Critique of the Assessed Leadership Strengths and Opportunities for Improvement

Introduction
Transformational leadership happens when leaders carry out their responsibilities so
efficiently that they acquire the respect, appreciation, trust, and loyalty of the individuals who
follow them (Ghasabeh et al., 2015). This will, in turn, modify the individuals' behaviors. With
transformational leadership, workers are motivated from within to abide by their leader as
they have a lot of respect for them. The leader formulates an inspirational future vision that
the employees feel compelled to follow. Also, the leader acts as the role model for the
organization. This paper will provide a critique of the leadership strengths and opportunities
for improvement based on the transformational leadership traits identified for my twenty
employees as their director in an organization.
Strengths for the Leadership
The following are the strengths for transformational leadership in my department:
Inspirational Motivation
As the director of my department, I have high inspirational motivation, implying that I
will inspire confidence, motivate, and give a sense of purpose to my twenty employees. I will
articulate a clear vision for the future, talk about the department expectations, and show a
commitment to the objectives that have been set up. I have adequate communication skills
to convey my messages with power, precision, and authority. This is because inspirational
motivation requires a leader to have superb communication skills. In addition, I have
enthusiasm, progressive optimism, and the capability to pick out the positive in motivating
my employees. This will motivate the employees to invest more effort in their responsibilities
and have optimism about the future, and invest in their capabilities.
Intellectual Stimulation
Intellectual stimulation is one of my strengths as a leader of my department.
Intellectual stimulation focuses on the extent to which I, as a director, challenge
assumptions, take risks, and follow my employees' ideas. I will do more than work towards
the final objectives and vision. I will toward attaining greater efficiency levels for myself and
my employees. I will support and collaborate with my employees in trying new initiatives and
creating innovative ways of dealing with departmental issues. I will strongly encourage the
employees to think about things on their own and independently for their autonomy. Studies
show that individuals admire leaders who challenge them to think and learn, awaken their
curiosity, and motivate them to inspiring ideas and substitutes (Orabi, 2016). These factors
are important to ensure team and organizational success.
Management-by-exception
As a transformational leader, I must ensure that workers' conditions are optimal for
successfully carrying out their responsibilities. Being a manager-by-exception implies that I
will stipulate what the job standards are and what should be abided by in performing the
departmental tasks. In my case, I will undertake the active management-by-exception in
which I will actively monitor the employees’ work and take corrective actions when
something deviates from the set standards. However, this transformational leadership trait
might be met by resistance from some employees. To avoid this, I will actively involve all the
employees in the corrective action undertaking to participate and raise their opinions on
alternative ways or actions.
Opportunities for Improvement
The following are the opportunities for improvement in my transformational leadership traits:
Idealized Influence
I have moderate idealized influence, implying that I have less trust, faith, and respect
for my employees and show less dedication to them. This is an opportunity for improvement
as idealized influence implies that employees trust and follow me as their role model.
Raising my idealized influence will mean that I have excellent ethical and moral conduct
standards. Subsequently, I will be highly respected by my employees, as they will have a
great trust deal in me. This leads to better attaining of the organizational objectives, vision,
and mission.
Individualized consideration
 Individualized consideration is one of the traits I see as an opportunity for
improvement in leading my departmental team. By definition, it is the extent to which a
leader attends to each employee’s needs and is a coach, guide, or mentor to the employer
(Anderson, 2017). As a leader, I will listen to every employee's needs and concerns, offer
support, and be empathetic of every individual's situation and background. In doing this, I will
be aware of the unique talents that every employee brings to the department and support
them in developing and demonstrating these important skills. This will lead the employee to
develop more and demonstrate intrinsic motivation when conducting their job
responsibilities.
Contingent Reward
I have moderate consideration in contingency reward because I believe it will create
competition in the department, leaving some of the workers feeling neglected. However, it
can be an opportunity for me to ensure that all the employees receive a reward based on
departmental outcomes. Some of the rewards that can be given to the employees include
vacations, paid bonuses, and dinners. In the end, if I want as a leader for my employees to
attain something unique, I need to motivate them in more profound ways if they meet the
required expectations. Proper motivation and inspiration render individuals repeatedly going
the extra mile and not incentives.
Laissez-Faire
Laissez-faire leaders have complete trust and reliance on their workers to run the
organization (Yang, 2015). The leaders do not micromanage; they do not give a lot of
instructions but let their workers utilize their creativeness, resources, and experiences to aid
them in meeting their goals. This presents me with an opportunity for improvement as I have
less consideration for this trait. However, I can do things to ensure I get the best out of this
trait. Number one is to observe the performance of the employees; this will help link with the
workers by watching their performance at a distance. The employees will find opportunities
to talk with them and understand they have been seen. This will help me be involved in what
is ongoing and provide corrections if necessary.
The second thing to consider in Laissez-faire is delegation of duties over the twenty
employees in the department. This will help decrease structural confusion and ensure
everyone understands their role in the department. Availability is another vital consideration
in this case. Although Laissez-faire states that leaders are hands-off, it is crucial that
employees know my availability if they require help. I should be ready to respond to queries,
offer advice, and check employees' well-being. Finally, is addressing problems in Laissez-
faire leadership. As a leader, I must address issues as soon as I see them to aid the correct
course of action so that a worker is not frustrated that he/she did not know the problem
sooner.
Conclusion
Transformational leadership ensures positive outcomes in an organization as it
encourages the active participation of employees in the organizational goals. Strengths
identified for my director role presiding over twenty new employees include inspirational
motivation, intellectual stimulation, and management-by-exception. These traits will ensure
that I reinforce the message of giving the employee a chance to showcase his/her abilities in
improving the productivity of the whole organization. Opportunities for improvement in my
director's role included individualized consideration, contingent reward, Laissez-Faire, and
idealized influence. If translated into work, these traits will raise employees' trust in me, their
leader, necessary for attaining the set goals and objectives.
 References
Anderson, M. (2017). Transformational Leadership in Education: A Review of Existing
Literature. International Social Science Review, 93(1), 1–13.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/90012919
Ghasabeh, M. S., Soosay, C., & Reaiche, C. (2015). The emerging role of transformational
leadership. The Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), 459–467.
https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2015.0090
Orabi, T. G. A. (2016). The Impact of Transformational Leadership Style on Organizational
Performance: Evidence from Jordan. International Journal of Human Resource
Studies, 6(2), 89. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v6i2.9427
Yang, I. (2015). Positive effects of laissez-faire leadership: conceptual exploration. Journal
of Management Development, 34(10), 1246–1261. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmd-02-
2015-0016