Answer to Question #294833 in Civil and Environmental Engineering for Sam

Question

We cannot rule out that transformational leaders. who are not driven by ethical values, hold the power to exploit the motivation of value-driven followers for their own profit; a phenomenon corresponding to pseudo-transformational leadership or the ‘dark side’ of transformational leader- ship.” (Braun et al., 2013, p.28

Answer 1

Transactional leadership involves contingent reinforcement. Followers are moti- vated by the leaders’ promises, praise, and rewards, or they are corrected by negative feedback, reproof, threats, or disciplinary actions. The leaders react to whether the followers carry out what the leaders and followers have “transacted” to do. In contingent rewarding behavior leaders either make assignments or they may consult with followers about what is to be done in exchange for implicit or explicit rewards and the desired allocation of resources. When leaders engage in active management- by-exception, they monitor follower performance and correct followers’ mistakes. When leaders engage in passive management-by-exception, they wait passively for followers’ mistakes to be called to their attention before taking corrective action with negative feedback or reprimands. Laissez-faire leaders avoid leading.

Transformational leadership contains four components: charisma or idealized influence (attributed or behavioral), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass, 1985, 1998; Bass & Avolio, 1993). Followers identify with the charismatic leaders’ aspirations and want to emulate the leaders. Shamir, House, and Arthur (1993), Conger and Kanungo (l988, 1998), Kanungo and Mendonca (1996) conceive of the same components as all falling under the category of charismatic leadership.

For the purposes of discussion, we will speak of transformational and transac- tional leaders when, in fact, most leaders have a profile of the full range of leadership that includes both transformational and transactional factors. However, those whom we call transformational do much more of the transformational than the transac- tional. In their defining moments, they are transformational. Those whom we label as transactional leaders display much more transactional leadership behavior. They are more likely to have attitudes, beliefs, and values more consistent with transac- tional leadership, but they still may be likely to be transformational at times.

Each component of either transactional or transformational leadership has an ethical dimension. It is the behavior of leaders—including their moral character, values and programs—that is authentic or inauthentic.