Implications & Lessons from Wang, Oh, Courtright & Colbert’s Article

Wang, Oh, Courtright & Colbert (2011) produced an article of a meta-analysis of the relationship of transformational leadership on follower individual performance in three areas: 1) task performance, 2) contextual performance and 3) team and organizational performance (pp.230-233).

Wang et al. (2011) found that “transformational leadership is positively related to performance across criterion types and levels of analysis” (p. 255). Transformational leadership was more strongly linked with “individual level contextual performance over individual-level task performance” (Wang et al., 2011, p. 255). Lastly, transformational leadership was positively related to both “team- and organization- level performance” and had the ability to make individuals and organizations grow more in quality and size over time than transactional leadership (Wang et al., 2011, p. 255). The results supported the immense effectiveness of transformational leadership theory as a way to lead individuals, teams and organizations towards higher level and better quality performance (Wang et al., 2011, p. 255).

The implications for managers are as follows:

  • Due to a positive relationship between transformational leadership and individual, team and organizational performance criteria in a variety of situations; the implications are if managers effectively apply transformational leadership, it likely will lead to desirable performance outcomes across all settings in an organization (Wang et al., 2011, p. 253).
  • Transformational leadership is “trainable” and with such clear benefits, convincing and/or asking your organization to change towards this style of leadership or leading out in training your team in this way, could lead to positive individual and organizational outcomes (Wang et al., 2011, p. 253).
  • If you or your organization, truly seek to create a culture of transformational leadership, then setting and promoting people who embody this leadership style in upper management positions is very important (Wang et al., 2011, p. 253).
  • Though selection and training of transformational leadership is important, it is also important that managers create settings that involve employee teamwork and collaboration, in order for transformational leadership to flourish (Wang et al., 2011, p. 253).

Personally, the lessons I learned from this article that will make me a better leader are that learning more about transformational leadership, and being trained in it, is important; especially if there are evidently such positive outcomes on individuals, teams and organizations. My next steps would involve analyzing the leadership model of transformational leadership more, looking at some case studies of organizations who applied it, and lastly discussing it with other leaders in my organization to see if and how transformational leadership could be applied.

Ultimately, for me to become a better leader, I would need to start with modelling the four primary behaviours of transformational leaders (Bass, 1985). According to Bass (1985) and Podsakoff et al. (1990), those behaviours are: 1) inspirational motivation, 2) idealized influence, 3) intellectual stimulation, and 4) attending to the needs of followers by treating them as unique individuals and building trust. In my current team situation the behaviours I would most focus on embodying are: 1) inspirational motivation and 2) idealized influence as my team is going to be undergoing large structural changes involving a relocation of our place of work and merging two teams together (consolidating). Therefore, I think these two behaviours are important for me to live out as we move forward into a season of change. Communicating and modelling these behaviours will help the team know the vision and direction, and give them a sense of stability in an unknown environment.

Principles of Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership theory is an approach that is still developing and growing, partially due to so many leadership scandals in both private and public sectors of society (Northouse, 2018, p. 335). Northouse (2018) states, “In regard to leadership, ethics is concerned with what leaders do and who leaders are” (p.336).

Northouse (2018) describes the five principles of ethical leadership as: 1) respecting others, 2) serving others 3) being just 4) being honest, and 5) building community.

1. Respecting Others

“Respecting others” refers to treating people “as ends in themselves and never as a means to an end”(Northouse, 2018, p. 346). Leaders who embody this principle see others with intrinsic value and worth and allow others to be who they are, with their unique creativity and desires (Northouse, 2018, p. 346).

2. Serving Others

“Serving others” refers to leaders who exhibit altruistic behaviours. Kanungo & Mendonca (1996) state “altruistic service behaviour can be observed in activities such as mentoring, empowerment behaviours, team building, and citizenship behaviours, to name a few.”

3. Being Just

This principle is about a leader’s concern with “issues of fairness and justice” (Northouse, 2018, p. 348). Leaders who embody this principle exhibit treating all individuals equally and fairly and not giving someone special treatment, unless the particular situation requires it (Northouse, 2018, p. 348).

4. Being Honest

This principle emphasizes the importance of being a truthful and honest leader (Northouse, 2018, p. 350). When leaders are dishonest it has negative repercussions, such as people losing trust, people’s respect for leaders diminishing, and weakened or broken relationships (Northouse, 2018, pp. 350-351).

5. Building Community

This principle is based around the definition of leadership whereby an individual influences a group to strive toward a common goal (Northouse, 2018, p. 351). This requires the group to have mutual agreement on the direction (Northouse, 2018, p. 351). A transformational leader will aim to move and persuade the group toward a common goal that is beneficial for both leaders and followers (Northouse, 2018, p. 351).

Personally, as I reflect on these principles, it is hard to pick only the two most important, as I see them all as very important. The two that I think are most important for me to focus on are 2) serving others and 5) building community because my team is heading towards a big transition. We are changing our work environment from one context to another and are merging with another team. With this in mind I see these two as most important to focus on because as I lead in “serving others” I can help create an “empowering” and “team building” culture that I recognize we need in our team. Also in order for our teams to merge well, we will need to really focus on building trust and building community as one team, being quick to resolve conflict and also establishing and moving towards a common goal as a unified team.

References

Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY: Free Press.

Kanungo,R.N., & Mendonca, M. (1996). Ethical dimensions of leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Northouse, P.G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Moorman, R.H., & Fetter, R. (1990). Transformational leader behaviours and their effects on followers’ trust in leader, satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviours. Leadership Quarterly, 1, 107-142.

Wang, G., Oh, I.S., Courtright, S.H., & Colbert, A.E. (2011). Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of research. Group & Organization Management, 36(2), 223-270.