7 Ways Transformational Leaders Are Different
by. Matt Monge
Some leaders are…different. They have this certain something that resonates with us, and that certain something may be hard to describe and will likely vary from person to person. They’re not perfect, but somehow that’s part of their charm. They possess the ability to motivate people, but it’s often not in the traditional ways.
Like I said — they’re different.
They talk a little differently about organizational life. They appear to cling to this unflappable belief in the potential of people of all sorts to do amazing things together.
We’re drawn to folks like this precisely because they’re different than what you might normally picture in your mind when someone uses the word manager or executive. To say they inspire us sounds so dreadfully cliché, but they do appeal to different parts of our hearts and minds than the “typical” leader.
If we wanted to get all fancypants about it, we would say we’re talking about transformational leadership as opposed to transactional leadership. What’s the difference?
1. Instead of pushing self-interest, they promote group gains.
Transactional leaders appeal mainly to employees’ self-interest. “If you do this, you’ll get this good thing. If you don’t do this, you’ll get this bad thing.”
Transformational leaders help employees connect to each other and the organization’s mission, and the good of the team takes priority.
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