
Leadership – how, what, why and who
Leadership and what affects it
Leadership is all about creating the space where people are willing and able to share and combine their talents and passions to achieve a common goal!
Our role as leaders is to set the stage, not perform on it!
OK, but how does leaders emerge?

So, What makes an effective leader?
- Transactional leadership is the basic form of leadership, and it’s based on an exchange relationship between the leader and the follower. Essentially, if the follower works hard, then the leader provides a reward. If they don’t, then they’re punished.
Transactional leadership works best when the leader provides clear instructions and enough resources to do the work.
When there are rewards contingent on the behavior, and when the leader actively monitors the performance to make sure that any errors or reduced performance is caught at the right time.
Other theories call this type of leadership – Task-oriented leadership – where the focus of the leader is at the task in hand and how it could be improved, optimized, completed in the best possible way.
- So what is transformational leadership?
Well, once you’ve got the basics down, and people know what they’re doing, and they’re reinforced for doing the correct behaviors through transactional
- Individualized consideration – it is about knowing who your followers are as individuals, and developing their skills and knowledge.
- Intellectual stimulation – means that you’re challenging your followers, giving them difficult and complex tasks, and encouraging creativity and innovation.
- Inspirational motivation – is about setting a vision and linking that to the day to day goals of the group. And about being optimistic and enthusiastic.
- Idealized influence – which was originally called charisma and involves standing up for what you believe in, discussing your values and your ethical stances.
Some theories call this the “People-oriented leadership” – where the focus of the leader is at people, their abilities, potential, motivation and success
In summary, leader effectiveness is about both managing people and inspiring them.
SO, NOW WHAT?
Well… just pick one…