Ramayana & Transformational Leadership ­ Presentation Transcript

1. Valmiki Ramayana and Transformational Leadership By Balakrishnan Muniapan Sungai Petani, Kedah, 
MALAYSIA 
2. Abstract This paper explores and explains the transformational leadership style demonstrated by Sri Rama. 
Transformational leadership consisting four dimensions (4I’s) namely; Inspirational Motivation (IM), Idealized 
Influenced (II), Intellectual Stimulation (IS) and Individualized Consideration (IC) was developed by Bass & 
Avolio (1994). This paper is based on a qualitative research methodology called hermeneutics, which is the 
interpretation of ancient or classical literature (Valmiki Ramayana) and the review of literatures in 
transformational leadership . 
3. Introduction Kujantam rama rameti madhuram madruraksaram; Aruhya kavita sakham vande valmiki kokilam 
“I salute Valmiki, the cuckoo, who, perching on the tree of poesy, melodiously sing the sweet syllables – 
Rama, Rama” (Ranganathanda Swami cited in Subramaniam, 2003, pp vii). Valmiki Ramayana, in the 
Sanskrit literature is known as Adikavya or the first poem and Sri Valmiki Muni is known as Adikavi or the 
first poet Valmiki Ramayana offers many lessons in various fields by great personalities, Sri Rama exhibited 
great leadership qualities, which has transformed and continues to transform millions of people even today. 
4. Valmiki Ramayana is the source of many other versions of Ramayana such as Adhyatma Ramayana 
(Sanskrit), Kamba Ramayana (Tamil), Tulsidas Ramayana (Hindi), Ezhuttachan Ramayana (Malayalam) and 
other Ramayanas in all the languages of the states in India and also in the South East Asian languages. As 
Tulsidas, the author of Ramcharitamanas (Tulsidas Ramayana) said, `Ramakatha kai miti jaga nahi` ­ It is 
impossible to keep count of Ramakathas (Ramayana versions) in this world (Sundaram, 2002) The stories 
and the personalities associated with the lila (pastimes) of Sri Rama have captured the hearts of over three 
billion people worldwide. ‘Ram katha jag mangal karni’ quotes Tulsidas, which means the story of Sri Rama 
will bring about the good of the world (Sharma, 2002). 
5. A Veda (knowledge) by itself was revealed by Sri Valmiki Muni, in the form of Ramayana when Sri Rama, the 
goal of Vedas came as the son of King Dasaratha (Vedavedye pare punsi jate Dasarathatmaje; Vedah 
prachetasadasit sakshadramayanatmana). Valmiki Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses divided into six 
Kandas (sections) namely Bala, Ayodhya, Aranya, Kishkinda, Sundara and Yuddha Kanda. A seventh Kanda 
named Uttara Kanda stands apart from the main epic (Tapasyananda, 1991). The narration of Valmiki 
Ramayana revolves around the life and character of Sri Rama who was born to King Dasaratha – the King of 
Ayodhya. Sri Valmiki Muni portrays Sri Rama as an ideal king, ideal son, ideal brother, ideal husband, ideal 
friend, ideal student and ideal enemy. 
6. Objectives of the Paper This paper specifically explores and explains the transformational leadership 
exhibited by Sri Rama as narrated by Valmiki Muni in Ramayana. Research works exploring and explaining 
the Ramayana (Vedic literatures) in the context of modern management and leadership are limited. 
Ramayana has a lot to offer to management and leadership, however there is a lack of awareness of the 
message and lessons from Ramayana in leadership in this 21st century. The transformational leadership 
exhibited by Sri Rama is a model and a guideline for every leader at any levels of organization, society and 
country. 
7. Leadership Leadership is an art (not science) of influencing, motivating, inspiring, and transforming people 
(human resources) towards achieving organizational goals. The leader is the most important element in 
leadership. Napoleon once said that he would have an army of rabbits led by a lion than a army of lion led a 
a rabbit (Sheh, 2003) 
8. Transformational Leadership Bass & Avolio (1994) states that there two types of leadership; Transactional 
Leadership and Transformational Leadership Burns (1978) characterized transformational leadership as a 
process that motivates followers by appealing to higher ideals and moral values. Transformational leaders 
are able to define and articulate a vision and mission for their organization and departments and their 
leadership style can transform their followers towards higher performance Transactional leadership focuses 
 on exchange on valued things (rewards) and how current needs of followers can be fulfilled (Bass & Avolio, 
1994) 
9. Transformational Leadership “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to go to the forest to gather 
wood, saw it, and nail the planks together (Transactional Leader) Instead, teach them the desire to explore 
the sea (Transformational Leader).” 
10. Traits of a Transformational Leader 1. Transformational leaders are visionaries ­ Sri Rama created future 
vision for Ayodhya and the vision was clearly communicated to the people of Ayodhya before leaving to the 
forest. 2. Transformational leaders are change agents ­ Sri Rama changed the kingship of Kiskhinda from 
Vali to Sugriva and the kingship of Lanka. 3. Transformational leaders ­ are courageous people. Sri Rama 
was firm and brave to take all the risk to protect the words his father (King Dasaratha) gave to Kaikeyi 
11. Traits of a Transformational Leader 4. Transformational leaders believe in people ­ Sri Rama had complete 
trust and belief in Sugriva to recover Sita. 5. Transformational leaders are value driven ­ Sri Rama, never 
deviated or deviates from the words he had and has given. 6. Transformational leaders are life long learners 
­ Sri Rama, a perfect example of life of learner. 7. Transformational leaders have the ability to deal with 
complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty ­ Sri Rama had to make the painful decision to banish Sita from 
Ayodhya. 
12. The Four (4) Dimensions of Transformational Leadership Idealized Influence (II) ­ the people of Ayodhya 
were full of loyalty and adoration to Sri Rama, which resulted them to follow him (Sri Rama) and to request 
Sri Rama to return to their kingdom (Ayodhya). Intellectual Stimulation (IS) ­ The intellectual stimulation 
provided by Sri Rama forced Bharata to think and rethink some of the ideas that he never questioned before. 
13. The Four (4) Dimensions of Transformational Leadership Inspirational Motivation (IM) ­ Hanuman crossed 
the ocean to Lanka and found Sita. Sri Rama also exhibited inspirational motivation to the vanaras in the 
construction of the bridge to Lanka. Individualized Consideration (IC) ­ it is my vow to provide shelter and 
protection to any living entity from fear, even if Ravana comes for protection, he (Sri Rama) will give 
protection. (Sakrudeva prapannaya tavasmiti cha yachate; Abhayam sarva bhutrbhyo dadamyetadh vratam 
mama). 
14. Sri Rama exhibits inspirational motivation to the vanaras (monkeys) in the construction of the bridge to 
Lanka 
15. Conclusion Concluding sargas (chapters) of Yuddha Kanda and in Uttara Kanda describe the results and 
outcome of Sri Rama’s transformational leadership. Vikasa (2000) described leadership of Ayodhya, during 
Sri Rama’s reign. All citizens were fully righteous, always looking towards Sri Rama as their lord and master. 
Beyond that they saw Sri Rama as their life and soul. All talk centered around Sri Rama. The entire Ayodhya 
transformed into Vaikunta. 
16. Sri rama rama rameti rame rame manorame; Sahasra nama tat tulyam rama nama varanane Thank you 
Balakrishnan Muniapan mbalakrsna@yahoo.com

Bass' Transformational Leadership Theory

Disciplines > Leadership > Leadership theories > Bass' Transformational Leadership Theory
Assumptions | Description | Discussion | See also

Assumptions
Awareness of task importance motivates people.
A focus on the team or organization produces better work.
Description
Bass defined transformational leadership in terms of how the leader affects
followers, who are intended to trust, admire and respect the transformational
leader.
He identified three ways in which leaders transform followers:

• Increasing their awareness of task importance and value.

• Getting them to focus first on team or organizational goals, rather than their
own interests.
• Activating their higher-order needs.

Charisma is seen as necessary, but not sufficient, for example in the way that
charismatic movie stars may not make good leaders. Two key charismatic effects
that transformational leaders achieve is to evoke strong emotions and to cause
identification of the followers with the leader. This may be through stirring appeals.
It may also may occur through quieter methods such as coaching and mentoring.
Bass has recently noted that authentic transformational leadership is grounded in
moral foundations that are based on four components:

• Idealized influence
• Inspirational motivation
• Intellectual stimulation
• Individualized consideration

...and three moral aspects:

• The moral character of the leader.

• The ethical values embedded in the leader’s vision, articulation, and program
(which followers either embrace or reject).
• The morality of the processes of social ethical choice and action that leaders
and followers engage in and collectively pursue.

This is in contrast with pseudo-transformational leadership, where, for example, in-

group/out-group 'us and them' games are used to bond followers to the leader.

Discussion
In contrast to Burns, who sees transformational leadership as being inextricably
linked with higher order values, Bass sees it as amoral, and attributed
transformational skills to people such as Adolf Hitler and Jim Jones.

See also
Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectation. New York:
Free Press.
Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to
share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, (Winter): 19-31.
Bass, B. M. and Steidlmeier, P. (1998). Ethics, Character and Authentic
Transformational Leadership, at: http://cls.binghamton.edu/BassSteid.html

Article Abstract

Title: Transformational leadership style demonstrated by Sri Rama in Valmiki

Ramayana
Author: Balakrishnan A/L Muniapan
Address: Human Resource Management, School of Business, Curtin University of
Technology, CDT 250, 98009 Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia
Journal: International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management 2007 - Vol. 1,
No.1/2 pp. 104 - 115
Abstract: This paper explores the transformational leadership style demonstrated by Sri
Rama in Valmiki Ramayana, which has transformed and continues to transform
millions of Indians even today. According to Burns (1978), leadership occurs in
one of the two ways: either transactional or transformational. Transactional
leadership involves an exchange of valued things, based on current values and
motivations of both leaders and followers. Transactional leaders emphasise the
clarification of tasks, work standards, and outcomes. In contrast, Burns (1978)
characterised transformational leadership as a process that motivates followers by
appealing to higher ideals and moral values. Transformational leaders are able to
define and articulate a vision for their organisation; society, country and their
leadership style can transform their followers towards higher performance. The
transformational leadership had long been demonstrated by Sri Rama thousands
of years before the introduction and the development of transformational
leadership model by Burns (1978) and later by Bass and Avolio (1994). This paper
specifically explores and explains the transformational leadership style
demonstrated by Sri Rama, which consists of four dimensions (4 Is), namely,
Inspirational Motivation (IM), Idealised Influence (II), Intellectual Stimulation (IS)
and Individualised Consideration (IC) as developed by Bass and Avolio (1994).
This paper is based on the review of literatures on transformational leadership
and a qualitative research methodology called hermeneutics, which is the
interpretation of an ancient or a classical literature (Valmiki Ramayana). The
author hopes that these lessons in leadership by Sri Rama will guide and inspire
the leaders not only in the Indian context, but also universally.
Keywords: Indian leadership; transformational leadership; Valmiki Ramayana; Sri Rama; India;
higher ideals; moral values; vision; inspirational motivation; idealised influence;
intellectual stimulation; individualised consideration; hermeneutics; culture.
DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2007.014473

Transformational Leadership Plan - 1 -Running head: TRANSFORMATIONAL

LEADERSHIP
Transformational Leadership PlanMichael N. PhanUniversity of Phoenix School of
Advance Studies

Transformational Leadership Plan - 2 -Transformational LeadershipCommon leadership

studies mainly focuses on how to lead a given team smoothly and efficiently, which is
often called transactional leadership. These leaders can be very popular but bring little
innovation. Applying a common saying, these people may be able to change the way the
Titanic deck chairs are arranged, but cannot save the sinking ship. Sadly in most of the
organizations, the ratio of the transactional leaders to transformational leaders is high.
Therefore these organizations face negative growth due to large gap between how things
are done and how things should be done. (Transformational Leadership Primer,
2008)Transformational Leadership is about innovation which means new thoughts are
derived and put into practice. James Mc Gregor Burns first used the term transactional
leadership in 1978. According to him “transforming leadership occurs when one or more
persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to
higher levels of motivation and morality by transforming leadership which ultimately
becomes moral in that it raises the level of human conduct and ethical aspirations of both
the leader and led and, thus, has a transforming effect on both.” These leaders welcome
changes and constantly bring about changes in themselves and those around them. In
history we find both types of transformational leaders- reputed leaders and notorious
leaders. (Transformational Leadership Primer, 2008)Bass is a modern leadership theorist
who wrote in his book improving organizational effectiveness through transformational
leadership, the four basic theoretical qualities that a transformational leader should
possess. The four qualities are charisma—a quality that is difficult to describe and which
is something you know only from experience. Charisma results in the followers being
identified with the leader, vision—a quality with which the leader draws a clear picture
about the future of the team years ahead which includes all the people around him such

Transformational Leadership Plan - 3 -that they feel motivated to work for a common
objective, and this motivation induces dedication and a victorious feeling in them,
intellectual stimulation—wherein transformational leaders enable the followers to
exercise a different approach to older problems and break the barriers of conventional
thinking and inspiration—a quality which demands a fair knowledge of human mind and
behavior. Legatee is a leadership—training center, which describes the four core strengths
a transformational leader should possess. They are the ability to control oneself, an
attitude, which welcomes constant changes, the ability to create an impact on others and
the ability to build skills. (Transformational Leadership Primer, 2008)The
transformational leader works with such a style that the followers are highly motivated
and enjoys the work. The transformational leaders give their percent into everything they
do. They are people oriented and therefore they consider the people and crave for their
victory. The working steps of a transformational leader are as follows. 1)
Transformational leaders develop a vision, which is capable of motivating and bringing
about changes in the followers. 2) The vision developed should be accepted by the
followers. Very few people accept the sudden change while most people slowly welcome
the change, therefore a leader should possess great dedication and energy and to sell the
vision. Also to develop followers, the leader should be cautious in building faith. 3) The
path to reach the goal. Some leaders may know the path to the goal and the followers
should just follow him while some others would not have but would lead the team with
pleasure. Though sometimes the path may not be known, with a well-defined vision, the
path is clear. 4) The final aspect is that the transformational leader should be in the front
leading the team. They shoulder the responsibility of leading the team to success. They
remain as roll model for the whole team. They induce enthusiasm in the team constantly
motivating all with effective communication. Sometimes it appears that the goal is only a

Transformational Leadership Plan - 4 -tantalizing dream very far from realty. But with
their incessant dedication, the leaders keep the procession going. Transformational
leaders also arrange celebrations, religious functions and get together to boost the morale
of the team. Also even insignificant changes get a huge applause by which the
transformational leader gathers trust from the followers. The transformational leader
parallely focuses both on the team progress and morale boosting of the team members
because Transformational leaders do know that only motivated team members brings
success to the team. (Transformational Leadership, 2008)Of late there is an increase in
the interest for implementing transformational leadership in organizations. The term
transformational leadership was evolved by the political philosopher James McGregor
Burns in 1978 who defined it as a leadership which happens when one or more individual
participate with others and the associations creates a situation where the leaders and
followers appraise each other to higher standards of motivation and morality. The
outcome of transformational leadership is the boosting of morale whereby the conduct of
individuals and ethical aspiration of leaders and followers improve, and there is a
resultant transformational effect on both. The significant aspect of transformational
leadership is the resultant relationship between the leader and the led. (Venkateswaran,
2007)Transformational leaders have the ability to recognize their own capability and the
ability of other employees at workplace, which enables them to guide their performance
and thereby indulge in shared activity by creating a conscious atmosphere where behavior
and task is adjudged. Transformational leaders have unlimited power in them and this
power is distributed to all workers around the leaders. These types of leaders in an
organization give importance to substance and empower all who surround the leader’s
professional activity. From the business perspective, transformational leaders envisage
involvement in the long run with all parties

Transformational Leadership Plan - 5 -concerned with the business like customers,

shareholders, communities, employees and suppliers. When equals importance is given
for the opportunities of all concerned shareholders and stakeholders also enjoy the
advantages of transformational leadership. The implementation of transformational
leadership enhances the level of performance in any industry. (Venkateswaran,
2007)There are four behavioral aspects that contribute to the formation of a
transformational leadership. They are intellectual stimulation, charisma, individualized
concern and inspiration. Charisma is explained as the ability, which leaders have to
stimulate emotion in followers that will lead to a strong recognition of the followers with
the leader. The charisma evokes the vision of the leaders and gains the trust and respect of
the followers. The transformational leader has the ability to gain the inspiration of
colleagues and subordinates by exhibiting good behavior while speaking about high
performance, the utilization of symbols to acquire the attention of followers and acts as a
role model for appropriate behavior. Individualized concern is exhibited whereby the
transformational leader gives personal care and guidance to followers and gives
recognition for outstanding performance and creates self-confidence in the person.
Intellectual stimulation deals with knowledge transfer and promotion of intelligence and
rationality, which enables followers to develop skill to find creative solution for complex
problems. (Venkateswaran, 2007)The positive behavioral traits of the transformational
leader will influence the followers by lifting their morale which leaders to better
performance and self development instead of working for the sake of the organization
leading to overall security. However, the disadvantage of this concept is the assumption
that leadership is a position where the leader is portrayed as the boss. The modern
concept of transformational leadership paves way for an improved level of performance.
In this concept all concerned work towards a common goal and works towards a

Transformational Leadership Plan - 6 -future objective. This concept also all concerned
to question and deal with problems with a new outlook. Therefore, the application of
transformational leadership requires the implementation primarily among board of
direction. The application of this leadership in board of direction will lead to the success
of the organization irrespective of the size and geographical location in the world.
Transformational leadership should be executed in a way that is comfortable for the
followers. The implementation of this strategy may instigate an attitude of threatening in
certain circumstances especially when the new policy involves cooperation, people may
feel their individuality is being questioned. (Venkateswaran, 2007)Transformation
leadership starts with varying ideologies about the self and people around the person. The
initial change occurs when the leadership views the task from the perspective of being
and not as a job. The second change occurs when the ideology has a difference from the
past policy of power and control over subordinates and associates. The latest leadership
strategy is to enable associate to recognize his or her own ability and leadership
capability. In the past, leadership meant that human resources conducted their task
according to the direction of the leader according to the leader’s aspiration but the recent
trend of leadership is mutual recognition where both parties can transcend their
limitations of performance for a reasonable cause and exhibit their attitude with good
moral, enthusiasm, courage, trust and integrity. (Venkateswaran, 2007)In certain
organizations, transformational leadership can pose a challenge. This is because
organizations give importance for human resource policies in the short run and are more
interest in reducing cost and increasing target to keep in pace with the changes in the
world. The purpose and objective of every business in today’s world is transformation.
Transformation requires new objectives and renewed perspective that is above the current
myopic managerial culture that
Transformational Leadership Plan - 7 -hinders the required qualification for execution of
work. According to Kotter, the association of cultures that block change and mangers
who are advised to handle transition in recent times is lethal. (Venkateswaran, 2007)The
requirement of leadership after ten years will be more than change. It will be of
transformation that can be obtained through learning rather than training. The training
and orientation provided for functional skills will be inefficient. Transformational leaders
should be appointed by a company’s board of directors by taking risk because they differ
from conventional manager. Thus transformational leadership should be chosen within
the organization because the management will have a better idea about the quality and
conduct of the individuals. The person should preferably be a person who has a good
working experience. The present day working environment requires transformational
leadership since this adds to the morale and raises the standard of human attitude and
performance and aspiration of all involved in the process. It has a diversified effect on all
involved and the participants seem to contribute rather than work according to directions.
(Venkateswaran, 2007)Transformational leaderships give importance to the ethical part of
work to consumers and customers. Women usually follow this type of leadership and it is
time for organizations to follow this method as the basic leadership policy. The survival
and efficiency of organizations have a longstanding evidence and association with
transformational leadership. Transformational orientation gives individuals the
opportunity to conduct self-examination and then evaluate their conduct based on present
values and prospective high value actions in the organization for total improvement. The
efficiency of a transformational leader can be improved by conducting retreats at regular
intervals in a year with a relevant party or institution. Retreats give opportunities for
business executives to revive their present plan and apply critical transformation policy
and

Transformational Leadership Plan - 8 -would enable them to use them in their further
conduct in the organization and bring novel strata of success to the company.
(Venkateswaran, 2007)It is important for the transformational manager to find a
connection between management and leadership that effect business transformation and
finally leads to better results. The management of a company is more systematic and
formal when compared to leadership. Managerial policies and procedures are evolved
from globally accepted skills like planning, controlling and budgeting. Further
management relies on accepted tools and techniques arrived through testing and reason
that can be applied to various situations. This is in contrast to leadership, which revolves
around the vision of taking the organization to a pre-determined goal. The basic
requirements of leadership is teamwork and cooperation from a large group of individuals
by maintaining the key personnel in that group motivated so that the predetermined goal
is achieved as a result of the correct transformational outcome. There are various
guidelines, which can help a person to become a transformational leader. A person should
develop a vision, which is understandable and acceptable to followers. (Venkateswaran,
2007)A well-defined vision will enable followers to achieve the goal and sense something
good in practicing a new method. A person should express a policy that can be applied as
a vision to one’s life, which is precise and has a short way to achieve it. The vision should
be promoted among others and it should have compelling voice with relevant anecdotes.
The leaders should submit the proposed vision with confidence and optimism. If
followers sense inadequate confidence in the leader, the chances of its achievement are
less. The leader should also show confidence in the follower’s capability to achieve the
vision. Confidence building is also required in a transformational leader. The level of
confidence can be raised by giving recognition to accomplishment. If one set of
employees are successful with the new vision it will serve as

Transformational Leadership Plan - 9 -motivation for others and there will be added
enthusiasm for hard work. Success and accomplishments are ought to be celebrated to
create optimism and dedication. The role of transformational leader should include
dramatic action to create waves in strategic organizational values. Employees should be
able to understand the seriousness of vision from the actions of the leader, which include
denial of poor quality work and the absolute rework requirement of work to ensure high
standards are met. (Venkateswaran, 2007)The transformational leader should focus on
empowering subordinate and serve as an example for hard in order to transform a
company’s work culture and trajectory. The path towards success is to challenge
subordinates to improve their performance above the standard expectation of the
company and acts as a stimulator for innovation and creativity to attain collective
leadership capability. Transformational leadership is not applicable for people in the
managerial level. It can be imbibed by individuals at all levels and in all circumstances.
Hence leaders should make sure to develop leadership qualities among subordinates. This
kind of leadership is applicable to people from all walks of life. This has application in
school, sports, family, social change, etc. A change in ideology or opinion or culture can
be effected by exchanging or assuring rewards. In business terms transactional leaders
offer financial reward to motivate employees and increase productivity and deny
increments for poor productivity. In the political scenario, politician ensures to provide
jobs for votes or subsidies for assisting them through election campaign. (Bass & Riggio,
2005)Transformational leaders lead the subordinate towards growth and development by
paying attention to follower’s requirements and placing the objectives of the person,
leader and the entire team and the organization at ease. In short, transformational leaders
have the capacity to bring out an outcome that exceeds the requirement of the
organization and enable followers to

Transformational Leadership Plan - 10 -achieve better satisfaction and commitment

towards the team and the organization. Transformational leadership has been a successful
tool in the military. However, latest findings state that it is applicable to all sectors and
every social circumstance. Psychology and economics go hand in hand when it comes to
transformational leadership with personal motivation converting to financial rewards on
the successful accomplishment of the mission. Transactional leadership ensures that the
follower will be rewarded only for a specific outcome but transformational leadership
ensures that the follower is comfortable with the idea and there is compliance and
commitment and the vision engages the person and feels self worth. Therefore the basic
idea of a transformational leader is to motivate other to increase performance or
productivity. Transformational leadership can be either participative or directive. The
charisma used by transformational leaders has turned havoc on followers in the case of
charismatic leaders like Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden who exploit followers for
personal and self-aggrandizing objectives. Authentic transformational leaders give more
and exhibit high levels of involvement instead of imposing superiority. (Bass & Riggio,
2005)An authentic transformational leader gives importance to challenges and persuasion
by explaining the meaning of the challenge. They adorn the role of model followers,
which creates interest for all associated with the leader. True leaders are respected,
admired and trusted. Followers then identify themselves with the leader and would like to
follow them by admiring extensive levels of capabilities, determination and persistence.
This is called idealized influence. The level of follower’s commitment is measured
through the nature of interaction, which the leader initiates. A collective enthusiasm is
usually formed to achieve the mission and reassure the followers that hindrances can be
overcome. Leaders who cast idealized influence have the willingness to take risk and
have consistency in their approach. They are reliable and can be

Transformational Leadership Plan - 11 -trusted for doing the right thing due their moral
and ethical orientation. As an inspirational motivator, transformational leader evokes
team spirit. (Bass & Riggio, 2005)Optimism and enthusiasm are other positive traits. This
enables leaders to attract followers to accomplish future objectives through clear
communication and instill a feeling that followers will also require to meet the target.
Since this is a shared vision all concerned should be demonstrated about the reason for
achievement of a high set goal. Contingent reward is an aspect of constructive transaction
that has resulted in good outcomes for higher performance and development levels.
Contingent reward leaders assign work and take the consent of the follower for
satisfactory performance of the task. This is a transactional reward but it will turn to be
transformational when the reward is psychological when the follower is appreciated for
the good work or improvement in productivity.

(Bass & Riggio, 2005)Transformational leadership can be better understood as a task

involving development through delegation. The best methods of delegating work are
learnt by a manger through practice and on the job experience. The manager should
recognize the fact that learning is an outcome of the opportunities encountered during a
job. This is the reason why people with more exposure and opportunities and people who
have worked with a number of assignments during their career have the additional edge
of developing and growing in a professional manner to evolve later into successful
managers of their own. (Bass & Avolio, 1993)Organizations can bestow opportunities on
potential managers by rotating their task and by giving more opportunities in various
departments for a particular period of time. The rotation of managers can also be used to
evaluate their ability to function in various situations comprising different tasks and
challenges. This gives room for conversion of latent talent into practical talent. The
rotational strategy of the organization to tap the potential of transformational

Transformational Leadership Plan - 12 -leadership is a short duration process and it may

sometimes obstruct the flow of the organization’s function. Hence alternate methods are
required to develop a leader within the organization. Delegation is a good tool to assign
authority and it is frequently used by organizations worldwide. (Bass & Avolio,
1993)Delegation is conceived to be a managerial tool which is also recognized as a
decision making process or a method to get things done by others especially when
performance is expected above the preconceived levels. Delegation is sometimes viewed
as a narrow method of using the ability and potential of a person though it gives several
opportunities for improving skills and increasing personal involvement. Transformational
leader can be called as a development leader because the leader exchanges a value based
idea, which involves the development of the follower with a need for negotiation for
betterment. The objective of the leader is to correct an issue or to get into an agreement to
increase the likelihood of achieving better outcomes. It includes the requirement for a
change in the follower’s beliefs, need and value. (Bass & Avolio, 1993)Transformational
leadership gives importance to emotions, imagination and intellect of all concerned and
gives opportunity to increase a person’s performance capability under pressure,
challenging work atmosphere and deal with problems at work. Therefore the leadership
aims to implement change by strengthening the ability of person by enhancing the
interaction capability of a person in a complex situation to utilize creativity when there
are obstacles and conflict for improvement. Behavioral change is one of the key factors
for transformation of an individual. Conventional approach is replaced by exhilarating
experience to identify the potential of a person where the learning of the person is
directed towards an improved trajectory. The outcome of such training is a cycle of
personalized experiences that penetrate into a person for

Transformational Leadership Plan - 13 -deeper progress and results in powerful

performance. Transformational leaders instill increased confidence, deeper insight, better
understanding, increased understanding about capabilities, increased understanding about
structural factors and a greater sense of individual authority in the followers. The
followers will also be empowered to recognize and contribute their work with diversity in
an informed and enriched working atmosphere, which results in better effectiveness of
services.

(“
Breaking Through’s 'Transformational Leadership Programme’
”, 2008)Transformational leadership requires change to be implemented and sustained in
an organization. Rather than demonstration, transformational leadership is learning and
working together process where both the leader and follower involve in a particular task.
The influence of the leader is more on the behavior, which results in the action of the
subordinate and getting people to involve in their work especially in the case of multi-
tasking. The word criticism does not hold well in transformational leaders for the mistake
of a follower. The mistake or error in the performance is corrected by the leader’s
involvement and guidance about how the work has to be performed. Encouragement is
the most important part for followers who have already implemented the new policies
while appreciation; praise and reward are the significant factor to sustain the performance
of followers who have already accomplished the vision and mission of the
transformational leader. This boosts confidence and instills credibility about the ideas and
vision of the transformational leader.
(Hellingsworth, Best, & Valence, 2002)A transformation leader uses the inborn
leadership quality to perceive leadership in followers. Self-schema is an important aspect
of leaders who display a different trajectory in invoking leadership. The leader prototype
is self-defining for followers wherein the experience of leaders in other settings
stimulates the actions to influence action of followers. The action of leaders from
different demographic regions varies and they display different leadership self-

Transformational Leadership Plan - 14 -schema. Besides this, there are gender

differences when it comes to transformational leadership. Male and female leaders
manage followers from different perspectives.

(Hogg & Tindale, 2001)In conclusion, transformational leaders lead the change in an
organization, society or group by implementing their self developed policies and the
strategies they have arrived at from previous work experiences. The transformation
leaders is not a boss who directs followers to implement actions, but the leader is a
member of a group or team who instills confidence, improves intellect and functionality
and builds confidence among the team members. By involving in the team, the leader
finds better acceptance for new policies and procedures, which leads to the substantiation
of the leader’s vision. The leader also gives opportunity for followers to discover their
individuality and personal capability, which eventually leads to better performance and
improvement in the assigned task that is beyond the expected level of performance.
Therefore, a transformational leader lead the change in any set up and contributes to the
overall improvement of performance.

Transformational Leadership Plan - 15 -ReferencesBass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993)

“Improving Organizational Effectiveness through Transformational Leadership” London:
Sage.Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2005) “Transformational Leadership” London:
RoutledgeBurns, M. J. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
N. A. (2008)
“Breaking Through’s 'Transformational Leadership Programme’”
Retrieved 22 August, 2008 from
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/leadership/breaking.html
N. A. (2008) “Transformational Leadership Primer” Retrieved 22 August, 2008
fromhttp://www.legacee.com/Info/Leadership/LeaderResources.html
N. A. (2008) “Transformational Leadership” Retrieved 22 August, 2008
fromhttp://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/transformational_leadership.h
tm
Hellingsworth, B., Best, R., & Valence, Gerard de. (2002) “Design and Construction”
Butterworth-Heinemann.Hogg, M. A., & Tindale, R. S. (2001). Group Processes. New
Jersey: Blackwell Publishing.Venkateswaran, N. (2007, Feb) “Transformational
Leadership” Retrieved 22 August, 2008 from
http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC512/fc512.htm