It is critically important to understand the various views of leadership when reviewing the leadership qualities in today’s workplaces. Most importantly, workplace leadership involves influencing those employees one supervises.
Leadership Characteristics
A leader who is dynamic, influential and motivating may be characterized as exhibiting authentic or genuine leadership. An authentic leader follows the same morals and principles that he or she wants the followers to emulate. When a leader is able to motivate individuals to work toward the goals of the company, authentic leadership and a more productive workplace occur simultaneously.
Although specific leaders may display authentic and genuine leadership, there are most certainly other leaders who develop the façade of authentic leadership. These particular leaders may be described as displaying characteristics of pseudotransformational leadership.
A pseudotransformational leader is someone who is self-consumed, power-oriented and often displays warped moral values. This type of leader may operate under the façade of leading the company toward the greater good; however, he or she is ultimately very self-consumed. When leaders display this type of leadership, they are only genuinely interested in pursuing their own interests, rather than working toward the collective good of the company.
Understanding Leadership
Understanding who is displaying genuine leadership and who is displaying pseudotransformational leadership is important to today’s workplace. By definitively defining which characteristics a person is exhibiting, a subordinate or follower can determine which type of leader they wish to emulate.
If one mistakenly believes pseudo-transformational leadership to be genuine, that person may also exhibit those same characteristics. Interestingly, it may not be until after a person leaves a particular workplace that they can reflect back upon their experience to determine if they were under genuine leadership or pseudo-transformational leadership.
In the United States’ individualistic society, pseudotransformational leadership can be prevalent. In fact, many leaders and managers display leadership characteristics while being motivated toward their personal goals, rather than the overall mission of the company.
This illustrates that morality plays a big role in leadership development and helps to determine if individuals develop into genuine leaders or pseudo-transformational leaders. With business scandals plentiful in recent years, it would appear that many of the CEOs at these companies displayed characteristics of someone with little or no respect for moral values in the workplace.
Organizations that employ leaders who practice pseudotransformational leadership are more likely to develop questionable ethics. By keeping these types of leaders in positions of authority, the organization itself is encouraging the behavior and it will filter throughout the organization.
For a business to achieve highly effective results and meet its goals, it must be keenly aware of who it hires and what types of leadership abilities these people have as they guide the company toward opportunities. Identifying those individuals who have the ability to display authentic leadership will mean success and sustainability for the future.
Heather Rothbauer-Wanish - Heather Rothbauer-Wanish has a BBA in Management from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MBA from Lakeland College. She has ...
