Lou Gerstner's Transformational Leadership Style

Transformational Approach

Transformational leadership style work towards high levels of communication from a management to meet goals. Leaders are meant to motivate employees and augment productivity and efficiency through communication and high visibility. This style of leadership really does need the involvement of management to meet goals. Leaders focus on the big picture within an organization and delegate smaller tasks to the team to accomplish goals. Transformational leadership proves to be efficient not only in business, but in all other sectors where it is used. In order to increase strength in the position of transformational leadership. In terms of business, Lou Gerstner, the present chairman and CEO of IBM is one of the best examples

Furthermore, a leader can play a significant role in terms of judging and decision making in a more complex changed phenomenon. According to Cummings and Vorley (2007) to clarify and shift IBM’s culture, it needed to change its approach.

Participative Approach

The Participative approach, is often called the democratic leadership style as participative leadership values the input of team members and peers in general, but the responsibility of making the final decision relies with the participative leader. Participative leadership increases employee morale as employees make contributions to the decision-making process. It shows the employees and tends to make them feel as if their opinions do really matter. When a company/ organization is needed to make large changes within the organization, the participative leadership style promotes employees which leads to accepting changes easily because they play a role in the process. This style meets challenges when companies rely on trying to make a decision in a short period of time. IBM was forced to change its approach as it was near bankruptcy and didn’t have a plan B. Hence, Meyer & Stensaker (QUT, 2008)

Hence, leaders need to be prepared and manage readiness to the alteration by making an environment of honesty and transparency for their team as a successful implementation of the change is unlikely. Employees must be part of the change hence, they must to be told about the requirement of the change and be given a reward to motivate to embrace the change. If change be accepted by all recipients it can be implemented quickly and effectively. The leaders’ attitudes and behaviors have both positive and negative alterations on the change success. Therefore, leaders of organizations need to try and develop a more framing and shaping behavior, adding skills on themselves to change and motivate the subordinates towards the embracing the change.

There is no best way or one strategy to manage and handle the changes. The fusion of the various approaches can be used in more for various situations, that is why it is the role of leader to find the proper approaches that be singled out into a business strategy. Producing an innovative and modern system through rapid changes can be an appropriate system in the future. Organizations must try to weigh out the level of the changes and stability to gain a greater competitive advantage. Or, it will lead then to change failure,