Over the years, the transformational leadership style has changed the digital landscape for the better. Managers who use this method build an engaged workforce that’s motivated to innovate and work towards the success of their organization. Anyone in a leadership position would want to achieve the same for their company. By taking this quiz, you can find out which leadership style resonates with you.
So, in this post, we are going to share how transformational leadership principles can improve your remote workforce management techniques and how to distinguish transformational vs transactional leadership styles. We’ll also share some tips on how you can apply transformational leadership when managing virtual teams.
What Is Transformational Leadership?
Transformational leadership is a management style in which a person encourages, motivates, and inspires their subordinates to grow, innovate, and create change. They set an example at the executive level by creating a strong sense of accountability, independence, and corporate culture in the workplace. While transformational leadership is commonly used in tech companies, it is also applicable in other fields. For instance, a Walden University study revealed that this management technique also helps create a pleasant and uplifting atmosphere for healthcare workers. Leaders fulfill their psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness—qualities that enable them to excel in their occupations.
4 Components of Transformational Leadership
Transformational leaders use empathy and effective communication to work closely with their employees and bring about successful change. They are typically charismatic and adaptive individuals. Hence, transformational style involves the following four leadership components:
- Individualized consideration
- Inspirational motivation
- Idealized influence
- Intellectual stimulation
With this leadership style, you’d want to give your workers room to be creative. Now, how can they innovate if they spend so much time on admin tasks like manual timesheets, productivity reports, and invoices? Well, the time keeping app Traqq takes all these off your employees’ shoulders. All they need to do is switch on the tracker and it will capture billable hours. With a few clicks, you can generate reports that will make invoicing easier.
Transformational vs Transactional Leadership
Transactional leader
Transactional leader is ideal for companies or departments that thrive in structure and routine. It is applicable to businesses wherein reducing inefficiency or chaos is critical. However, do note that it does not allow for creative and innovative planning.
Transformational leader
Transformational leader is more applicable in agile work environments—especially those that have room for low-risk failures. Transactional leadership promotes consistent development processes, while transformational leadership allows employees to innovate and look at how they can shape the future.
Distinguishing Transactional and Transformational Leadership
Let’s demonstrate the difference between transactional and transformational leadership styles through the prism of elements of leadership:
| Leadership Components | Transactional Leadership | Transformational Leadership |
| Individualized Consideration | The leader puts great emphasis on their relationships with their subordinates, stressing the importance of hierarchy and chain of command. | The leader considers the unique needs of their subordinates while providing empathy and support. They acknowledge that their employees come from different backgrounds and have individual talents. |
| Inspirational Motivation | The leader makes decisions based on the actions taken by their subordinates. They set expectations and establish goals while focusing on efficiency. | The leader shows optimism about their subordinates’ potential and encourages them to work towards their goals. They foster team spirit and create a sense of purpose in the workplace. |
| Idealized Influence | The leader uses a reward and punishment system based on their subordinates’ performance and actions. All the while, they provide constructive feedback. | The manager leads by example, adhering to high standards of moral and ethical conduct. Their subordinates understand that they are doing their duties for a greater purpose. |
| Intellectual Stimulation | The leader focuses on procedures and rules that ensure organizational efficiency, growth, and maturity. | The leader takes risks, challenges norms, and provides assistance to their subordinates. They think outside the box and allow innovation, creativity, and mental stimulation. |
Applying Transformational Leadership Style in a Remote Working Environment
A Walden University dissertation explored the impact of transformational leadership on virtual teams in an information technology organization. The proponents of the study tested how remote employees’ productivity increased when they were subject to a management style different from traditional forms of leadership. The results revealed that aside from improving the relationship between managers and remote employees, transformational leadership also motivated the latter to work harder. This workforce management style inspired people to exert extra effort in their work. What’s more, the employees expressed more satisfaction with their work compared to their colleagues who were under a different leadership style.
We know that transformational leadership is effective in managing virtual workforces. However, how do you apply this management style to your remote team? Here are some tips:
- Identify What You Want to Achieve: as a transformational leader, you must think out of the box when approaching your goals. This management style encourages input and engagement from employees.
- Encourage Collaboration: everyone should be allowed to be part of solving problems instead of waiting for directions. Your role as a leader is to inspire them to collaborate and move toward a common goal. You should motivate them to share responsibility, accountability, and authority.
- Personalize Coaching and Feedback: when applying transformational leadership to a remote workforce, you must get rid of even the tiniest micromanaging tendencies. Moreover, you must encourage independence among your employees.
- Encourage Autonomy: look for people who have the potential to become a leader. Empower them to take initiative in guiding people towards making decisions and solving problems. It’s essential to find those natural leaders, especially in a virtual workplace where individuals are often geographically isolated.
- Establish Policies and Processes: you can only ensure successful collaboration and autonomy if your team operates through well-defined processes and policies. With properly laid-out norms, your remote workers know how to handle uncertain situations. What’s more, they have adequate guidelines for meeting the milestones of a project.
