Transformational leaders inspire, energize, and intellectually stimulate theiremployees. The author argues that through training, managers can learn

the techniques and obtain the qualities they need to becometransformational leaders.

From Transactional toIransformational Leadership:Learning to Share the Vision

BERNARD M. BASS

^^ir jEdmund Hillary of Mount Everest\ fajne liked to tell a story about one of

^J Captain Robert Falcon Scott's earlier at-tempts, from 1901 to 1904, to reach the SouthPole. Scott led an expedition made up of menfrom thb Royal Navy and the merchant ma-rine, as jwell as a group of scientists. Scott hadconsidel'able trouble dealing with the mer-chant n|arine personnel, who were unaccus-tomed ip the rigid discipline of Scott's RoyalNavy. S|:ott wanted to send one seaman homebecause he would not take orders, but the sea-man refused, arguing that he had signed acontract and knew his rights. Since the sea-man wds not subject to Royal Navy discipli-nary action, Scott did not know what to do.Then Ernest Shackleton, a merchant navy of-ficer in $cott's party, calmly informed the sea-man th^t he, the seaman, was returning toBritain. Again the seaman refused —andShackle^on knocked him to the ship's deck.After ar^other refusal, followed by a second

flooring, the seaman decided he would retuijnhome. Scott later became one of the victimsof his own inadequacies as a leader in his 1911race to the South Pole. Shackleton went qnto lead many memorable expeditions; once,seeking help for the rest of his party, whowere stranded on the Antarctic Coast, hejourneyed with a small crew in a small openboat from the edge of Antarctica to SouilhGeorgia Island.

LEADERSHIP TODAY

Most relationships between supervi-sors and their employees are quite differenttoday. Few managers depend mainly on theirlegitimate power, as Scott did, or on theircoercive power, as Shackleton did, to per-suade people to do as they're told. Rather,managers engage in a transaction with theiremployees: They explain what is required of 19

Bernard M. Bass is Distinguished Profes-sor of Management and director of theCenter for Leadership Studies at the StateUniversity of New York at Binghamton. Hehas held faculty positions at the Univer-sity of Rochester, the University of Pitts-burgh, the University of California atBerkeley, and Louisiana State University.He is a fellow of the Academy of Manage-ment and the Society for Industrial/Orga-nizational Psychology, executive editor ofThe Leadership Quarterly, and a memberof the executive committee of the Interna-tional Association of Applied Psychologyand past president of its division of orga-nizational psychology. Bass has performedresearch, led management developmentprograms, conducted workshops, and lec-tured on leadership in more than 30 coun-tries; his books have been translated intomany languages. He has led a worldwidemanagement research and training pro-gram sponsored by the Ford Foundation.Bass holds a Ph.D. from Ohio StateUniversity. His latest work. The Bass andStogdill Handbook of Leadership (ThirdEdition) (Free Press, 1990) reviews andintegrates leadership theory, research,and applications from the social, political,and behavioral sciences.

20

them and what compensation they will re-ceive if they fulfill these requirements.

A shift in management style at Xerox'sReprographic Business Group (RBG) pro-vides a good example. In the first step towardestablishing management in which managerstake the initiative and show consideration forothers, 44 specific, effective management be-haviors were identified. Two factors that char-acterize modern leadership were found inmany of these behaviors. One factor—initial-ing and organizing work—concentrates on ac-complishing the tasks at hand. The secondfactor —showing consideration for employ-ees — focuses on satisfying the self-interest ofthose who do good work. The leader getsthings done by making, and fulfilling, prom-ises of recognition, pay increases, and ad-vancement for employees who perform well.By contrast, employees who do not do goodwork are penalized. This transaction or ex-change—this promise and reward for good per-formance, or threat and discipline for poorperformance —characterizes effective leader-ship. These kinds of transactions took placein most of the effective 44 leadership be-haviors identified at Xerox's RBG. This kindof leadership, which is based on transactionsbetween manager and employees, is called"transactiona! leadership."

In many instances, however, such trans-actional leadership is a prescription for medi-ocrity. This is particularly true if the leaderrelies heavily on passive management-by-ex-ception, intervening with his or her grouponly when procedures and standards for ac-complishing tasks are not being met. My col-leagues and I have arrived at this surprisingbut consistent finding in a number of researchanalyses. Such a manager espouses the popu-lar adage, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." Heor she stands in back of the caboose of a mov-ing freight train and says, "Now I know v/herewe are going." This kind of manager may use

disciplinary threats to bring a group's perfor-mance up to standards —a technique that isineffective and, in the long run, likely to becounterproductive.

Moreover, whether the promise of re-wards or the avoidance of penalties motivatesthe employees depends on whether the leaderhas control of the rewards or penalties, andon whether the employees want the rewardsor fear the penalties. In many organizations,pay increases depend mainly on seniority,and promotions depend on qualifications andpolicies about which the leader has little tosay. The breaking of regulations rnay be themain cause of penalties. Many an executivehas found his or her hands tied b3 contractprovisions, organizational politics, and in-adequate resources.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Superior leadership performance — trans-formational leadership — occurs when leadersbroaden and elevate the interests of their em-ployees, when they generate awareness andacceptarice of the purposes and mission of thegroup, and when they stir their employees tolook beyond their own self-interest for thegood of the group. Transformational leadersachieve these results in one or more ways:They may be charismatic to their followersand thus inspire them; they may meet theemotional needs of each employee; and/orthey may intellectually stimulate employees.Exhibit 1 lists the characteristics of transfor-mational and transactional leadership; theselistings are based on the findings of a seriesof surveys and on clinical and case evidence.

Attaining charisma in the eyes of one'semployees is central to succeeding as a trans-formational leader. Charismatic leaders havegreat power and influence. Employees wantto identify with them, and they have a high

degree of trust and confidence in them. Char-ismatic leaders inspire and excite their errj-ployees with the idea that they may be ableto accomplish great things with extra effort.Further, transformational leaders are individ-ually considerate, that is, they pay close atteivtion to differences among their employee?.;they act as mentors to those who need heljp'to grow and develop. Intellectual stimulatio jn.of employees is a third factor in transforma-tional leadership. Intellectually stimulatingleaders are willing and able to show their em-ployees new ways of looking at old problems,to teach them to see difficulties as problerqsto be solved, and to emphasize rational solu-tions. Such a leader was Lorenz Iversen, a.former president of the Mesta Machine Coni-pany, who said to his employees, "We got thisjob because you're the best mechanics in theworld!" He practiced management-by-walli-ing-around and stimulated the developmetjtof many of Mesta's patented inventions. He isremembered for instilling pride and commit-ment in his emploj^es.

THE BIG PAYOFF

Managers who behave like transform<i-tional leaders are more likely to be seen bytheir colleagues and employees as satisfjdngand effective leaders than are those who be-have like transactional leaders, according tptheir colleagues', supervisors', and employees'responses on the Multifactor Leadership Queii-tionnaire (MIQ). Similar results have beehfound in various organizational settings. Lead-ers studied have come from an extremelybroad variety of organizations: chief executiveofficers and senior and middle level managersin business and industrial firms in the Unite lStates, Canada, Japan, and India; researchand development project leaders; America^,Canadian, and British Army field grade offi- 21

Exhibit 1CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERS

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER

Charisma: Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust.Inspiration: Communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, expresses important purposes

in simple ways.Intellectual Stimulation: Promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful problem solving.Individualized Consideration: Gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches, advises.

TRANSACTIONAL LEADER

Contingent Reward: Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good performance,recognizes accomplishments.

Management by Exception (active): Watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takescorrective action.

Management hy Exception (passive): Intervenes only if standards are not met.Laissez-Faire: Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making decisions.

22

cers; United States Navy senior officers andjunior surface fleet officers; Annapolis mid-shipmen; educational administrators; and re-ligious leaders.

Moreover, various types of evaluations —including performance ratings by both super-visors and direct reports, as well as standardfinancial measures — have produced a similarcorrelation between transformational be-havior and high ratings. Managers tagged ashigh performers by their supervisors werealso rated, in a separate evaluation by theirfollowers, as more transformational than trans-actional. Their organizations do better finan-cially. The same pattern emerged betweenfollowers' descriptions of shipboard Navalofficers and those officers' supervisors' per-formance appraisals and recommendationsfor early promotion. And among Methodistministers, transformational — not transaction-al — leadership behavior was positively relatedto high church attendance among congre-gants and growth in church membership.

Results were the same for evaluation ofteam performance in complex business simu-

lations. Considerable credit for Boeing's turn-around since its 1969 crisis can be given to itschief executive, T. A. Wilson, who has empha-sized technological progress, aggressive mar-keting, and a willingness to take calculatedbusiness risks. The confidence that Boeingemployees have in Wilson, and their respectfor him as a brilliant engineer and an out-standing leader, have instilled in them greatpride in the company and its products.

EXTRA EFFORT FROM BELOW

Transformational leaders have better re-lationships with their supervisors and makemore of a contribution to the organizationthan do those who are only transactional.Moreover, employees say that they themselvesexert a lot of extra effort on behalf of managerswho are transformational leaders. Organiza-tions whose leaders are transactional are lesseffective than those whose leaders are transfor-mational — particularly if much of the trans-actional leadership is passive management-by-

^a!?w^^-'w3«w!ET3'^''^-'".<->

exception (intervening only when standardsare not being met). Employees say they exertlittle effort for such leaders. Nevertheless,leader-fdllower transactions dependent oncontingent reward may also work reasonablywell if the leaders can provide rewards thatare valued by the followers.

Exhibit 2 illustrates the effect that trans-formational, as compared with transactional,leadership has on employee effort. The datawere collected from 228 employees of 58 man-agers in a large engineering firm. The manag-ers were ranked according to their leadershipfactor scores, which were based on descrip-tions of leaders by their employees and col-leagues on the Multifactor Leadership Ques-tionnaire. "Four-star" leaders were those whoranked in the top 25% on a leadership factorscore; "one-star" leaders were among the bot-tom 25 % of managers on the leadership fac-tor score. From 75% to 82% of the "four-star"transformational managers had employeeswho indicated they frequently exerted extraeffort on their jobs. Of the "one-star" transfor-mational managers, only 22% to 24% hademployees who said they frequently exertedextra effort.

It is interesting to note that, as Exhibit 2illustrates, being rated as "four-stcir" ratherthan "one-star" in transactional leadership didnot have the same impact on emplo^^ees' extraeffort as a high rating had for the transforma-tional leaders. Similar findings have emergedfrom stxidies of leaders and their immediateemployees at a diverse range of organizations,including Digital Equipment Corporation andFederal Express.

DIFFERENT STYLES OF

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

As noted earlier, certain types of behav-ior characterize the transformational leader.Yet transformational leaders vary widely in

their personal styles. H. Ross Perot is self-effacing: "I don't look impressive," he says."To a lot of guys I don't look like I could afforda car." But Perot created the $2.5 billion ED!3organization from his vision, initiative, err|-phasis on hard work, and a special organiza-tional culture with strict codes of moralit'yand dress and quasi-military management.His personal involvement in the rescue of twpof his employees trapped as hostages in Iranin 1979 is an extreme example of individual-ized consideration, a transformational factor.Leslie Wexner of The Limited, Inc. enjoys amore flamboyant lifestyle. But like Perot,Wexner converted his vision of a nationwidechain of women's sportswear stores into areality through his own hard work. He stimu-lates employee participation in discussionsand decisions and encourages them to shadehis vision of the company's future.

Many on Fortune's list of the ten toughestbosses would not live up to modern be-havioral science's prescriptions for the gooidlleader: one who initiates the structure for in-teraction among his colleagues, and who doQsso with consideration for their welfare. Never-theless, these tough bosses are highly success-ful as a consequence of the transformationalqualities they display; Boeing's Wilson is jacase in point. Although they do initiate struc-ture and may be considerate of their employ-ees, these leaders succeed through such trans-formational factors as charisma and the abil-ity and willingness to treat different subotl-dinates differently, as well as by providing in-tellectual stimulation for the employees. Theyfrequently raise standards, take calculatedrisks, and get others to join them in their vi-sion of the future. Rather than work withinthe organizational culture, they challenge andchange that culture, as Roger Smith of Gen-eral Motors Corporation did. Self-determin,a-tion and self-confidence are characteristic ofthem. They succeed because of these transf or- 23

Exhibit 2EMPLOYEES' EFFORTS UNDER VARIOUS LEADERS

Transformational Leaders

Charisma"Four-Star""One-Star"

Individualized Consideration"Four-Star""One-Star"

Intellectual Stimulation"Four-Star""One-Star"

Transactional Leaders

Contingent Reward"Four-Star""One-Star"

Management by Exception"Four-Star""One-Star"

Percentage of Employees Who Exert Extra Effort

] 82%

60%

3 58%

(Percentage of employees who rate themselves3 or 4 on a 0-4 scale of extra effort.)

24

mational elements — even if they, like Wilson,have authoritarian tendencies.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS MAKETHE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESSA N D FAILURE

Fighting with far fewer men and tanksthan his enemy had, against superior equip-ment, Ernst Rommel, the Desert Fox, won aseries of victories in 1941 and 1942 against theBritish in North Africa, until he was over-whelmed at El Alamein. Because he was upfront at the scene of the action, he could makemore rapid assessments and decisions thancould his British counterparts, who stayed 20

miles back in headquarters. This, and his will-ingness to accept calculated risks, contributedto his legendary speed, surprise, and bold-ness, as well as to the continuing high moraleof his troops.

Napoleon declared that an army of rab-bits commanded by a lion could do betterthan an army of lions commanded by a rab-bit. He was not far from the truth. With alldue respect to social, economic, political, andmarket forces, and to human resources poli-cies that affect an organization's health, havinga lion —or, in Rommel's case, a fox—in com-mand rather than a rabbit frequently meanssuccess for the organization. Lee Iacocca ofChrysler Corporation and John Welch of Gen-eral Electric, who have become folk heroes (or

folk devils, to some), are contemporary ex-amples of the importance of transformationalleaders to their organizations.

Leadership makes its presence felt through-out the organization and its activities. Wehave found that eraployees not only do a bet-ter job when they believe their supervisors aretransformational leaders, but they also aremuch more satisfied with the company's per-formance appraisal system. Likewise, masscommunications directed toward individualemployees are much more likely to have animpact if the messages are reinforced face-to-face by their supervisors at all organizationallevels.

Transformational leadership should beencouraged, for it can make a big differencein the firm's performance at all levels. Man-agers need to do more than focus on the ex-change of material,, social, and personal bene-fits for services satisfactorily rendered. Thecharismatic leader, like the flamboyant TedTurner of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.can instill a sense of mission; the individuallyconsiderate leader, like the shy and self-ef-facing Roberto Goizueta of the Coca ColaCorporation, can lead employees to take aninterest in higher-level concerns; the intellec-tually stimulating leader, like the innovativeRoger Srnith at General Motors Corporation,can articulate a shared vision of jointly ac-ceptable possibilities. This is not to say thattransformational leaders are always prosocialin their efforts, for some fulfill grandiosedreams at the expense of their followers.

Despite the many successes with manage-ment development programs and the leader-ship development programs in our militaryacademies, many executives still jFeel thatleadership is like the weather — something totalk about, but about which not much can bedone. Others say leadership ability is mysti-cal—one needs to be born with it.

In fact, much can be done to improve

leadership in an organization and to changethe presiding style from transactional to trari?;-formational. The overall amount of transfor-mational leadership in an organization can IHeincreased substantially by suitable organizgi-tional and human resources policies. The neivmodel of transformational leadership pre-sents opportunities for enhancing a corpora-tion's image and for improving its success inrecruitment, selection, and promotion. Thismodel also has implications for the organizqi-tion s training and development activities ar dfor the design of its jobs and organizationalstructure.

Implications for Corporate Image

It is no accident that many of the firmisidentified in Tom Peters and Robert Water-man's In Search of Excellence (Warner Books,1982) as excellently managed have large nund-bers of transformational leaders. Conversel]ithe poorly managed "dinosaurs" among thefirms they describe need to implement a loitmore transformational leadership. A firriiithat is permeated with transformational leadj-ership from top to bottom conveys to its owixpersonnel as well as to customers, suppliersi,financial backers, and the community at largtthat it has its eyes on the future; is confidentj:has personnel who are pulling together for thicommon good; and places a premium on itsintellectual resources and flexibility and oiithe development of its people.

Implications for Recruiting

Increasing transformational leadershipwithin the organization may help in recruit^ment. Candidates are likely to be attracted taan organization whose CEO is charismaticand enjoys a public image as a confident, suc-i 25

cessful, optimistic, dynamic leader. In addi-tion, prospects are likely to be attracted by in-terview experiences with other members ofmanagement who exhibit individualized con-sideration. More intelligent prospects will beparticularly impressed with intellectuallystimulating contacts they make during therecruiting and hiring process.

Implications for Selection, Promotion,and Transfer

Since we can identify and measure thefactors associated with transformational lead-ership, these factors should be incorporatedinto managerial assessment, selection, place-ment, and guidance programs — along withrelated assessments of relevant personal di-mensions and individual differences. Some-what more transformational leadership isgenerally expected and found as managersmove to successively higher levels in the orga-nization, but it is reasonable to expect that anindividual's performance at one level will besimilar to his or her performance at the next.Direct reports, peers, and/or supervisors canbe asked to describe the manager's currentleadership with the Multifactor LeadershipQuestionnaire; their responses should be con-sidered when decisions are made regarding amanager's promotion or transfer into a posi-tion of greater supervisory responsibility.Feedback from these results can also be usedfor counseling, coaching, and mentoring.

Further, the organization can tap the per-sonal characteristics and strengths that under-lie the manager's transformational behavior.Charismatic leaders are characterized by en-ergy, self-confidence, determination, intel-lect, verbal skills, and strong ego ideals. Eachof these traits can be assessed in individualmanagers. Similarly, we can assess some of

26 the traits underlyirig individualized consider-

ation, such as coaching skills; preference fortwo-way, face-to-face communication; andwillingness to delegate. Again, in the area ofintellectual stimulation, candidates for pro-motion could be assessed with an eye towardthe type of intellectual stimulation — general,creative, or mathematical — that would bemost effective at the higher level of manage-ment. Appropriate intelligence tests may beused to select intellectually stimulating candi-dates.

Research findings indicate that when em-ployees rate their managers on the MLQ, theydescribe new business leaders as significantlymore transformational than established busi-ness leaders. Thus MLQ scores can be usedprofitably to identify executives to head newventures.

Implications for Development

A management trainee's first supervisorcan make a big difference in his or her subse-quent career success. For example, six yearsafter they joined Exxon, many managers whowere highly rated by their supervisors report-ed that they had been given challenging as-signments by their initial supervisor (i.e., theyhad received individualized consideration).Many had been assigned to supervisors withgood reputations in the firm. It is importantto note that managers tend to model their ownleadership style after that of their immediatesupervisors. Thus if more higher-ups aretransformational, more lower-level employ-ees will emulate transformational behavior —and will be likely to act as transformationalleaders as they rise in the organization.

Organizational policy needs to supportan understanding and appreciation of themaverick who is willing to take unpopularpositions, who knows when to reject the con-ventional wisdom, and who takes reasonable

risks. For example, when R. Gordon McGov-ern took over as president of Campbell Soup,he introduced the "right to fail" policy, whichshook up the stodgy organization. On theother hand, the fine line between self-con-fidence and obstinacy needs to be drawn. Thedetermined Winston Churchill who contri-buted so much to the survival of Britain in

shown that leaders at all levels can be trainedto be charismatic in both verbal and nonvei -bal performance. Successful programs havebeen conducted for first-level project leadersin hi-tech computer firms as well as for seniorexecutives of insurance firms.

That transformational leadership can beincreased through training was verified in

C(Transformational leadership can he learned,and it can—and should—be the subject ofmanagement training and development. Re-search has shown that leaders at all levels canhe trained to he charismatic . . !'

1940 wa$ the same Churchill whose obstinacycontributed to the mistakes in 1941 of failingto prepare Singapore adequately and of com-mitting British troops to unnecessary disasterin Crete iand Greece.

Intellectual stimulation also needs to benurtured! and cultivated as a way of life in theorganization. The "best and the brightest"people should be hired, nourished, and en-couraged|. Innovation and creativity shouldbe fostered at all levels in the firm.

Implicatijins for Ihiining

Despite conventional wisdom to the con-trary, transformational leadership is a wide-spread phenomenon. True, more of it occursat the tof) than at the bottom of an organiza-tion; but jit has also been observed by manyemployees in their first-level supervisors. Trans-formatioijial leadership can be learned, and itcan —anc should —be the subject of manage-ment traijiing and development. Research has

an experiment when Multifactor Leadershiid)Questionnaire scores were obtained on shopsupervisors from their trainees, who were intmates in minimum, medium, and maximum^security prisons. The supervisors workeddirectly with the inmates in industrial shopsto produce various products for sale withinand outside the prison system. The experi^ment compared four groups of supervisors oilitheir pre- and post-training effectiveness iiivarious industrial and vocational shops in theprison. One group was trained in transformzi-tional leadership, one group was trained intransactional leadership, one was untrainedbut measured "before and after," and one wasuntrained and measured only "after." The per Jformances of both trained grovips improved,but in comparison to the three other groupsof supervisors, those who were trained intransformational leadership did as well oi'better at improving productivity, absentee-ism, and "citizenship" behavior among the in-mates; they also won more respect from theinmates.

27

TRAINING MANAGERS

Practical training that teaches peoplehow to be transformational is similar to thatused in the Xerox RPG strategy to modifymanagement style. A counselor, mediator, orsupervisor gives a manager a detailed, stan-dardized description of his or her transforma-tional and transactional leadership perfor-mance as rated by the manager's employeesand/or colleagues. The Muitifactor Leader-ship Questionnaire is used for this purpose.The manager also sees a chart showing the ef-fects of his or her leadership on employeesatisfaction, motivation, and perception oforganizational effectiveness. Anonymity ismaintained, although the manager sees the in-dividual differences among the responses.

Participating managers complete a paral-lel questionnaire about their own leadership.The discrepancies between how they ratethemselves and how their employees ratethem may be examined scale-by-scale anditem-by-item. The counselor may pose suchquestions as: "Why do you think you gaveyourself a much higher score than your em-ployees gave you in individualized considera-tion?" and "Why did your employees disagreewith you on how rapidly you get to the heartof complex problems or the extent to whichthey trust you to overcome any obstacles?" Itis important for managers to be aware of andaccept their employees' view of their perfor-mance. A study of United States Naval offi-cers found that those who agreed with theirdirect reports about their transformationalleadership behavior were also likely to earnhigher fitness ratings and recommendationsfor early promotion from their supervisors.

The manager and the counselor discuss indetail why certain results may have appearedand what can be done to improve ratings. Forexample, a manager may be asked: "What

28 specific behavior on your part makes your

employees say they are proud to work withyou?" or "What have you done that results inyour colleagues' saying you foster a sense ofmission?" The collected responses to thesequestions can create a useful picture of whatthe manager can do to raise his or her perfor-mance on particular items.

In addition to working individually witha counselor, the manager also may participatein a workshop with other managers who areworking toward becoming more transforma-tional leaders. Workshop participants whoreceived high ratings from their employees ona particular item are asked what they, the par-ticipants, specifically did to achieve these rat-ings. Questions might include: "Why did allof your employees say that you frequently en-abled them to think about old problems innew ways?'' or "Why did they all say that youincreased their optimism for the future?'

Conversely, questions may focus on whya participant's employees varied widely intheir ratings. If the data printout shoivs a widedivergence of opinion about whether a man-ager made the employees enthusiastic aboutassignments, he or she might be asked to sug-gest possible reasons for such differences ofopinion among the employees.

Other Approaches to Training

Several other approaches to teaching trans-formational leadership make use of the spe-cific data gathered in the workshop. For in-stance, participants are asked to think of aneffective leader they have known and the be-havior the leader displayed. Many examplesof charisma, individualized consideration,and intellectual stimulation are usually noted.The effective leaders who are mentioned typi-cally come from many levels inside and out-side the organization; the workshop leadermay point out that transformational leader-

ship is neither particularly uncommon norlimited only to world class leaders. Moreover,these leaders' specific behaviors can be de-scribed, observed, and adopted. After view-ing videotapes of charismatic, individuallyconsiderate, and intellectually stimulatingmanagers in action, workshop participantsmay be asked to create their own scenariosand videotapes, in which they emulate thetransformational leaders they have observed.The other participants may then offer cri-tiques apd suggest improvements.

The workshop also aims to increase otheraspects of transformational leadership. Thetransf orrnational leader develops and changesthe organizational culture, and to show par-ticipants that they have such capabilities, the

• I am going to sit down with all my errj-ployees and review these data with them.

• I am going to ask for another "reading"in a year; in the meantime I will try to reducethe discrepancies between where I am anflwhere I should be.

• I'm going to talk with my mentdrabout these results and ask him what hiethinks I should do about them. ;

Implications for Leadership Education

Military academies have traditionallyemphasized leadership education, and todaiywe are seeing a surge of interest in leadershipcourses in liberal arts colleges as well. At least

counselor, mediator, or supervisor gives amanager a detailed, standardized descriptionof his or her transformational and transac-tional leadership petformance as rated by themanagers' employees and/or colleagues."

workshop leader asks them to imagine whatthe orgafiization might be like in tv/o to fiveyears if \t were fully aligned with their ownideas arid interests. Then, in small teamsbased ori their actual functions at work, theyproceed to redesign the organization.

Similarly, training in mentoring can beused to promote the transformational factorof individualized consideration. For example,one participant can counsel another while athird acfs as an observer and a source offeedbacl about the performance. And manycreativity exercises show a manager how heor she c^n be more intellectually stimulating.Action ptans emerge from workshop sessions.Example^ include the following:

600 such courses were being offered, accord-ing to a recently completed sun/ey of collegesj.The Center for Creative Leadership holds conl-ferences on leadership courses in undergradui-ate education, most recently in the summerof 1986. The subject of transformationajlleadership also has been added to leadershipcourses at the U.S. Air Force Academy ajtColorado Springs. In one such course, botiifaculty and students examined how Air Forcfeofficers who are transformational leadersserve as role models for cadets. Scales fromthe Multifactor Leadership Questionnairewere used to show that the transformationalleaders among the instructors and staff pro-vided role models for their students. The 29

faculty and students discussed the question-naire results and their implications.

Clearly, training cannot turn a purelytransactional leader into a transformationalleader. Moreover, some managers, while striv-ing to be transformational leaders, misusetheir training; their pseudotransformationalefforts only further the manager's self-interestand values. Under the influence of such amanager, employees can be misdirected awayfrom their own best interests and those of theorganization as a whole. In one such case,Donald Burr of People's Express Airlines dis-played many transformational qualities thatrapidly built and then rapidly ruined the firm.

For too long, leadership development hasbeen seen as mainly a matter of skill develop-ment. But leadership-particularly transfor-mational leadership — should be regarded asan art and a science. It is encouraging to seethat the Council for Liberal Learning of theAssociation of American Colleges now spon-sors week-long conferences on leadership forscholars, prominent citizens, and nationalleaders.

Implications for Job Design andJob Assignment

As we have noted earlier, the results of astudy of Exxon managers showed that highlyrated managers had had challenging tasksdelegated to them by their supervisors whenthey first joined the company. Jobs can —andshould —be designed to provide greater chal-lenges. Delegation with guidance and follow-up can become an individualizing and de-velopmental way of life in a firm.

Transformational leaders show individu-alized consideration by paying attention tothe particular development needs of each oftheir employees. Employees'jobs are designed

30 with those needs in mind, as well as the needs

of the organization. One employee needs ex-perience leading a project team. Anotherneeds an opportunity to reinforce what shehas learned in an advanced computer pro-gramming class. Their transformational leaderassigns them tasks accordingly.

Leaders can be intellectually stimulatingto their employees if their own jobs allowthem to explore new opportunities, to diag-nose organizational problems, and to gener-ate solutions. Leaders whose jobs force themto focus on solving small, immediate prob-lems are likely to be less intellectually stim-ulating than those who have time to thinkahead and in larger terms.

Implications for OrganizationalStructure

Transformational leadership is not a pan-acea. In many situations, it is inappropriateand transactional processes are indicated. Ingeneral, firms that are functioning in stablemarkets can afford to depend on their "one-minute" managers to provide the necessary,day-to-day leadership. If the technology,workforce, and environment are stable aswell, then things are likely to move alongquite well with managers who simply promiseand deliver rewards to employees for carryingout assignments. And in stable organizations,even management-by-exception can be quiteeffective if the manager monitors employeeperformance and takes corrective action asneeded. Rules and regulations for gettingthings done, when clearly understood and ac-cepted by the employees, can eliminate theneed for leadership under some circum-stances.

But when the firm is faced with a turbu-lent marketplace; when its products are born,live, and die within the span of a few years;and/or when its current technology can be-

come obsolete before it is fully depreciated;

then transformational leadership needs to be

fostered at all levels in the firm. In order to

succeed, the firm needs to have the flexibility

to forecast and meet new demands and changes

as they occur —and only transformational

leadership can enable the firm to do so.

Problems, rapid changes, and uncertain-

ties call for a flexible organization with deter-

mined leaders who can inspire employees to

participate enthusiastically in team efforts

and share in organizational goals. In short,

charisma, attention to individualized devel-

opment, and the ability and willingness to

provide intellectual stimulation are critical in

leaders whose firms are faced with demands

for renewal and change. At these organiza-

tions, fostering transformational leadership

through policies of recruitment, selection,

promotion, training, and development is

likely to pay off in the health, well-being, and

effective performance of the organization.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

For nontechnical reading about transforma-tional and transactional leadership, the followingare suggested: James MacGregor Bums's Leader-ship (Harper, 1978); Bernard M. Bass's Leadershipand Performance Beyond Expectations (Free Press,1985) and "Leadership: Good, Better, Best" (Or-ganizational Dynamics, 1985); Noel Tichy andMichelle Devanna's Transformational Leadership(Wiley, 1986); Warren G. Bennis and B. Nanus'sLeaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge (Harper& Row, 1985); and Jan M. Kouzes and Barry Z.Posner's The Leadership Challenge: Haw to Get Ex-traordinary Things Done in Organizations (Jossey-Bass, 1987).

For more on transformational leadership that

is selfish or antisocial, see Bernard M. Bass's "TheTwo Faces of Charismatic Leadership" (LeadersMagazine, forthcoming) and Jane Howell's "TwoFaces of Charisma: Socialized and PersonalizedLeadership in Organizations" in Charismatic Leacl^ership: The Illusive Factor in Organizational Effec-tiveness (Jossey-Bass, 1988), edited by Jay A...Conger and Rabindra N. Kanungo and Associates.

Several articles provide more specific evirdence about and applications of transformationalleadership. These include Bruce J. Avolio and Ber-nard M. Bass's "Charisma and Beyond," in Emerg--ing Leadership Vistas, edited by Jerry G. Hunt (Lex-ington Books, 1988); Bernard M. Bass, Bruce j : .Avolio, and Laurie Goodheim's "Biography and theAssessment of Transformational Leadership at theWorld Class Level" (Journal of Management, Vo 1-ume 13, 1987); and John Hater and Bernard M|.Bass's "Superiors' Evaluations and Subordinates'Perceptions of Transformational and TransactionaJLeadership" (Journal of Applied Psychology, Novi-ember 1988).

Other very useful articles include RichardCrookall's 'IVIanagement of Inmate Workers: AField Test of Transformational and SituationalLeadership" (Ph.D. dissertation. University cfWestern Ontario, 1989); and David A. Waldman:Bernard M. Bass, and Francis J. Yarnmarino's "Addfing to Leader-Follower Transactions: The Aug-menting Effect of Charismatic Leadership" (Technifcal Report 3, Center for Leadership Studies, StafteUniversity of New York, Binghamton, 1988). Adetailed review of findings is presented in BernardM. Bass and Bruce J. Avolio's "Implications ofTransactional and Transformational Leadershijifor Individual, Team and Organizational Develop*ment" in Research in Organizational Change andDevelopment, edited by Richard W. Woodmaiiand William A. Pasmore (JAI Press, 1989).

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