transformational leadership

There are many ways to lead a company, but most leadership styles tend to be either transactional or transformational.

Transformational leadership is characterized by leaders who inspire and motivate their teams to achieve beyond the expected, encouraging innovation and fostering a sense of collective purpose. These leaders are visionaries, capable of articulating a compelling vision for the future and instilling a sense of passion and commitment among their followers.

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., exemplifies transformational leadership. Known for his visionary approach, Jobs inspired his team to create groundbreaking products, shaping the technological landscape and setting new industry standards.

Transformational leaders often require a support system to help them navigate the complexities of their role and maintain their innovative edge. Mastermind groups, consisting of like-minded individuals who collaborate and share insights, play a crucial role in fostering creativity and providing valuable perspectives.

Mastermind groups serve as a forum for transformational leaders to exchange ideas, challenges, and experiences with peers who understand the unique demands of visionary leadership. Ambition in Motion Mastermind Groups, in particular, offer a structured platform where leaders can engage in thought-provoking discussions, receive feedback, and gain fresh perspectives from a diverse group of professionals. This collaborative environment empowers transformational leaders to refine their strategies, overcome obstacles, and stay at the forefront of innovation.

In addition to mastermind groups, mentorship is another crucial element for transformational leaders seeking to enhance their skills. Mentors provide guidance based on their own experiences, offering valuable insights that can help leaders navigate complex challenges. Ambition in Motion, recognizing the importance of mentorship, facilitates connections between experienced mentors and transformational leaders, creating opportunities for personalized guidance and knowledge transfer.

On the other hand, transactional leadership is characterized by a more structured and task-oriented approach. Leaders employing this style focus on the day-to-day operations, using a system of rewards and punishments to motivate their teams. Transactional leaders ensure that tasks are completed efficiently, and they are often concerned with maintaining order and adherence to established procedures.

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, is a notable example of transactional leadership. Welch was known for his emphasis on performance metrics, setting clear expectations, and implementing a system of rewards for high-performing employees.

Transactional leaders thrive in environments where efficiency and productivity are paramount. However, this style may lack the innovation and long-term vision associated with transformational leadership. While transactional leaders excel in managing routine tasks and achieving short-term goals, they may benefit from a broader perspective to adapt to changing business landscapes.

Transactional leaders, too, can benefit from mastermind groups as a resource for professional development. Ambition in Motion Mastermind Groups provide transactional leaders with a platform to connect with peers facing similar challenges, enabling them to share best practices, streamline processes, and enhance their leadership skills within the context of their operational focus.

Mentorship is equally valuable for transactional leaders looking to expand their leadership capabilities. Ambition in Motion recognizes the diverse needs of leaders and offers mentorship opportunities tailored to the specific challenges faced by transactional leaders. Through personalized guidance, mentors help transactional leaders refine their operational strategies, adapt to changing circumstances, and foster a more collaborative and dynamic team environment.

Understanding the differences between transformational and transactional leadership is crucial for effective decision-making. While transformational leaders inspire innovation and vision, transactional leaders excel in managing day-to-day operations. Recognizing the unique demands of each leadership style, Ambition in Motion Mastermind Groups emerges as a valuable resource, providing a platform for leaders to connect, collaborate, and grow.

Whether one leans towards transformational or transactional leadership, the support systems offered by Ambition in Motion, including mastermind groups and mentorship opportunities, present invaluable resources for leaders seeking to refine their skills, overcome challenges, and stay ahead in an ever-changing business landscape. By leveraging these resources, leaders can cultivate a more comprehensive skill set, ensuring success in their respective leadership roles.

Communicating layoffs to employees is a tough situation that requires considerable thought and compassion. Layoffs can have a dramatic effect on the organization and steps must be taken to help preserve workplace culture when relaying such changes. When informing employees about these difficult decisions, creating a strong communication plan can assist in lessening the emotional turmoil resulting from layoffs. 

Here are 4 steps to developing a strong initial communication plan: 

Employee response to layoffs is largely determined by the perceived fairness and transparency utilized throughout the decision-making and communication processes. Clear messaging regarding why the decision was made, alternative solutions considered, and the future of the organization will help prevent employees from creating their assumptions. Increased transparency works to build trust with employees and reduces damage to company morale. 

2. Include Employees in the Process

During the process of determining layoffs, all possible solutions are often exhausted prior to reaching a decision. However, if appropriate include employees from all levels in identifying solutions. Motivations for layoffs are most often to take cost cutting measures.  Engaging with employees to gather feedback and consider alternative areas to reduce costs can help empower employees and increase collaboration. Inclusion within the problem-solving process also helps to gain a better understanding of the process that was utilized to come to the solution of laying off employees. 

3. Consider Word Choice

An important, but often overlooked, consideration is word choice. Being sensitive to nuances will avoid a negative tone. Phrases that sound voluntary such as “leaving” or euphemisms like “restructuring” detract from the situation at hand and can diminish the hard work contributed by the employees who are laid off. Consider the feelings of the employees who are being let go and develop a tone that is sensitive to these emotions. 

4. Consistent Messaging

Regardless of whether a message is intended solely for employees, information may get leaked to media outlets or other outside sources. When developing internal and external messages, messaging should be consistent. Conflicting information will increase confusion and cause distrust among stakeholders. All messages should be crafted with the idea that any stakeholder may see the information. Additionally, all stakeholders should be addressed when communicating the news of layoffs. Since, likely, all stakeholders will eventually hear about the layoffs, creating specific content for each audience can ensure that no group of stakeholders is left out of the loop

Transparency, inclusion, word choice consideration, and consistency are key elements that can guide the communication process across all stakeholders. Since employees are personally being impacted by layoffs, increased consideration of how to approach communication with this group of stakeholders is vital. Whether the employee is being laid off or one of their peers is being let go, all employees will feel the effects of the organizational change.  

When communicating with laid-off employees and remaining employees, here are some important considerations to best support both groups: 

Conducting one-on-one meetings with laid-off individuals is an empathetic approach to communicating the difficult news. Individual meetings communicate respect for the employees who are laid off and serve as an opportunity to support their emotional needs. During this time, laid-off employees can feel heard and ask questions that will help them get a better understanding of reasoning and future steps. 

When initially receiving the news that they are laid off, employees may not fully process the news and may have questions they fail to ask during the individual meeting. Providing additional support resources for employees following these meetings is a key way to address concerns and continue to demonstrate empathy. Support resources may include a contact within the company that can be used to answer further questions regarding the layoffs or details about benefits and severance packages.  

While layoffs are particularly difficult for employees losing their jobs, the remaining employees also endure emotional hardship. The remaining employees are tasked with the ramifications of the layoffs and will need to navigate the new environment. Providing specific operational changes that will be implemented can help to reduce the uncertainty for remaining employees. 

 

Following layoffs, it is common for teams to work at a lower capacity. This lower productivity can result from increased workloads for remaining employees as well as the emotional toll from losing team members. While it may seem effective to continue to motivate employees to work at 100% efficiency, allowing employees time and space to grieve these changes will provide more significant benefits. Allowing time for positive adjustments to change will work to strengthen employee morale and engagement as they will be able to better process these changes. 

When undergoing layoffs, there will be increased fear of future layoffs for the organization. While assuring there won’t be future layoffs certainly shouldn’t be done if there are plans for continued layoffs, if there aren’t plans for additional layoffs that should be communicated to the remaining employees. It is natural for employees to stress about their jobs when they see peers losing their jobs. Offering support to team members through open communication and availability for questions can help ease the minds of remaining employees. 

Anytime a company has to lay off employees there are a lot of hardships. Ultimately, effective communication with all stakeholders is important to best navigate the changing environment. While layoffs have many negative implications on the employees leaving the company, consistency, honesty, and empathy must be utilized through all phases of communication to prevent the company image from being damaged and best guide the company toward future success.  

We all have life events that distract us from work from time to time: an ailing family member, a divorce, the death of a friend. You can’t expect someone to be at their best at such times. But as a manager what can you expect? How can you support the person to take care of themselves emotionally while also making sure they are doing their work (or as much of it as they are able to)?

Emily, a dedicated team leader, found herself facing a challenging situation. One of her team members, Charlie, was grappling with personal turmoil, juggling the complexities of an external affair leading to a divorce that was tearing apart his family. Balancing the demands of the workplace while carrying such a heavy emotional burden, Charlie was struggling to meet performance expectations, leaving Emily in a delicate position as a leader torn between empathy and professionalism.

Understanding the delicate nature of Charlie's situation, Emily knew that leading with empathy was crucial. However, maintaining a professional work environment was equally important. Striking the right balance required a thoughtful and nuanced approach.

First, Emily decided to initiate a private conversation with Charlie. She wanted to create a safe space for him to share his struggles without judgment. Instead of immediately addressing performance concerns, she began by expressing concern for his well-being and acknowledging the challenges he might be facing outside of work.

During their conversation, Emily demonstrated active listening skills, allowing Charlie to open up about his personal life at his own pace. This approach helped build trust and allowed Emily to gain a deeper understanding of the emotional toll Charlie was experiencing. In doing so, she learned about his fears, uncertainties, and the difficulty he faced in separating personal issues from his professional responsibilities.

Understanding that Charlie might find it challenging to communicate openly in a face-to-face setting, Emily subtly introduced the idea of using AIM Insights, a platform designed for non-face-to-face communication among team members. This platform served as an online forum where employees could share their personal struggles, ambitions, and non-work-related goals in a comfortable and confidential manner.

Emily emphasized the benefits of AIM Insights, explaining how it could provide a supportive space for team members to express themselves freely. The platform allowed individuals like Charlie to share their experiences, offering insights into their lives outside of the office, making it easier for leaders like Emily to comprehend the challenges faced by their team members.

Without explicitly revealing Charlie's personal situation, Emily encouraged the team to use AIM Insights as a channel for open communication about their non-work-related struggles and aspirations.

These 3 tips are also used to ensure that the workplace is a confidential, empathetic and supportive environment. 

When you speak to an employee about their current struggles, listen first instead of immediately advocating for some particular course of action. They may just want a sounding board about the difficulties of caring for a sick relative or an opportunity to explain why a divorce has affected their attention span. If you immediately suggest they take a leave of absence or adjust their schedule, they may be put off if that’s not what they were thinking. Instead, ask what both of you can do together to address the issue of performance during the difficult period. 

2. Know What You Can Offer

You may be more than willing to give a grieving employee several weeks of leave, or to offer a woman with a high-risk pregnancy the ability to work from home. But the decision isn’t always yours to make. If you have the leeway to get creative with a flexible schedule, an adjusted workload, or a temporary work-from-home arrangement, do what you think is best. But also be sure you understand your company’s restrictions on short- and long-term leave, and what, if any, bureaucratic hurdles exist before promising anything to your employee. Explain that you need to check what’s possible before you both commit to an arrangement.

If the employee needs counseling or drug or alcohol services, there may be resources provided by your company’s medical insurance that you can recommend. But investigate the quality of those resources first. The last thing you want to do is send a suffering employee to avail themselves of a program or supposedly helpful people who then fall short.

3. Consider Workload

You also have to consider whether prolonged absences will adversely affect clients or team members. If so, mitigate those risks by easing the person’s workload. If there are people who are willing and able to take on some of the individual’s projects, you can do that temporarily. Just be sure to reward the people who are stepping in. And then set timelines for any adjustments you make. If the person knows that their situation will last for 6-8 weeks, set a deadline for you to meet and discuss what will happen next. Of course, many situations will be open-ended and in those cases, you can set interim deadlines when you get together to check in on how things are going and make adjustments as necessary. Whatever arrangements you make, be crystal clear about your expectations during this time period. Be realistic about what they can accomplish and set goals they can meet.

In the continuously evolving workplace, generations have begun to prioritize emotional intelligence and interpersonal factors. A 2023 Forbes article entitled “Why Emotional Intelligence Is Crucial For Effective Leadership” explains that today's leaders differ from those of traditional, stereotypical leaders. Rather than solely focusing on specific data, sales targets, or goals, managers are now expected to achieve these goals while also promoting psychological safety. Forbes author, Sanjay Sehgal highlights the difference in today's leaders, boasting self-awareness and care for fostering relationships over giving directions creating a new kind of workplace. 

In this new and evolving role that managers have an expectation to undertake, many struggle to support direct reports going through personal struggles or challenges. Managers' ability to navigate these situations requires empathy, emotional intelligence, and the focus to balance professional and personal needs. Sometimes managers struggle in switching from a task-oriented to a relationship-oriented workplace, however, prioritizing relationships in the workplace is paramount to the success of modern leaders. Leaders commonly lack the training or experience relevant to handling sensitive, emotionally impactful conversations, which can make it difficult to provide genuine support. As organizations increasingly prioritize balance, managers must develop the awareness needed to effectively support their teams during challenging times. Here are 6 ways managers can provide emotional support and build psychological safety for their team members:

Oftentimes, communication barriers hinder managers' ability to emotionally support their direct reports. Without a clear understanding of the extent or challenge someone is facing, leaders have no way of knowing what will best support their teams. Miscommunication or lack of trust can lead to misunderstandings, leaving employees feeling unsupported or unvalued by the team. On the other hand, open communication strengthens relationships, fosters a sense of psychological safety, and ensures employees understand the personal and professional support available. 

2. Offer Flexibility

To emotionally support direct reports by demonstrating empathy and understanding of personal challenges, managers can offer flexibility in teams, where available. Finding productive methods to manage contributions and find a compromise to support individuals is challenging. Altering schedules, adding a cushion to deadlines, or allowing remote work can aid employees in managing their struggles. Flexibility and understanding when possible can foster stress and aid in reducing stress for employees facing a variety of challenges. Creating an environment where direct reports are comfortable asking for help or support should be at the forefront of focus in creating psychological safety. 

3. Build a Strong Team Culture

Creating a strong team culture positively boosts a manager's ability to emotionally support direct reports by fostering a sense of trust, camaraderie, and mutual respect among teams, and levels of an organization's hierarchy. Working in an inclusive culture, employees are much more likely to openly communicate personal and professional hurdles, enabling managers to provide timely and appropriate support. Building productive workplace cultures has another benefit for providing support to team members. A strong culture encourages peer support and empathy, building a culture where team members care for each other, reduce stress, and provide a comforting work environment. 

4. Set Clear Expectations

Employees' fundamental understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and goals works to mitigate stress and promote efficacy in the workplace. Clear expectations offer a foundation for trust and open communication which encourages employees to ask for help, and clarification and express concerns as they arise. Building a structure to foster a supportive environment will promote employees' feelings of security, and better enable managers to provide meaningful emotional support when needed.

5. Promote Balance

Enhancing workplace balance is a strong tool for managers hoping to provide emotional support to their direct reports. When managers encourage work-life balance, employees are more in control of their personal and professional lives which, can be supportive in facing hurdles in either sphere. Ongoing support reduces burnout and anxiety, which makes employees more apt to approach managers or leaders to discuss their challenges. A balanced workplace creates an environment where every employee can feel supported in work and personal needs. By prioritizing balance, managers demonstrate care for their team's well-being, strengthening trust and improving their ability to offer emotional support when needed.

6. Offer Continuous Feedback

Providing opportunities to receive continuous feedback can aid in supporting direct reports through personal challenges. In creating trust and promoting transparency, providing continuous feedback is crucial for continuous growth. Regular feedback not only provides employees with a clear sense of their performance but helps to alleviate confusion and, provides opportunities for discussion about responsibilities and workloads. Feedback circles enable a conversation between direct reports and their employees, allowing managers to better address challenges and comprehend major factors affecting their direct reports. Having a proactive approach to discussing performance with employees demonstrates a focus on overall development and well-being, promoting comfort and support. 

In today’s workplace, emotionally supporting team members is crucial for managers to foster a positive and productive environment. Encouraging open communication ensures that employees feel heard, valued, and safe to express their challenges. Offering flexibility, where possible, helps managers accommodate personal struggles, reducing stress and building trust. A strong team culture and clear expectations further reinforce psychological safety and mutual respect, making it easier for employees to seek support. Promoting work-life balance enhances employees' well-being, helping them manage both personal and professional demands. Finally, continuous feedback creates a foundation for growth and clarity, allowing managers to offer timely emotional support. Altogether, these strategies build a resilient, connected team, benefiting both individual employees and the organization as a whole.