Transformational leadership is a newer leadership model and has been researched in contrast to transactional leadership. The transformational leader is tasked with inspiring people to do great things to further the goals of the organization (Northouse, 2016). This leadership requires that the leader has a higher moral development than her followers and therefore her personal demonstration of virtue is important. (Mulla and Krishnan, 2011).  This leader must recognize the need for change, articulate a new vision and inspire and motivate others to work for something that is greater than herself (Northouse, 2016).  Inspiration takes time.  Transformational leadership is most effective in creating change in followers when the leader has an opportunity to work directly with them over a long period of time (Mulla and Krishnan, 2011).

Mother Theresa is a good example of a transformational leader.  She set out to serve the church, do God’s will and help the less fortunate in Culcutta.  Mother Theresa impacted countless people through her work with the poor.  She had a vision for what needed to be done, sought permission from the church to do it her way and inspired others to work with her.  Her dedication drew the attention of the world which she used to continually funnel resources back to those she cared so deeply for (Biography, 2014).

References

Biography.com editors. 2014. Mother Teresa Biography. sourced from https://www.biography.com/people/mother-teresa-9504160

Mulla, Z. R. and Krishnan, V. R. (2011) Transformational leadership: Do the leader’s morals matter and do the follower’s morals change? In the Journal of Human Values. Vol 17, Issue 2 pp 129-143

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