The leadership style in me- Bringing change through transformational leadership

An essay on my style of leadership

Manasvini Vimal Kumar6/20/2014

MADS 6709

Dr. Sydney Scott

Fairleigh Dickinson University

Everyone has their own style of leadership and leadership qualities, depending on their individual personalities and thinking. This essay is an effort to explain my style of leadership and my understanding of leader-follower relationship in the light of my experience in my last job.

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The leadership style in me- Bringing change through transformational leadership

A leader is a person who looks beyond the conventional, who discovers and walks the

never-treaded path, who listens to his or her soul and conscience and who visualizes oneself and

his or her organization in a position that is idealistic, yet, possible (McCrimmon,2011, 34th

paragraph). This role was also what I wanted to take up, being fed up of materialistic, narcissist

and egocentric Indian political and corporate leadership that I had experienced in my life of 30

years. I had my first chance after joining a printing and graphics company in 2010.It was a

profitable business, but, its employees were not engaged and were merely passive followers of

command. They did not feel belonged. After trying hard to justify my role as a Communications

Manager alone, in a diplomatic and 'make-everyone-happy' style, I realized that I could not

consummate the desire of my soul, the desire of bringing about a change- to satisfy the common

worker, to be a people's leader, unless, I would stand up for them and try to align their skills and

capabilities, in line with the organization's goals, and then use this opportunity to bring about a

change of perspective among not only the senior management, but the workforce too. Then, it

dawned upon me that this could be best served if I metamorphose myself from the pupal stage of

achievement-orientedness to the more responsible transformed stage of a butterfly, that spreads

happiness. And hence I realized my own worldview, my style of leading. Transformational

Leadership, then became my philosophy of leadership. This essay will delve into the strategies-

both creative and inspirational, that I planned to undertake to implement my style.

To begin with, I was inspired by Leo Tolstoy's remark " Everyone thinks of changing the

world, but no one thinks of changing himself (Tolstoy)." If I aspired to bring about a change, I

needed to lead from the front. So I started concentrating on the lacunae tried to bring two open

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ends in appositional approximation, instead of opposing hostility. The repair was a challenge to a

potential leader's role- to identify the problem and then confront it (Gamble & Gamble 2013). I

started by asking the graphic designers, the machine operators, the installation crew and the

drivers, what was it that concerned them, how did they want to work and how did they think they

could put their talent and skill together to achieve the strategic goals of the company in the near

future. At first all I could observe was resentment, practiced indignant silence and utter

dissatisfaction. But, I had to respect their individuality and this was the opportunity for me to

resolve conflicts and show them the path for resilience and give them the hope that we had light

at the end of the tunnel. My challenge was to implore them to travel to the end.

Therefore, I started by trying to gain their confidence, not because I wanted them to be

productive as a diplomat or an expert would, but, because I understood that without the basics of

life being in place, it was difficult for any human being to achieve his or her own goals, let alone

that of their employers. I utilized my medical knowledge based skills to improve their quality of

life by providing free consultation to their wives, children and relatives. I even took a pregnant

lady to a maternity centre and used my contacts to get her registered for an institutional delivery-

something that was not only difficult for the low income group but also, important as it included

free vaccination, free supplemental nutrition and enrollment in the national population register as

well as scholarship for the girl child that was born later. One part of me applauded itself for

being such a strategist, but, the implication was much deeper, and so was my desire. I was

prepared to give up my job if the management required, as I was being seen pro-workers and

anti-organization. The transformational change had begun. I soon realized that I had touched the

heart of not only that worker, but, 50 others, who appreciated my gesture and were more than

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willing to follow my directions. This was the idealized influence that made them understand that

it was in none of my interests that I did cared for their families-as I was not being paid to do that,

I was not infact, being appreciated to do that either, but it gave me satisfaction and that is

probably what they could see, despite being semi-literate or rather, as a majority-illiterate

(Ghadi, Fernando& Caputi, 2011). It was then, that I made my point- I requested them to help

me make the work culture better for them, with their support and participation. I shared with

them my vision of a happy workplace in alignment with the company's goals, which has been

termed as inspirational leadership (Ghadi, Fernando& Caputi, 2011).

Interestingly, my managers realized that gradually I was becoming popular and my ways

were encouraged because they were favoring the company. Taking advantage of this opportunity

I enabled the machine workers and office staff to participate in the development process of the

company. I started by recognizing each person's technical capabilities, skills and appreciating

their individual personalities. Among the panorama of personality types, each one was made to

feel important and valuable. The graphic designers were creative artists, and were given

independence to explore the limits of creativity, building on the supporting style of Path Goal

model. The machine workers felt empowered when they were given opportunity to create their

own roster, the ladies became happy and more responsible when they were allowed to leave by

6pm, and the installation team felt important when I started their life insurance with a

considerable part being contributed by the company if they committed themselves for at least 5

years. This had the maximum impact as they used to shirk climbing heights for installation of

banners, for they had their apprehensions of getting injured and then, not being able to provide

for their families. And this was not because I wanted them to work towards the company's goals;

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but because I wanted them to be happy, contended with their work and therefore, be able to grow

out of the boxed thinking -something imperative for personal growth.

Hence, by offering non-financial incentives, making them realize that their presence was

imperative for the company to even exist, let alone progress, I could emotionally charge them,

engage them, help them participate, and then give shape to their suggestions, and, give them

credit for the change they brought. This has been defined as driving intrinsic motivation by

McMahon and Ford (McMahon, & Ford, 2013). Thus, by stimulating them intellectually, I

wanted to give voice to the leaders in them (Ghadi, Fernando& Caputi, 2011). As a result, there

were more occasions than one, where problems arose, machines broke down, conflicts arose, but,

I received information only after everything was back to normal since they had learnt to resolve,

cooperate, work as a team, stop complaining and focus on the common goal. This was my style

of leadership. This energy, that is, the hidden potential of creativity in themselves evolved them

into superior human beings. And, I attribute my success to Rhonda Byrne's teachings, ''Believing

will allow you to achieve your dreams and wishes", and it is this faith in oneself, that is

strengthened through meditation, self realization and positive thinking.

Extrapolating this logic to the scenario in organizations and the concept of leadership, I

started with Participatory Leadership wherein my employees would feel responsible, not only

for their own little part, but, for the organization at large and when everyone does his or her best

at whatever they are good at by. However, the challenges were daunting. I had to demonstrate

that participatory style was actually better than the conventionally existent dictator-conformist

relationship. To be able to make illiterate people understand the importance of the responsibility

they were being given and its implications on my position was not easy and constant supervision

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was required till a point of time that they demonstrated a discipline in their work and a better

culture was built . At times, our teams had to face failure and I was also discouraged when we

could not finish campaigns on time, but, resilience was required and I also had to consult the

contemporaries by putting my ego to sleep, as these were the people- the sales manager and the

assistant sales manager, who had initially mocked my style . Overall, it was a great learning

experience and I would not want to change my style.

In conclusion, planning to becoming a transformational person was easy but to work the

plan sometimes required a diplomatic attitude. However, the transformation I had visualized

soon after joining, had taken quite a shape by the time I left the organization and people were

more independent than when I met them first. Two of my immediate subordinates understood

shipping and logistics much better than their mentor did. I had seen the spark in these two young

people and had individually mentored them reaffirming the coaching style of Situational

Leadership and the importance of individual consideration (Ghadi, Fernando& Caputi, 2011).

Infact, one of them had started their masters in the field. That gave me such a sense of

accomplishment and contentment, that I do not regret going out of my profession, as I am

originally a professional Homeopathic doctor, to help build a strong team. Now, I am satisfied

when I read that transformational style of leadership is quite effective both, in countries where

autonomous rule is preferred as well as where there is democracy (Latham &Piccolo, 2013).

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References

Gamble, T.K & Gamble, M.W.(2013). Leading with Communication: A practical approach to

leadership communication. New York: Sage Publications.

Ghadi, M.Y, Fernando, M.,& Caputi, P.(2011). Transformational leadership and work

engagement :The mediating effect of meaning in work. Leadership and Organizational

Development Journal, 34(6),532-550. DOI 10.1108/LODJ-10-2011-0110

Lathman, G.P, & Piccolo, R.F.(2013). Introduction to the special issue of the journal of

leadership and organizational studies. Journal of leadership and organizational studies,

20(1)5-6. DOI: 10.1177/1548051812466593

McCrimmon, M.(2011). The Ideal Leader. Ivey Business Journal: Improving the practice of

management. Retrieved from: http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/the-

ideal-leader#

McMahon, S.R & Ford, C.M. (2013). Heuristic transfer in the relationship between leadership

and employee creativity. Journal of leadership and organizational studies.20(1) 69-83.

DOI: 10.1177/1548051812465894

The leadership style in me