is to be American, and aid we the people a happier people in general. What I just described to you was the characteristics of Transformational Leadership. (Northouse, 2016)
A leader that wants to empower the people of his country to be educated and no matter what economic class you fit in. Proving you work hard, he wants everyone to have the opportunity to achieve their dreams of school. As history stands, an educated population is an informed population. An informed population is a population that can change the world for the better as ignorance can only keep a city in the dark, knowledge is the light at the end of the tunnel. People that know can change, they can transform, they can create.
References:
Northouse, Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th Ed.). SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA. Print.
MSNBC. (2016, February 19). Bernie Sanders On His ‘Revolutionary’ Idea For Free Higher Education [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/XsMHjQP_f9g
David Lincoln Joseph says
I think you are exactly right, in many ways Bernie Sanders subscribes to a leadership style that has many of the components of transformational leadership that Northouse (2016) describes in his book, Leadership: Theory and Practice. Beginning with his personal characteristics that Northouse (2016) spends significant time discussing that are indicative of transformational leaders, Sanders demonstrates that he not only aligns to many of them, but he goes above and beyond living them. Northouse (2016) says that transformational leaders are dominant, have a desire to influence others, are strongly self-confident, and possess strong moral values. Sanders strong will desire to create change, his non-fearing commitment to aspirations that were initially unpopular, and his stick-to-itiveness that has created a tremendous following demonstrates that he in many ways has personality characteristics that are dominant. In attempting to introduce, effectuate change in perception, and see these ambitions to completion confirms that he is by nature congruent to the second component of transformational leadership characteristic of having a desire to influence others. It also speaks of his self-confidence in believing and committing to his values and beliefs and in doing so attaches him to the third component of self-confidence. Finally, his history of standing up for civil rights of minority to the point of willingly putting himself in harm’s way, as he did in the 1970s matching to condemn the harsh treatment of African-Americans, puts him at the center of having personality characteristics that are parallel with Northouse’s (2016) fourth component of having strong moral values.
But evidence of Sanders’ leadership style being that of a transformational leader doesn’t end here. Northouse (2016) identifies four distinct factors that he says will be found in all transformational leaders: Idealized Influence, which he says involves leaders engaging followers in an exchange of high ethical, trust, and other benevolent gestures that result in followers developing strong identity with the leader; Inspirational Motivation, the initiation by a leader to stimulate followers into higher that normal performance that is achieved through actions of communicating high expectations, inspirational supportive encouragement that is accompanied with attempts to bolster followers individual perception of themselves; Intellectual Stimulation, the promotional by leaders to entice followers to achieve personal creativity, elevate their problem-solving skills, and altogether esteem their beliefs and values beyond their norms; Individualized Consideration, the facilitation by a leader to provide and foster means for followers, on an individual basis, to excel (Northouse, 2016). Bernie Sanders relatively recent explosion onto the national stage and who he has projected himself to be fulfills many of these transformational factors that Northouse (2016) discusses. As seen in the video that you provided, Sanders aims to bolster the thinking and ambitions of the nation (his targeted followers) to strive for a higher level of acceptable norm in education. In doing so, he shows that his leadership style embraces Idealized Influence as he provides his projected followers with a vision and a sense of mission. When he discusses the next generation of Americans key role in reaching this elevated goal to grow the nation, he satisfies the aspect of Northouse’s (2016) Inspirational Motivation by structuring this segment of his audience with a sense of purpose and responsibility in his long term vision. His efforts to challenge these future students to rise to the opportunity and to run with this vision in a personalized way can be seen as an act of Northouse’s (2016) Intellectual Stimulation. In promoting these agendas through town-hall style meetings in schools and other venues that will be of greatest use to students who may utilize his proposed “free-public schools for all,” he sort of directs his support to a specific segment of his followership. This could be seen as an act of Individualized Consideration as he narrows his supportive attention to a small circle of a greater audience.
Together, it’s clear that Senator Sanders’ charismatic show of empowering followers is his way of being committed to his followers to propels them to new heights of self-actualization through achieving more educationally, stimulate motivation by jeering them to seek high standards, the demonstration of an altruistic devotion as he shows that he cares about their future, and an individualized effort to tend to their specific needs all signify that his leadership closely follows transformational leadership style.
Reference
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.