Transformational, Authentic, and Servant Leadership

In this week’s blog we are going to cover three leadership theories instead of two like we have in previous weeks.  This week also contains three leadership theories that I find to be very interesting and also very effective styles.  When I think of a leader I imagine someone who has the ability to inspire, acts on their beliefs, cares about their followers, and can harness their abilities to achieve their goals.  The three leadership theories this week are transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and servant leadership.  I will do a basic overview of each of these theories and try to connect them to examples of characters on movies, well-known leaders, or my personal experiences.

Transformational leadership is the first theory we will discuss this week.  This theory is concerned with a leader’s ability to inspire their followers to change their behavior or ways of thinking in order to achieve greatness (Northouse, 2016).  The kinds of leaders are those people that can get the best out of their followers.  The measurement tool used to assess a person’s transformational leadership ability is the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (LMQ).  This questionnaire measures a leader’s behavior in the areas of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, contingent reward, management-by-exception, and laissez-faire (Northouse, 2016). 

One movie character that I think of that displayed transformational leadership is Coach Boone form the movie Remember the Titans who was played by Denzel Washington.  In the movie Coach Boone is tasked with being the first coach of the only integrated high school in the area.  Coach Boone was a black man tasked with coaching against schools with all white teams and coaches.  He was able to inspire his team to come together regardless of race and that togetherness eventually rubbed off on the entire community.  He changed the behavior and beliefs of his team which lead to them winning the state championship. 

Authentic leadership is a newer concept that has been developed in response to the failures of leadership in both the public and private sectors.  Authentic leadership seeks a leader who is transparent, morally grounded, and responsive to people’s needs and values (Northouse, 2016).  This leadership theory says a leader needs to be someone who tells you what they believe, stands by those beliefs, and truly wants to do what is best for their followers.  This theory can be measured in the following ways (Northouse, 2016):

1.     Intrapersonally: focus on leader’s knowledge, self-regulation, and self-concept.

2.     Developmentally: emphasize components of authentic leadership that develop over a lifetime and are triggered by major life events.

3.     Interpersonally: authentic leadership is a collective process created by leaders and followers together.

I always tell my wife and others that I am more likely to vote for a politician I do not agree with all of the time if I think they are authentic.  A politician may say all of the things I want to hear one day and something else another depending on what is politically advantageous at the time.  A person that can tell me what they believe and not go away from that when it may hurt their chances of winning will impress me more than those that do not. One of the examples from this year’s campaign is Bernie Sanders.  I do not particularly agree with Bernie Sanders on many things, but I do respect that he says what he believes and his actions show his beliefs. 

The last theory we will be discussing this week is the servant leadership theory.  This may seem like an interesting name for a leadership theory, but aren’t the leaders of this country supposed to be servants of the people?  In servant leadership the leader put the needs of others and the greater good of the organization above the needs of themselves (Northouse, 2016).  When we elect the politicians that are going to represent us we want them to put our needs over those of themselves, but many times we may not feel like they do.  Servant leaders are ones that are attentive to the needs of their followers, empower them, and helps them to reach their full potential (Northouse, 2016). 

Servant leadership is the style of leadership that I display most of the time.  I do not lead by inspiring speeches or being the most physically or mentally gifted.  People will follow me because they know I have their best interests in mind.  When I was in the Navy there were people from all different backgrounds with many different views on leadership.  The one that had the biggest effect on me was when a supervisor of mine displayed servant leadership.  He would listen to your concerns and do what was best for you, the division, and the entire ship.  He always put the needs of his followers first and would stand up for those less able to stand up for themselves.  He is the reason I tried to put other people’s needs above mine and lead them in the same way.  I feel that if a leader can improve the lives and abilities of their followers they will return the favor by performing at a higher level to achieve the goals of the organization. 

Reference:

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand oaks: Sage Publications.