Transactional leadership
is a leadership style that functions on agreements and rewards.
Employees know from the get-go what is expected of them. They also know
from the start what their pay or salary will be for following expected
procedures.
Most of the time punishments for not adhering to
instructions are not known outright with a leader that practices this
style. However, transactional leaders are known for their strictness
and discipline.
The decision on salary or income is decided early
on once an employee decides to work for a transactional leader. Once
the income is settled, the company basically obtains power over the
employee.
Transactional leadership also requires the
employee delegated to do a certain task to be accountable. There are no
excuses allowed for not getting the job done. A transactional leader
will not allow for additional resources to complete the task.
Subordinates who follow through are rewarded, while those who fail are
punished.
Transactional leaders are in the mindset that if
things are running well and getting done, there is no problem that
needs to be addressed. When a subordinate goes above and beyond what is
expected, they are usually praised. On the other hand, if poor behavior
is the case, then there will be some kind of method to fix the
behavior.
Instead of being a leadership style that tries to
sell subordinates, transactional leadership is bases on telling
subordinates what to do.
Even though there has been a lot of research on
the limitation of this leadership style, many managers and supervisors
still choose this approach. This leadership style focuses more on
management instead of leadership.
To have an ideal workplace, we can’t assume
that everyone is motivated by punishment and reward. The theory of
behaviorism was established using animals, not humans to determine
motive and human thought. I would venture to say that most people
aren’t as predictable as dogs.
Applying behaviorist methods to uphold
transactional leadership is rather pratical for this style of
leadership. In addition, it is verified through supply and demand in
the workplace. On the contrary, when the supply of subordinates does no
meet the demands, other leadership styles must come into the picture to
be effective.
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