A511.6.3.RB - A Leader From the Past

Think about your leaders from the past and reflect on their qualities. Did any of them exhibit the qualities of a transformational leader? Did the leader exhibit certain elements that made you want to work harder? In what ways were you transformed by the leader you are describing?

Reminiscing on leaders from my childhood brings back memories of superheroes as role models while growing up. The depiction of Spider-Man battling the Green Goblin or Batman fighting The Joker to save humanity represented the archetypal ideals. These figures represented the good versus evil and presented a moral example on which we hope to mimic after. This is still evident today with productions of classic comics such as Wonder Woman on the big screen to showcase fanciful example of superheroes acting on behalf of humanity.

Video: In the scene above, Steve expresses the impossibility of crossing over due to a deadlock state against the German front to Diana. However, Diana believes that she will be able to cross it by deflecting incoming bullets and risks her life to show that it is possible (Warner Bros, 2017).

These heightened displays of heroic actions in comics show fanciful versions of transformational leadership. These creations involves a storyline that can invoke influence for us to become better or to inspire us to reach our goals that may seem distant and unachievable. This type of invigoration that is developed is a similar fire that transformational leadership can provide as well. Transformational leadership is reached when those who are able to lead influence others to go beyond their self-interest to accomplish tasks that are more than what is expected of them. These leaders light that fire within individuals to go beyond by fulfilling their human potential of what they did not think was possible. When I think a leader that is able to develop this superhero-like inspiration, I reflect on my time in college with my Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) instructor, Lt Col Michael D. Eliason.

Lt Col Michael D. Eliason has the textbook definition of a transformational leader by not only portraying a charismatic and visonary leadership, but also cared about our values, ethics, and long-term goals that we had as cadets (Northouse, 2016, p. 161). There was that 'professional distance' between him and our class from being an instructor, but yet he was able to be personal by remembering the small details about us. These types of details ranged from our class schedule to more personal details such as our own hobbies and interests. This relates to the Leadership Member Exchange (LMX) theory in the fact that our instructor was able to crate a unique relationship with each of us that made us feel as part of an in-group. Furthermore, he resembled a superhero to us from what he had experienced during his time in the Air Force. He was a pilot flying the B-1 Lancer bomber plane and had many great war-fighting stories. His story-telling was an exuberant and engaging ordeal that captivated each and every one of us.

Through his story-telling, there was always a moral to be taught or something to be learned. This hits one of the main core aspects of transformational leaders by being grounded in a moral matrix. According to Bass & Steidlmeier (1999, p. 181) there are three aspects in regards to ethics that are of concern:

1. Moral character of leaders and concern for self and others.
2. Ethical values embedded in the leader's vision, articulation, and program, which followers can embrace or reject.
3. Morality of the processes of social ethical choices and actions in which the leaders and followers engage and collectively pursue.

Lt Col Eliason went onto many tangents during our class that started out with a core discussion topic to a personal story of his. Although I do not quite remember the details of the story itself, I recall the main point of the story. A few of my favorite lessons include: being able to succeed no matter where you end up with an analogy to a plant by blooming wherever you are planted; you can learn as much from a bad leader as you can from a good leader in a sense of what not to do; and to put people first by caring about them because people will not remember what you did, but will remember how you made them feel. These types of lessons when given after a personal connection is developed from a leader helps to leave a mark that resonates within the in individual.

Lt Col Eliason was a transformational leader because his focus was beyond self-interest from his or the follower's perspective and aimed at creating an environment of empowerment and esprit de corps. Bass (1999, p. 11) notes that when leaders are able to use idealized influence (charisma), intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration to foster inspiration on a grander scale then transformational teams are developed that end up being high-performing through achievement and self-actualization.

A transformational team is powerful because not only are each individual inspired, but they end up inspiring each other as well as the leader of what they are capable of. When thinking of how Lt Col Eliason developed this type of atmosphere, he really was able to develop trust, loyalty, and respect with each one of us. This started out with a transactional reward system where cadets were recognized based on their performance in academics, athletics, or service. He would assigned us various tasks that we were responsible for and would gauge our progress and give suggestions on how to succeed. He was able to utilize a supportive type of leadership as outlined in Path-Goal Theory (PGT) that taught us how to carry out and practice a leadership role in the unit.

By fostering these different transactional elements in terms of recognition with supportive leadership behavior, Lt Col Eliason was able to move towards an achievement-oriented leadership that provided challenges to further develop us into leaders. Bass (1999, p. 13) points out that in LMX theory transactional methods are typically used in the first and second phase (stranger and acquaintance) between leaders and followers that moved towards being transformational in the third phase (partnership). Lt Col Eliason was able to use his charismatic leadership to progress towards a transformational team by remaining dominant and influential pushing us to gain a higher sense of self-esteem. Ultimately, this developed our confidence that improved our self-efficacy pushing us to work harder for our ROTC detachment as a whole.

From my own experience, I was changed by learning how to trust my own intuition through finding my leadership style in this training environment. By having a collective culture in our detachment, it provided an atmosphere that helped to facilitate the growth of a transformational team with the direction from Lt Col Eliason. Because of the mentality of our detachment through our core values derived for the Air Force (Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do), we had a unifying purpose. As we became seniors, we became mentors to the freshmen class because we had the responsibility to take care of them. I was able to practice developing a professional relationship with the underclassmen and help with any issues they may be facing similar to how Lt Col Eliason and the upperclassmen did for us. I realized that I had leadership potential from being able to develop and practice it. I was able to embody elements of Lt Col Eliason's leadership and emulate being a transformational leader as well.

References

Bass, B.M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 9-32.

Bass, B.M. & Steidlmeier, P. (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior. Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 181-217.

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing.

Warner Bros [Filmic Box]. (2017, August 29). No man's land scene | wonder woman (2017) movie clip [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlwHKphUU_Y