MY Leadership Style: Transformational Leader

Key Qualities I Possess: I do like to be fairly well-organized and I want to at least know
the general step-by-step approach to a problem before really acting on the first and
second step. I want to know where a project is ultimately going beforehand. Also, I do
expect my followers and team members to be creative; I place great value on creativity
and original thought. I am definitely teamoriented and I do expect people in a group
to work together to come up with the best solution or presentation.

Scenario When I Displayed These Qualities: As a student worker at an outpatient

Physical and Occupational Therapy Clinic this past summer, I was tasked with
recreating the inventory spreadsheets for a number of different parts of the clinic. In
doing this, I was working with several PTs and OTs and another student worker, but I
was essentially in charge. To a certain extent I had to work within the system they had
already set up, but I could use some creativity to try to further develop and improve the
system. I noticed patterns about the different inventory spreadsheets. I noticed what
worked well and what I thought might work better. I set up a step-by-step approach for
each of the different spreadsheets, and they all ended with a design that was consistent
among them all. I did this to minimize the variation among the spreadsheets and make
sure that all the inventory spreadsheet use the same system. I did this to simplify the
process and ensure that all PTs/OTs could use any of the inventory sheets to order
things they needed. I was well organized and worked with all of my coworkers to figure
out the best option.

A Leader Who Has This Style: Ross Perot. He started the Electric Data Systems
company and encouraged his workers to act in whatever way was necessary to please his
customer. He encouraged action and welcomed honest mistakes. From Perot I have
learned to allow people to go out and do, do what they think is best. Allow them to make
mistakes and to learn from them. I think this is very important. When people feel that
they are allowed to make mistakes without fear of severe punishments, they work and
act more freely. They explore more freely, and with this comes creativity and innovation
of thought.

Is This Style a Good Fit for Me as a LEAD Fellow? I certainly do think this leadership
style is a good fit for me. I think the qualities that a transformational leader brings to the
table are valuable and productive. Working within the system will be necessary as we
work with the Office of Institutional Diversity and the university as a whole (though I do
support thinking outside the box and potentially outside the system when it comes to
forming ideas). I also think that recognizing patterns and associations will be important
in this line of work because they will help us to learn how certain changes lead to certain
outcomes. This will help up to develop strategies that we believe should work here
because they have worked elsewhere or because there is a significant linkage between
two factors. Additionally, being well organized and having at least an outline of a step-
by-step plan will also help us to develop an idea from start to finish and not get too far
off path. Focus will be important if we hope to use our time efficiently and effectively.
Lastly, we must be team-oriented. We each bring something a little different to the table
and we must work together and build off of each other. This way we will come up with a
strong and unique final project.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE

Work within the system

Start solving challenges by fitting experiences to a known pattern

Want to know the step-by-step approach

Minimize variation of the organization

Very well-organized and expect their followers to be creative

Team-oriented and expect that followers will work together to create the best possible
results

ROSS PEROT

Punishing honest mistakes stifles creativity. I want people moving and shaking the earth and they are
going to make mistakes. Ross Perot

H. Ross Perot started his career as a salesman for IBM. In the 1960s he started his own
company, Electric Data Systems (EDS), one of the first businesses that built and serviced
computer systems for other companies. In contrast to IBM, Perot trained his workers to
do whatever needed to be done for a customer without waiting for approval. There was a
strong bias toward action. In the beginning, Perot shunned strategic planning. Over the
 next few years, however, he hired military officers who could take orders and give orders.
Perots slogan was Go, do. If an employee took credit for someone elses work, they
were out the door. The motto of Perots company at one point was We bring order to
chaos. (Spahr, 2016).

TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE

Focused on short-term goals

Favor structured policies and procedures

Thrive on following rules and doing things correctly

Revel in efficiency

Very left-brained

Tend to be inflexible

Opposed to change

VINCE LOMBARDI

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that
whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.
 Vince Lombardi

Born in 1913, Vince Lombardi is best known as the coach for the Green Bay Packers. He signed
a five-year contract with Green Bay in 1959. Under his leadership, the team never had a losing
session. Over the course of his career, he led the team to a 98-30-4 record and five
championships. The Super Bowl trophy is named after him. He used to run the Packers through
the same plays in practice over and over again. The teams opponents knew the plays Lombardi
would run, but the team was so well trained that many teams had trouble defending against
them (Spahr, 2016).

TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE

Focused on short-term goals

Favor structured policies and procedures

Thrive on following rules and doing things correctly

Revel in efficiency

Very left-brained

Tend to be inflexible

Opposed to change

BILL GATES
The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an
efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied
to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. Bill Gates

Bill Gates was born in Seattle in 1955. In his early teens, he met Paul Allen at the Lakeside School,
where they both developed computer programs as a hobby. When Gates went to Harvard, Allen went to
work as a programmer for Honeywell in Boston. In 1975, they started Microsoft, and by 1978, the
company had grossed $2.5 million, when Gates was 23. In 1985, Microsoft launched Windows. Bill Gates
is now one of the richest people in the world. As a transactional leader, he used to visit new product teams
and ask difficult questions until he was satisfied that the teams were on track and understood the goal
(Spahr, 2016).

TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE

Focused on short-term goals

Favor structured policies and procedures

Thrive on following rules and doing things correctly

Revel in efficiency

Very left-brained
 Tend to be inflexible

Opposed to change

HOWARD SCHULTZ

Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company,

but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training
our people than advertising.
Howard Schultz
Howard Schultz was born in 1953 and grew up in the Brooklyn housing projects. He escaped
the projects with a football scholarship from Northern Michigan University. After college, he
started selling coffee makers to companies that included the Starbucks Coffee Tea and Spice
Company, which originally sold coffee beans rather than made-to-order drinks. He was hired by
the company in 1982. In 1984, Schultz opened the first Starbucks coffeehouse based on the
concept of an Italian espresso bar. Schultz wanted to grow Starbucks, but the owners wanted to
stay small. Schultz left and opened his own company in 1985. With the help of investors in 1987,
he bought Starbucks and merged the two companies. By 2006, Schultz was ranked 394 on
Forbes magazines list of the 400 richest people in America. As a transactional leader, he was
responsible for the vision and implementation of the Starbucks model (Spahr, 2016).

CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE

Leaders rally those around them in service of a common goal
Initiative and boldness are encouraged
The differences between charismatic and transformational leadership styles lie primarily in how
the individual is viewed.
 The personal vision of a charismatic leader has a great deal of influence over his or her
audience
Charismatic leaders speak about their moral compass or passion rather than an existing
method of doing business

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitableevery step toward the goal of justice requires
sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King followed in the footsteps of his father as a Baptist minister. He started his civil
rights career as the leader of the bus boycott the night that Rosa Parks was arrested in
Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. Kings powerful speeches and belief in peaceful protest put
energy into the civil rights movement. In January 1957, he and several others founded the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1960, Dr. King gained national notoriety for
his arrest at a lunch counter sit-in, which came to the attention of presidential candidate John
F. Kennedy. He was soon released and went on to have even greater influence in the fight for
civil rights. Martin Luther King, Jr.s speeches ignited smaller movements for equal rights
through the American South and beyond. Dr. King is best known for the August 28, 1963,
march on Washington that drew more than 200,000 people. At that march, he delivered his
famous I Have a Dream speech. The following year, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
passed (Spahr, 2016).

CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE

Leaders rally those around them in service of a common goal
Initiative and boldness are encouraged
The differences between charismatic and transformational leadership styles lie primarily in how
the individual is viewed.
 The personal vision of a charismatic leader has a great deal of influence over his or her
audience
Charismatic leaders speak about their moral compass or passion rather than an existing
method of doing business
MOTHER TERESA

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. Mother Teresa

Born in Macedonia (now Yugoslavia) as Anjez Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910, Mother Teresa
was a Roman Catholic nun best known for her work with the poor. In 1946, Mother Teresa
abandoned teaching to follow what she considered her calling, founding the Missionaries of
Charity to live and serve in the slums of Calcutta. Over the course of the 1950s and 60s, she
established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of
mobile clinics. In 1971, she traveled to New York to open her first U.S.-based house of
charity. In 1985, she spoke at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly.
By the time of her death, the Missionaries of Charity numbered over 4,000 sisters with 610
foundations in 123 countries. Her inspiring, devout persona and devotion to a singular idea
make her a good example of a charismatic leader (Spahr, 2016).

CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE

Leaders rally those around them in service of a common goal
Initiative and boldness are encouraged
The differences between charismatic and transformational leadership styles lie primarily in how
the individual is viewed.
 The personal vision of a charismatic leader has a great deal of influence over his or her
audience
Charismatic leaders speak about their moral compass or passion rather than an existing
method of doing business

We cant help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan won fame as an actor after signing a seven-year movie contract with Warner
Brothers in 1937. During World War II, he made training films for the military. Although he
served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, a labor union, Reagans political views shifted
from liberal to conservative in the 1950s. He began giving motivational talks to businesses and
moved to the national stage in 1964, when he gave a well-received televised speech for Barry
Goldwater. He ran for president beginning in 1968 and won in 1980. President Reagan was able
to articulate his political vision in ways that appealed to his followers. Along with Teddy
Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, Reagan is recognized as one of the most charismatic American
presidents of the 20th century (Spahr, 2016).

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE

Work within the system

Start solving challenges by fitting experiences to a known pattern

Want to know the step-by-step approach

 Minimize variation of the organization

Very well-organized and expect their followers to be creative

Team-oriented and expect that followers will work together to create the best possible
results

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.
J. D. Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil. It started as a single oil refinery and grew
to a huge company. Much of the companys growth came through acquisitions. But, Rockefeller
also spent a considerable amount of time streamlining the organization as it grew. Rockefeller
built his companys early reputation by guaranteeing the quality of Standards kerosene. He was
known for his organizational tactics and for using disciplined strategies. One of the reasons for
Rockefellers success was he could align his company with one simple vision, then he held
everyone accountable for their part in making that vision happen (Spahr, 2016).

SERVANT LEADERSHIP STYLE

Serve followers, help them grow as individuals and cultivate future servant leaders
 Value the community, especially its less fortunate members

Use commitment as a way to facilitate activities

NELSON MANDELA

I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people. Nelson Mandela

The South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) helped bring an end to
apartheid and has been a global advocate for human rights. A member of the African National Congress
party beginning in the 1940s, he was a leader of both peaceful protests and armed resistance against the
white minoritys oppressive regime in a racially divided South Africa. His actions landed him in prison
for nearly three decades and made him the face of the antiapartheid movement both within his country
and internationally. Released in 1990, he participated in the eradication of apartheid and in 1994 became
the first black president of South Africa, forming a multiethnic government to oversee the countrys
transition. after retiring from politics in 1999, he remained a devoted champion for peace and social
justice in his own nation and around the world until his death in 2013 at the age of 95 (Histroy, 2016).

SERVANT LEADERSHIP STYLE

 Serve followers, help them grow as individuals and cultivate future servant leaders

Value the community, especially its less fortunate members

Use commitment as a way to facilitate activities

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth. -Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm was the first African American congresswoman. The first African American to
run for president. The first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
She championed a bill to ensure domestic workers received benefits, was an advocate for
improved access to education, and fought for the rights of immigrants. She sponsored a bill to
expand childcare for women, supported the national school lunch bill and helped establish the
national commission on consumer protection and product safety. She lived her life in service of
others and put the quality of the community at the top of her priority list (Vaidyanathan, 2016).
 LAISSEZ- FAIRE LEADERSHIP STYLE
Delegate authority to capable experts

Maximize the leadership qualities of staff

Praise accomplishments and reward successes

Offer constructive criticism when necessary

Allow staff to solve problems and manage challenges

Know when to step in and lead during a crisis

JOHN F. KENNEDY

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other -JFK

JFK is rarely considered a laissez-faire leader, especially among U.S. presidents. However, Kennedys
space exploration program would have failed had he not entrusted the Apollo project to experts. Kennedy
inspired an entire nation with his moon shot speech. His executive style persuaded Congress to commit
financial resources toward putting a man on the moon within 10 years. Kennedys laissez-faire
management style motivated NASA to accomplish the goal (Spahr, 2016).
 LAISSEZ- FAIRE LEADERSHIP STYLE
Delegate authority to capable experts

Maximize the leadership qualities of staff

Praise accomplishments and reward successes

Offer constructive criticism when necessary

Allow staff to solve problems and manage challenges

Know when to step in and lead during a crisis

DONNA KARAN

I design from instinct. Its the only way I know how to live. What feels good. What feels right. What is
needed. Give me a problem and I will approach it creatively, from my gut. Donna Karan
Donna Karan, founder of DKNY jeans and apparel, enjoys a reputation as an attentive but hands-off
leader who follows fashion trends while keeping her eyes on profits. The Center for Association
Leadership noted in a 2013 article that Karan trusts managers to make good decisions while monitoring
their performance and offering ongoing feedback. Karan reportedly believes firmly in autonomy, which
leads to strong job satisfaction and increased productivity (Gill, 2016).

SERVANT LEADERSHIP STYLE

Serve followers, help them grow as individuals and cultivate future servant leaders

Value the community, especially its less fortunate members

Use commitment as a way to facilitate activities

MAHATMA GANDHI

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi has come to be known as the Father of India and a beacon of light in the last decades
of British colonial rule, promoting non-violence, justice and harmony between people of all faiths.
Gandhi hoped to win people over by changing their hearts and minds, and advocated non-violence in all
things. He himself remained a committed Hindu throughout his life, but was critical of all faiths and what
he saw as the hypocrisy of organized religion. Gandhi won the Nobel Peace Prize five times (BBC,
2009).

BUREAUCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE

Combines a top-down management style with strict adherence to policies and procedures
within an organization

Leaders are empowered by the offices they hold and are held accountable to the next
level in the hierarchy

The organizational structure is rigid and often has strict delineation of tasks and authority

STEVE JOBS
 For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: If today were the
last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? And whenever the answer has been
No for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs started Apple with Steve Wozniak in 1976. In 1984, Apple released the first Macintosh
computer and changed computing forever. Jobs and Wozniak were famous for making computers that
were smaller, cheaper, and more intuitive than others. Jobs is credited in revitalizing the company after
returning to Apple in the 1990s (Spahr, 2016).

BUREAUCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE

Combines a top-down management style with strict adherence to policies and procedures
within an organization

Leaders are empowered by the offices they hold and are held accountable to the next
level in the hierarchy

The organizational structure is rigid and often has strict delineation of tasks and authority

COLIN POWELL
 There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
Colin Powell

Colin Powell was a bureaucratic military leader. He rose through the military to become a general and
the first black member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell also served as the 65th U.S. Secretary of State
(Spahr, 2016).