Carrot Or Stick? Transactional Leadership Shows The Way

Carrot Or Stick? Transactional Leadership Shows The Way

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If you have ever studied Abraham Maslow's "hierarchy of needs," you know that a motivator for many people at lower stages of the hierarchy is whether they will be rewarded or punished for an action. In business, the application of this is that lower-grade employees need clear structures and direction from the higher-ups to feel motivated. For example, an employee in a company should be ready to give up their own agenda and take direction. If you are subordinate to a manager, things work best when you are ready to obey your manager's instructions.

Transactional leaders operate by constructing clear algorithms by which they indicate clearly the expectations of subordinates, as well as the rewards received for meeting those expectations. Although punishment is not always explicated, the concept is implicitly understood, and systematic structures for discipline are usually extant.

The first stage of Transactional Leadership consists of the negotiation of a contract, thus the subordinate receives salary and other defined benefits, and the company (and by extension the new employee's manager) receives authority over the subordinate.

Work that is delegated to an underling by a Transactional Leader is expected to be done; no excuses are acceptable and no pleading for more resources will be heeded. Just as a subordinate is rewarded for accomplishing his assigned duties, he is personally punished for failures that occur on his watch.
The transactional leader often manages by exception. They work on the idea that if something is working as it should be, then it does not need attention. An exception to this is going beyond expectations, which require praise and reward. The opposite applies for not meeting expectations, where instead of a reward, some kind of corrective action is taken.

Transformational leadership is more sales-oriented, but transactional leadership is more performance-oriented. The difference is sometimes stated 'selling versus telling'. Transactional leadership means that positive or negative consequences all depend on good or bad workplace performance.

Many managers still hold the Transactional Leadership approach in high regard despite recent research which has highlighted some limitations. The fact that this approach skews towards Management rather than towards Leadership makes it far easier to implement for those light on talent, time, or training.

Behaviorist psychology pioneers B.F.Skinner and Pavlov used carefully conducted experiments on controlled populations in a laboratory setting when formulating their famous theories of Operant and Classical Conditioning. While these shed much light on human and animal behavior, they fall short of understanding man's behavior fully. This is because they rely upon a model of a rational man, whose simple drive towards reward is unclouded by complex social and emotional issues.

Using the Behaviorism to sustain Transitional approach proves true in a practical application, which is confirmed through supply and demand in the employment sector in addition to the effects of deeper needs like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. However, when the supply of employees isn't enough to meet the needs of demand, then Transactional Leadership is not sufficient; then other approaches prove more effective in the workplace.

About the Author:
Daiv Russell is a management and marketing consultant with Envision Web Promotion. Read more Management Articles, learn about Abraham Harold Maslow and Maslow's theory.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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