Can Transactional Leadership Keep Your Team in Shape?

Maslow\'s Hierarchy of Needs demonstrates that most people are more likely to act when they expect rewards or fear punishment. Any social system is more effective when a hierarchy clearly exists. People who are hired to work, implicitly agree to heed all of their manager\'s instructions, and that is the main reason that subordinates are employed.

The transactional boss acts through building unmistakable configurations whereby it\'s unambiguous what is commanded of their employees, as well as the remuneration that they get as a result of following orders. Punishments are not always revealed, but they are also well understood and strict approaches of discipline are generally in position.

Discussing the agreement where the subordinate is given an income and other remuneration, and the company (and by inference the worker\'s supervisor) acquires power over the worker is handled early period of Transactional Leadership.

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 usually leads with the philosophy that if things are going smoothly and working at acceptable levels of success, they don\'t need to be addressed. Performance that goes above and beyond the expected standard is of course commended, while poor behavior is given some type of punishment and/or corrective measure.

Whereas Transformational Leadership has more of a \'selling\' style, Transactional Leadership, once the contract is in place, takes a \'telling\' style. Transactional leadership is based in contingency, in that reward or punishment is contingent upon performance.

Despite much research that highlights its limitations, Transactional Leadership is still a popular approach with many managers. Indeed, in the Leadership vs. Management spectrum, it is very much towards the management end of the scale.

To have an effective model of human behavior, we can\'t assume that people are mainly motivated by reward and are very predictable. This fallacy is supported by the psychological theory of behaviorism, which was made famous by Pavlov\'s classical conditioning and Skinner\'s operant conditioning experiments. Unfortunately, these experiments are often performed in controlled lab conditions using animals as subjects, negating the complexity of the human mind and motive.

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.

Daiv Russell is a management and marketing consultant with Envision Web Marketing. Read more Articles about Management, learn about Abraham Harold Maslow and the Abraham Maslow theory.

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