ASSESSING TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

When considering a career path in leadership, it is important to determine what skills I may have in this area and which still need to be developed in order to reach my full potential as a leader. This is important because “if the leader exhibits a willingness to receive and use feedback, a willingness to change and adapt as new contingencies arise, and the ability to learn from both his/her successes and failures, then so will that leader's associates.” When associates are willing to learn by example and apply these aspects in their own work, there may also be an overall higher rate of success within an organization. Therefore, the overall purpose of this paper will be to discuss what area of leadership I would like to develop over the next two years, why this is important based on my career goals and how previous transformational literature may be used to meet these future goals (Bass & Avolio. 2003. p. 2).     

What Area of Leadership I Want to Develop Over the Next Two Years

            One specific leadership assessment test that can be taken to determine what skills may need to be further developed in order to become a more effective leader is called the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire: Actual vs. Ought (MLQ A/O). This is because it “measures leadership styles which may be grouped under three broad categories. These categories differ in how well they provide positive outcomes for the organization. They also differ in the nature of their influence on followers and associates.” The three broad categories associated with the full range leadership model also include: transformational leadership, transactional leadership & passive/avoidant behavior (Bass & Avolio. 2003. p. 4).

After recently taking the MLQ A/O, I have determined that I do possess a certain amount of skills within all three categories of the full range leadership model. However, some of the scores that are associated with certain components of transformational leadership are lower than comparable “norms” so they will need to be further developed. The main area where below average scores are present is known as “Idealized Influence or (II)” and it includes two components. The first one is called “Idealized Attributes or (IA)” and I received a score of 2.3. This is important because it offers a transformational leader the ability to instill pride in others when they associated with me, disregard personal self-interests to ensure the good of a group, display a high sense of confidence and power, and increase the overall level of respect that I receive from others. The second component associated with “Idealized Influence or (II)” that will need to be developed is “Idealized Behaviors or (IB)” because I received a score of 2.8. This is important because it offers a transformational leader the ability to lead new possibilities in an exciting manner, always consider moral and ethical issues when decision making, specify how important it is to have a sense of purpose, and share personal beliefs and values. The reason that both of these scores are also considered lower than comparable “norms” and must be further developed is because the research validated benchmark has determined that the ideal frequency for these transformational leadership behaviors is 3.0 or higher (Bass & Avolio. 2003).

Why This Area of Leadership is Important Based on my Own Career Goals

Further development of the above components is also extremely important to consider because I plan to pursue a future career as a transformational leader. If all four areas of transformational leadership behavior which include: Idealized Influence (II), Inspirational Motivation (IM), Intellectual Stimulation (IS), and Individualized Consideration (IC) are not at the appropriate frequency of use, then I may never reach and/or exhibit my true potential as an effective leader within that area. If this occurs, it could also mean that I won’t be successful in accomplishing other tasks associated with transformational leadership which include: the ability to stimulate, inspire, and empower others to accomplish great achievements, increase employee morale, be an inspirational role model, get workers to take ownership for their work, and utilize individual strengths and weaknesses in order to assign tasks based on skill-set (Hickman. 2009).

How Transformational Literature May be Used to Meet My Goal

Even if these below average scores are present, there are things that can be done to further develop these skills in order to meet my future career goal. The first step is to review the results of MLQ A/O in an open-minded, positive and optimistic manner. This is because it may initiate a higher level of overall willingness to improve these below average areas. Secondly, I can ask myself probing questions that identify why I exhibit weakness in these areas. Furthermore, the third thing that I can do is devise a plan for future development that covers all areas and/or components of effective leadership behavior. The reason for this is because it will give me an opportunity to not only strengthen my weaker areas but also those that I currently possess (Bass & Avolio. 2003).

Some things that can be included in this long-term plan will be to increase the sense of pride that is instilled in others when they are associated with me, share more of my personal values and beliefs, teach people how important it is to have a strong sense of purpose, spend more time teaching and coaching others, try and get people to look at things from an alternate angle when it may be beneficial in problem solving, and seek many different opinions before making critical decisions. I am also confident that if this plan is regularly followed over the next two years that my effective leadership skills will improve (Bass & Avolio. 2003).

Conclusion

When considering a career path in leadership, it is crucial to develop one’s skills in this area to the highest potential possible. This is because when leaders improve certain aspects of their leadership style, workers may naturally change for the better as well. When this occurs, the overall success rate of a leader, the workers and organization can also increase drastically.

In order to improve and/or develop leadership skills that can initiate these changes, it is also possible to take a leadership assessment test like the MLQ A/O. This is because it used to measure the strengths and weaknesses that are associated with present leadership skills and can offer a guide to what areas need improvement. Therefore, the overall purpose of this paper was to analyze my particular assessment results, discuss what area of leadership I want to develop over the next two years, why this is important based on my career goals and how transformational literature can be applied to meets these future goals.    

References:

Bass, M. B., & Avolio, J. B. (2003). Multifactor leadership questionnaire: Actual vs ought feedback report. Published by Mind Garden, Inc. Retrieved via the World Wide Web at http://transform.mindgarden.com/reports/raw/id/16/evid/102220

Hickman, G. R., Ed. (2009). Leading organizations: Perspectives for a new era (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.