Remote Transformational Leadership
It’s
one thing to lead people from a distance.
It’s another to transform the organization while leading from afar.
During
my military career, I led face-to-face or at least from the same locality. When I went to work for Northrop Grumman
Corporation (NGC), I led from afar. I
had six followers that were dispersed across the United States. I had never met a single one and had only
communicated with them via telephone or email.
Although my tenure was short, it was indeed an experience that taught me
a lot about remote transformational leadership.
There
was motivation attached to my performance at NGC. I received monetary compensation in the form
of an annual bonus. The better the
performance…performance was measured by client contract fulfilment and
performance…the higher the bonus.
In
the scholarly article, Remote
transformational leadership, scholars Kelloway, Barling, Kelley, Comtois
and Gatien performed two studies to examine remote transformational
leadership. The abstract of their study
reads, “We present two studies of remote transformational leadership. In the first, 175 students read a vignette
depicting either a laisse-faire,
management by exception, contingent reward, or transformational leadership
style communicated by electronic mail (e-mail).
Results showed that students could distinguish between the various
leadership styles, and both interpersonal justice and supervision satisfaction
were perceived to be higher when a transformational style was presented. In the second study, 105 undergraduates
completed individual and group problem solving tasks after reading an e-mail
containing either an intellectually stimulating or charismatic message in a 2 x
2 design. Participants properly
identified the leadership style intended by the e-mail. Motivation was higher, and both individual
and group performance greater, in the leadership conditions.” (Kelloway,
Barling, Kelley, Comtois and Gatien, 2002)
While
at NGC, I continuously performed self-analysis.
I shared my leadership style and vision with my subordinates. The above mentioned scholars state, “More
generally, the dynamics of transformational leadership involve followers having
a strong personal identification with the leader, a shared vision of the future,
and working collectively for the benefit of the group. Yammarino and Dubinsky (1994) describe
transformational leaders as heightening awareness and interests in groups,
increasing employee confidence, and gradually moving the followers’ interests
from the importance of their personal existence to the existence of the
group. Leaders achieve this by
illustrating four main characteristics:
1. idealized
influence;
2. inspirational
motivation;
3. individual
consideration; and
4. intellectual
stimulation.
(Kelloway, Barling, Kelley, Comtois and Gatien, 2002)
Upon
my employment with NGC, I actually called a virtual group meeting (telecon) and
collectively my six subordinates about myself, my expectations and how to be
successful. I explained that since I was
their evaluator, I directly impacted their bonuses. I asked each of them to tell me about
themselves. In the small world, I
discovered that I had served with one of them previously on Active Duty. They all agreed and shared my vision. They were all on board. Each was given my cell phone number, email
and office number. I told them that they
could call, text or email me any time.
Not
all people are cut out to work remotely.
It takes a unique individual to lead subordinates from afar. Communication is key. The follower must have access to the leader
at any and all times. This, in my
opinion, makes it necessary for the remote leader to be very charismatic. The transformational leader that lacks charisma
is destined to fail thanks to his followers.
Barking
orders via emails does nothing. The
researchers mentioned did, indeed, support their research goals. Their thesis was proven. They used kind email and barked orders. When the study subjects received emails that
were laissez-faire, or would receive a reward they identified the leader in one
light while if the message transmitted with the flair of a transformational
leader, they identified the leader in a different light.
This
study has great value to the transformational leader, both remote and in
person. Remote leaders can lead if they
are aware of how to communicate.
References
Kelloway, E. K., Barling, J., Kelly, E., Comtois, J.,
Gatien, B. (August 2002). Remote
transformational leadership. Retrieved on February 13, 2016 from file:///C:/Users/ljbeldot/Desktop/Remote_transformational_leadership.pdf
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