In high school, I had a teacher who I believe perfectly exemplifies a transformational leader. This teacher was the best teacher I’ve ever had and I think most of the kids I went to highschool with would agree with. He was a very positive, funny, and kind person. He always say the best in people and he saw potential in every single one of his students without ever judging anyone.
I think my teacher was a great example of a transformational leader for many reasons. One reason is, he always had a good vision (PSU WC, 2019, L. 10). Whenever a student was struggling with anything from school work to problems at home, he was able to see this and try to help. If a kid was struggling in his class, he would always ask the kid to stay after class for a few minutes to talk. During these talks, he would help you figure out what the problem was and talk through different ways that these problems could be fixed. I remember one day I was feeling really down because my dog had just died the day before. He could see this in my demeanor and asked me to stay after class for a quick chat. Once I told him why I was sad, he connected with me by sharing a story about how his wife had passed a few years ago. He then gave me suggestions of ways that I could handle the situation better and ways to make me feel more at peace.
Another transformational leader characteristic my teacher displayed was his rhetorical skills. A transformational leadership has good rhetorical skills which is described as someone who is talented at sharing they vision and inspiring others to reach their vision or goal (PSU WC, 2019, L. 10). Since after high school everyone was going to college, our teacher gave us many talks about college and life after it. He would inspire us to truly go to whatever college we wanted without caring about the prestige of it or who of our friends are going there. He told us his story of going to college in Nebraska. He said that he had zero friends going there since he was from Philadelphia and he was scared. He then went on to explain how in college most people will meet new friends that will continue to be a part of your life for the rest of your life. He inspired us to embrace many different visions of ours; our jobs, our friends, our decisions, and basically all aspects of life.
My teacher also had a very good example of personalized leadership. Personalized leadership is another characteristic of a transformational leader and is described as someone that builds strong, personal bond with their followers and can pick up on their follower’s emotional states (PSU WC, 2019, L. 10). My teacher displayed this all the time, a good example like I said earlier is from when he noticed my mood was different after my dog died. My teacher also always built strong bonds with all of his students, and I mean always. He was the most well-known and liked teacher at the school and we even had a day dedicated to him each year where he was celebrated. He was able to build these strong bonds because he paid attention to everyone’s emotional states and was always trying to make people happier. He would try to get to know each of his students personally by interacting with everyone and asking questions about our lives and sharing things from his own life. He was also able to build strong relationships because, like Collin Powell’s rule #11; Remain calm. be kind, he was always kind to everybody all the time. Even when kids were acting up or doing something that he didn’t find appropriate for the class room, he would never get mad. He would explain why he thought we shouldn’t be doing something and really helped to see why it was wrong and he was very kind about it.
Very good, point’s, transformational leaders are frequently in tune with their follower’s personal and emotional state. The goal of a leader who is transformational is to identify why a person or people are struggling, or sorrowful and being able to identify the inward potential, and capabilities of their followers. “As its name implies, transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people.” (Northouse, 2016) A good transformational leader cares about his or her followers and strives to inspire them to pursue their goals. They accomplish this by motivating, coaching, and leading by an example for their followers to grow in every area of their life to reach their maximum potential as an individual. These types of leaders are not afraid to share their own lives with people in order to see a successful change in their life. “It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals. (Northouse, 2016)
Your teacher seems to be a great example of a transformational leader. He saw potential in each of his students and he strove to bring out the absolute best in each of his students. “Transformational leadership involves an exceptional form of influence that moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them.” (Northouse, 2016) The vision that he saw in you and the rest of his student is a unique gift that not every leader has or tries to attain. “Effective leaders create compelling visions that can guide people’s behavior. (Northouse, 2016) By sharing his life with you and many others he was able to make an impact on your life and others which is what transformational leaders do.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications
I enjoyed your post about a teacher you had in high school that is a transformational leader. I also discussed a college professor that I had that I felt was a transformational leader. In many ways, he had a lot to do with my career path and where I am today. Your early choices in your path to a career certainly have a great impact on your future and your life in general. As with many leadership theories transformational leadership deals with the leader, the follower, and the situation. You discussed the main leader characteristics associated with transformational leadership, including vision, rhetorical skills, trust, and personalized leadership very well (PSU WC, L 10, P. 3).
The other part of the equation is the characteristics of the follower and I wonder how it fits in this situation. The follower in transformational leadership identifies with the leader and vision, meaning they bond with the leader because they see their vision as a solution to their problems (PSU WC, L 10, P. 3). The followers exhibit heightened emotional levels because the leader stirs the follower’s feelings resulting in increased effort and performance (PSU WC, L 10, P. 3). I found once I was fully engaged with my professor’s beliefs, my classwork and grades were greatly improved. The follower also characterizes a willingness to be subordinate to the leader and deferring to their expertise and authority (PSU WC, L 10, P. 3). I used my time under the guidance of this professor to soak up every bit of knowledge and learn as much as I could so I could achieve what he knew I could. Lastly, the followers under the influence of a transformational leader should expect more from themselves and work harder to achieve their goals (PSU WC, L 10, P. 3).
The final part of this is the situation and I feel both high school and college are situations that are ideal for transformational leaders. There are always those students that have a clear picture of what they want to be and how they plan to get there. There are also students like me and many others that need some guidance, some direction, some inspiration, someone to believe their goals. I feel situations like this, with followers described above are ideal for transformational leaders. I wonder where I might be or what I might be doing if I hadn’t encountered my transformational leader many years ago. This supports the power behind transformational leaders and in your case and mine a transformational teacher. Thanks again for your post.
Rick Holfoth
References:
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). PSYCH 485 Lesson 10: Transformational Leadership, Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008237/modules/items/27074730