There are two main forms of leadership, that is, situational leadership and transformational leadership. Situational leadership refers to leadership that depends on particular issues that require handling at a particular instance. For example, in a business setting, situational leaders will make decisions focusing on the current business situation. For example, a transformational leader will pay dividends to shareholders in a company without investing in other business future to promote future company development. Therefore, situational leadership seeks to change current situations without consideration for future conditions (Harrington, & Williams, 2004).
On the other hand, Transformational leadership attempts to amend the long-term situation by changing the whole system. Therefore, transformational change aims to improve the way that people view a given issue in society or the way that an organization conducts its business. Unlike situational leadership that leads to change in an abrupt manner, transformational leadership is steady, and it takes the time to induce change (Hegtvedt, & Johnson, 2009). However, any form of leadership cannot effect change within a business or a community without advocacy. Advocacy, in this case, refers to the process through which agents of change support a new idea and spread this idea to other concerned individuals in a community or a business setting. Advocacy is especially important in transformational leadership as it is through advocacy that people are convinced to change their traditional way of doing a thing to adopt a new method (Bass, 1999).
A good example of transformational leadership bringing change in society is the struggle towards the realization of equal rights for the black community within the United States. The discrimination against the black community began during the Transatlantic slave trade during which period white slave traders forcefully took the blacks from their homes in Africa to work in plantations in America. During that time, the white settlers who purchased the slaves from the slave traders became the owners of the black settlers and were free to do with such slaves as they pleased. The blacks had no rights under the constitution at that time.
The transformational change brought about change leading to the freeing of the slaves. Transformational leaders such as Abraham Lincoln who became the sixth president of the United States lead the calls for the reforms for the black community. The campaigns by such leaders resulted in the beginning of the Civil war in which the Northern states opposed slavery. On the other hand, the southern states were in support of slavery. At the end of the civil war, the Northern States won, and the newly elected President Lincoln embedded his signature to the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that all men were created equal, and therefore, the blacks would have equal rights to the whites. Among the changes that took place as a result of this transformation included the institution of the right to vote for the blacks. Furthermore, the blacks were also allowed to own property under the new constitution. As such, the law officially recognized the Black Americans as citizens of the country.
During the time of slavery, most of the whites in the United States supported and practiced slavery. To change the community dynamics so that the whites would oppose slavery, Lincoln, and other like-minded transformational leaders used advocacy. The leaders held public rallies condemning slavery. As they attracted more followers, these, in turn, spread the word of the campaign to other individuals in the community. In the long run, Lincoln and his supporters were able to rally enough support in the North to wage war against the Southern States where there was still widespread support for slavery.
Social Change is an important method through which a community achieves stability. For change to occur, leaders within the society must identify the social vice that they wish to change (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009). The leaders then use advocacy to attract others with similar views on the issue. As more people accept the new better means of reasoning, the community gradually changes to take the new method. However, such changes are slow and gradual and often take decades to occur (Kuhnert, & Lewis, 1987). As such, these changes require transformational leadership to occur as opposed to situational leadership.
- Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research, and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 421–449.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 9–32.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Harrington, D., & Williams, B. (2004). Moving the quality effort forward—The emerging role of the middle manager. Managing Service Quality, 14(4), 297–306.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Hegtvedt, K. A., & Johnson, C. (2009). Power and justice: Toward an understanding of legitimacy.American Behavioral Scientist, 53(3), 376–399.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases. - Kuhnert, K. W., & Lewis, P. (1987). Transactional and transformational leadership: A constructive/developmental analysis. Academy of Management Review, 12(4), 648–657.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
