This is not black or white but be aware of the tendencies… A manager tells you what to do. You do what the manager tells you. And if you do it well, you will be rewarded with a bonus and promotion. Pretty straightforward. This is the essence of transactional and position-based leadership.
Transactional leadership may seem like an efficient way to get things done. However, this always ends up with unused potential and unmet fundamental psychological needs, such as feelings of being competent and included. With this leadership, we miss the bigger picture, we kill initiatives, engagement, and joy. Too often, people don’t leave a company, they leave an incompetent manager.
We need emotionally robust leaders capable of leading beyond their egos and fully harvesting the collective intelligence and energy in their organization. Good leaders visualize goals, sets the context, and serve. Leadership should be all about empowering people to feel safe, to be themselves, to find their intrinsic motivation, to leverage their gifts, and to grow. Then we are tapping into people’s true powers.
Connection, direction, and change – in that order.
