Criteria: Transformation Leadership

POST: Transformation Leadership. Aditya Birla Group, India’s First Global Corporation

One of the best descriptions of transformational leadership has been penned by Prof. Bernard Bass, a renowned exponent of the idea. He says succinctly,
“Leaders are truly transformational when they increase awareness of what is right, good, important and beautiful, when they help to elevate followers’ needs for achievement and self-actualisation, when they foster in followers high moral maturity, and when they move followers to go beyond their self-interests for the good of their group, organisation or society.”

The first lesson is that transformational leaders are able to set out a bold vision. But that’s not enough. They are also able to project their dream and put extraordinary communication skills to use to drive it across to a large number of people. Also, far-reaching as the vision may be, it is usually expressed in a simple and direct manner. When we get to the core, we see something very basic, often strikingly obvious. With hindsight, we might almost wonder how we could have missed it!

A second lesson is that transformational leaders are skilled at marshalling the intellectual and emotional equity of their people. They work hard to gain their trust and commitment because, no matter how appealing the vision, if others don’t buy into it, it won’t get implemented. And the most potent way to get everyone on the same wavelength is to set an example. A leader has to be true to the beat of his own drum, and there cannot be any inconsistency between word and action.

There is a third lesson — which relates to “individualised consideration”. This implies caring for the individual at the highest level, understanding and factoring in his or her unique circumstances, but at the same time, being dispassionate and not letting it cloud one’s sense of judgement.

The fourth lesson is the ability to mind the mind. Transformational leaders will not let the storms of the heart cover the sun in the mind. They leave behind the regrets of the past, and will take forward the lessons instead, into the future. They are far from egocentric, quick to recognise that they are wrong and change track accordingly. For them ego, E-G-O connotes edging goodness out.

The fifth lesson is that transformational leaders stoke the spirit of intellectual courage to ferment constructive dissent, which has a huge positive impact on the quality of team building and decision-making. They are quick to recognise good ideas and have the intellectual honesty to give credit where it is due.

The sixth leadership lesson is about the imperative of institutionalisation, in order to ensure continuity without disruption. They focus on building an institution, which is enduring and lasts far beyond the leader and his individual contribution, and continues to thrive and to serve the larger interest of the group.

And finally, the seventh lesson pertains to the leader’s willingness to move away from his conventional role and take on an entirely different mantle, maybe even hanging up his boots. Such an act caps true leadership, representing as it does, wisdom and the grace to pass on the baton.

Concluding remarks
To conclude, I’d say that transformational leaders are few and far between. They emerge from the times and circumstances — and all too often, from the ashes strewn around them. Commanding leadership and easy times rarely go together.
The idea however is to hearken to the message they hold out for us, and distil their leadership wisdom to our contexts.”