The article “4 Actions Transformational Leaders Take” discusses the essential strategies to help leaders increase their chances of success in transforming a company. Investors, employees, and customers hold organizations to extremely high standards in the current business environment. People have high expectations for their leaders and want organizations to take a more active role in addressing systemic problems like social inequality. Consequently, Lancefield & Rangen (2021) postulate that leaders should consider adopting four practices amidst the changing post-pandemic environment. They include practicing new mental models, working the edges of the organization, sharing leadership more systematically, and making empowerment live up to its promise.
Firstly, this article recommends leaders practice new mental models since leading transformational change implies assisting the organization in transcending its current positioning, capabilities, and performance. Lancefield & Rangen (2021) outline the necessities to leading such a transformational change as having visionary thinking, being able to tackle complex problems, and having the courage to make difficult choices. Moreover, the article requires transformational leaders to work the edges of the organization by continually thinking about the future of their organization. Leaders must be present to reach out to prospective customers and encourage stakeholders while applying positive psychology. Thirdly, the article necessitates leaders to share leadership more systematically to harness the team’s collective energy, experience, and intelligence. Lancefield & Rangen (2021) propose that delegating transformational efforts to groups of formal or informal leaders is sometimes beneficial. The last transformational leadership strategy that this article proposes is for leaders to empower their people and to ensure they stick to their promises. This article necessitates leaders to portray the best of values, including heightened transparency, accountability, and clarity, even as they fulfill their empowerment promises.
Critique, Implications, and Connection to Class Content
This article takes a well-informed approach to present the essential strategies that every leader should consider implementing in the transformation journey of their organization. The authors organize their work into distinct sections, each precisely and objectively discussing a particular strategy. Therefore, I find this resource a perfect choice to understand the necessities of transformational leadership and the leader’s role to internal and external stakeholders.
These strategies are relevant to the current post-pandemic situation and, as such, have a higher probability of benefiting any transformational leader of an existing organization. This article provides leaders an opportunity to access themselves and identify whether or not they are on the right track in relating to various stakeholders and ultimately fulfilling the organization’s goals. The four strategies that this article provides thus imply an improved approach to leadership and long-term success in organizations.
This article supports the transformational leadership theory in that it advocates for a valuable positive change in individuals. This article further augments the transformational leadership theory by seeking to stimulate, inspire, and influence individuals intellectually. The article is thus aimed at the overall organizational good by proposing strategies that would work individually but whose results would be visible with the organization’s overall success.
Many people, including shareholders, employees, and customers, have high expectations for companies. Leaders are at the center of these demands and must implement the most effective strategies to fulfill these wants. Leaders must, in the most effective ways, work towards individually empowering employees to achieve the organization’s overall success. This article thus conclusively provides essential strategies in transformational leadership, which I believe can help organizations fulfill their objectives and succeed in the long term.
References
Lancefield, D. & Rangen, C. (2021) 4 actions transformational leaders take. Harvard Business Review. Web.