Our organizations and the teams we help lead need leadership that is transformational and not merely transactional. Transformational leadership is a dynamic, empowering leadership style that focuses on inspiring and motivating people to reach their fullest potential, achieve collective goals, and drive positive change. In contrast, transactional leadership emphasizes rewards and punishments to motivate desired behavior. At its heart, transformational leadership is about creating a vision and conditions that motivate and inspire people to achieve more than they ever thought possible. John D. Rockefeller spoke to this by saying, “Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.”
Researchers over the years have found significant benefits to transformational leadership including higher employee commitment to the organization, increased job satisfaction and satisfaction with the leader, higher effort and improved performance, and overall higher levels of well-being.
The 4 I's of Transformational Leadership
Researchers have found that transformational leadership is characterized by four main components, often referred to as the “Four I’s”:
1. Inspirational Motivation: Transformational leaders inspire their team members by communicating a compelling and inspiring vision and goals for the future. This includes explaining the “why” behind the goals and the potential benefits to the affected stakeholders. I sometimes used the vision of becoming a “world class team” – which we defined as being a leader in the industry for what our team did – and in the process our customers, our company shareholders, and we as employees would all benefit.
2. Intellectual Stimulation: Transformational leaders encourage creativity and thinking “outside the box.” We can promote problem-solving and invite team members to explore innovative ideas. This can foster an environment of innovation and continuous improvement.
3. Individualized Consideration: Transformational leaders recognize the unique needs, abilities, and potential of everyone. We can function as mentors and coaches and provide support and offer opportunities for personal growth and development.
4. Idealized Influence: Transformational leaders serve as positive role models. We can show high ethical standards, integrity, and walk our talk about organizational and personal values.
How to Become an Effective Transformational Leader
The 4 I’s provide a good foundation to become a more effective transformational leader. Let’s go deeper by looking at seven strategies we can pursue to increase our leadership effectiveness:
1) Improve our Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence (EI) is an important trait of transformational leaders. EI involves an understanding of our own emotions while recognizing and influencing the emotions of others. If we have high EI, we can build strong, empathetic relationships with our teams, resulting in improved trust, collaboration, satisfaction, and performance. A key part of EI is empathy. EI expert Daniel Goleman wrote, “Leaders with empathy drive performance. They understand people’s concerns and feelings, and this awareness strengthens relationships.”
We can pursue improving our current level of EI by inviting people we trust to speak into our lives, by asking team members for feedback, participating in 360-degree and other surveys, and taking and evaluating the highly respected Big 5 Personality Profile (you can take for free at outofservice.com/bigfive). When we further develop our EI, the following quote from Brian Tracy applies as we “[b]ecome the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position.”
2) Lead by Example. To be an effective transformational leader, we need to set a positive example for others to follow. We should take to heart the famous Mahatma Gandhi quote to, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” In addition to modeling values like integrity, resilience, empathy, fairness, and others, we also need to model transparency and accountability. This includes showing vulnerability (we are all human, after all), admitting our mistakes, and continuously striving to improve.
3) Develop and Communicate a Compelling Vision. As already mentioned, the need for a compelling vision is extremely important. To help develop this vision, we can ask ourselves, team members, and others affected by our teams what future success looks like. I agree with this quote from CEO and leadership expert Frances Hesselbein, “People want to feel what they do makes a difference.” When people feel they are part of something bigger, they’re more likely to go the extra mile. So, let’s connect the dots for our teams about the importance of what they do, and they will respond accordingly!
4) Challenge the Status Quo. Not everything that is part of the existing status quo needs to be changed. But embracing the philosophy of continuous improvement by asking questions, ongoing learning, and avoiding complacency leads to added value for all concerned. The goal is to make things better and create higher value for all our teams’ stakeholders. Where do we get ideas for improvement? I suggest starting by asking the people that do the work and support customers, then join trade groups (e.g., PCCs, MSMA), take part in conferences (e.g., NPF, MAILCOM), and read trade journals like this one!
5) Empower and Inspire Others. To be effective transformational leaders, we must constantly work at empowering others, not just exert authority. As Simon Sinek wrote, “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” To be transformational leaders, we must provide our team members with the tools, resources, and opportunities to help them grow and succeed. We should encourage autonomy and self-direction, while at the same time providing guidance and support as needed. As John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”
6) Show Appreciation and Recognition. Do you like to be at the receiving end of appreciation and recognition? I do, and researchers say that is a common human desire. When we regularly recognize and celebrate the achievements of our team members, the result is increased motivation and engagement. Acknowledging accomplishments – both big and small – helps develop a positive and supportive culture and encourages people to continue to strive for excellence. Recognition also fosters a sense of belonging and community and strengthens loyalty to us as a leader and our organization. Remember this quote from Harry S. Truman, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
7) Help Develop Resilience and Adaptability. We know that leadership can be challenging, and transformational leaders show resilience in the face of adversity. Our ability to adapt to change, manage stress, and stay focused on our mission and goals is critical for sustaining progress. There is the concept of the “shadow of a leader,” which, in a nutshell, means that people are watching us as leaders to see how we cope with adversity and challenging situations. Like it or not, we are models either for better or worse. I agree with this famous quote from Winston Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” A transformational leader understands that setbacks are part of the journey and can serve as valuable growth and learning opportunities.
Concluding thoughts: I think the following quote from Ronald Reagan is relevant to a discussion of transformational leadership: “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. They are the ones that get people to do the greatest things.” Leadership expert John Maxwell voiced similar sentiments when he said, “Leaders become great not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” So as aspiring transformational leaders we can harness this power of empowerment to inspire a collective vision and add more value to our teams and the people we serve!
Wes Friesen is a proven leader and developer of high performing teams and has extensive experience in both the corporate and non-profit worlds. He is also an award winning university instructor and speaker, and is the President of Solomon Training and Development, which provides leadership, management and team building training. He serves as the Industry Co-Chair of the Greater Portland PCC. His book, Your Team Can Soar! has 42 valuable lessons that will inspire you, and give you practical pointers to help you — and your team — soar to new heights of performance. Your Team Can Soar! can be ordered from Xulonpress.com/bookstore or wesfriesen.com (under Book) or an online retailer. Wes can be contacted at wesmfriesen@gmail.com or at 971-806-0812.
This article originally appeared in the March/April, 2025 issue of Mailing Systems Technology.
