Journal of European Industrial Training

Leading in the 1990s: The Four I′s of Transformational Leadership

Bruce J. Avolio David A. Waldman Francis J. Yammarino
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Bruce J. Avolio David A. Waldman Francis J. Yammarino, (1991),"Leading in the 1990s: The Four I#s of Transformational
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 LEADING IN THE 1990s: THE FOUR I's OF TRA
H
ow can leaders develop workforces that
not only respond well to change but also
promote change in order to stay
competitive?
Leading in the
1990s:
The Four I's of
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Transformational
Leadership
Bruce J. Avolio, David A. Waldman and
Francis J. Yammarino
Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 15 No. 4, 1991, pp. 9-16,
© MCB University Press, 0309-0590
Overview
The race to develop new technology has underscored the
importance for organisations to develop a workforce that
not only is responsive to change, but also promotes change
to remain competitive. Large and small organisations alike
are moving to reduce the number of levels in their
organisational structure, while placing less emphasis on
the traditional breakdown of functional areas. The
"interfunctional team" is becoming a more common
characteristic in today's organisational structure, requiring
a much higher level of integration between work units.
In many organisations, the project or team leader has
replaced the departmental manager as a key player in day-
to-day functioning of the organisation and its human
resource management activities. In the military, private
industry, public, and not-for-profit sector, the span of
control for managers is increasing as organisations move
to flatten their structures. Such changes in organisational
structure necessitate more delegation of responsibility by
leaders to their followers. Effective delegation requires
that leaders in organisations going through such transitions
develop followers to handle greater levels of responsibility
and uncertainty. To be successful, leaders will have to
operate as change agents, fulfulling the role that has been
recently labelled the transformational leader. That is, a
leader will have to be more than merely a manager; a
leader will need to develop followers, raise their need
levels and energise them, and promote quantum positive
changes in individuals, groups, teams and even entire
organisations.
In this article, we will focus on broadening earlier
conceptualisations of leadership by including the four I's
which constitute transformational leadership:
Individualised consideration
Intellectual stimulation
Inspirational motivation, and
Idealised influence.
Our principal goal is to examine how transformational
leadership develops and to examine its effect on individual
and organisational development and performance. In
addition, we will examine how transformational leadership
can be used with other leadership styles in organisations.
Enter the Transformational Leader
A more comprehensive framework of leadership has
recently been discussed under the label of transformational
leadership theory by a number of management writers
including Bennis and Nanus, Tichy and Ulrich, Tichy and
Devanna, Bass, and others[1,2,3]. Tichy and Ulrich[2], for
example, described transformational leadership as
involving dramatic organisational changes including the
development and implementation of a vision.
Transformational leaders help to realign the values and
norms of their organisation, and when necessary, to
accommodate and promote both internal and external
change.
Many of the authors mentioned above examined
transformational leadership in the context of broad-ranging,
system-wide changes, particularly in situations where a
leader was facing a severe organisational crisis. There are
a number of examples of leaders who have operated under
these conditions including Lee Iacocca, Lou Gerstner, and
John Debutts, chief executive officers of Chrysler,
American Express, and AT&T respectively. Each of these
leaders aggressively addressed a crisis in his repective
organisation, motivating followers to pursue alternative and
creative courses of action that resulted in a successful
organisational change. As in these cases, many previous
writers have described transformational leadership as
being a phenomenon observed primarily at the top-of-the-
organisation. These authors have not examined
 10 JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 15,4
transformational leadership among middle-level managers,
first-line supervisors, and project or team leaders. Some
recent work, however, has focused on leaders at lower
levels in the organisation, resulting in the discovery of
transformational leadership at supervisory and
nonsupervisory levels[4].
Generally, transformational leadership is exhibited to a
greater degree at the top end of organisations, particularly
organisations that select leaders based on their ability to
change and improve their work units. However,
transformational leadership has also been observed at
lower organisational levels, including the level of project
leaders, who were not in management positions. Likewise,
transformational leadership has been shown to cascade
from one organisational level to the next, suggesting that
transformational leaders either select transformational
followers, develop them, and/or do both[5,6].
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Transformational leadership should not be viewed as a
replacement for other styles of leadership, e.g.
transactional. Rather, it should add to other styles of
expanding the leader's portfolio of skills. In this regard,
we continue our discussion by briefly concentrating on
transactional leadership, followed by a more in-depth
analysis of transformational leadership and its development
in individuals and organisations. As part of this discussion,
a life-span model of leadership development will be
introduced.
Transactional Leadership Style
The most common form of effective leadership observed
in organisations is referred to as transactional.
Transactional leaders define and communicate the work
that must be done by followers, how it will be done, and
the rewards followers will receive for successfully
completing the stated objectives. As a result, employees
understand their job roles and the expectations set for
them by the leader and organisation. In addition,
employees' are motivated and directed to achieve
"expected" standards of performance because
transactional leaders clarify what followers receive for the
specific level of effort and/or performance required of
them. Rewards for expected performance may include
satisfactory performance ratings, pay increases, praise and
recognition, and better work assignments, and the like,
depending on the organisational context.
The skills and behaviours that characterise transactional
leadership (contingent rewarding and/or managing-by-
exception) are relatively straightforward and have been
examined extensively in previous leadership literature,
parrticularly in contrast to laissez-faire or non-leadership
behaviours[4,6]. To fulfil an active transactional leadership
role, a manager mustfirstunderstand precisely what goals
are expected of him or her by upper-level leaders within
the organisation. Goal clarification and goal acceptance are
critical. He/she must then be able to specify the work
activities and goals to be accomplished by followers, while
also gaining their co-operation to ensure that the
appropriate expectations are met. Transactional leaders
also have to develop an understanding of the strengths
and weaknesses of their followers, as well as their
follower's individual needs and desires. This requires the
leader to have some diagnostic abilities. Basic
communication skills are also necessary to determine and
disseminate information pertaining to responsibilities, goals
and needs.
What Have We Learned about Transactional
Leaders?
Forty years of research shows that transactional leadership
is an effective means of maintaining and/or achieving
acceptable standards of performance. Transactional
leadership is essential to maintain an acceptable degree
of performance at all organisational levels. Employees must
know their responsibilities and the potential rewards for
attaining and maintaining sufficient standards of
performance. To the extent that transactional leadership
can provide greater goal clarity and acceptance of
responsibility from followers, the more effective such
leadership is over time. However, transactional leadership
can only explain a small portion of what effective leaders
do with their followers. Transactional leadership does not
adequately explain why some followers are willing to
sacrifice their own self-interests for the good of the leader,
their colleagues, or the organisation. It also does not
adequately explain how some leaders are able to shape
the values and heighten the commitment level of followers
without any new promise of rewards. Transactional
leadership theory falls short in explaining the specific
processes involved in developing followers to their optimal
potential. Finally, in numerous leadership workshops
conducted across a wide array of organisational settings
and cultures, when participants were asked to describe
their "ideal" leader, they tended not to describe
characteristics associated with transactional leaders;
rather, characteristics associated with transformational
leadership were most often mentioned[7].
To summarise, much of the attention in the leadership
literature, and in leadership training, has been on
transactional leadership models. Because this view of
leadership is lacking key characteristics of ideal leaders,
in the following section we concentrate our attention on
developing a better understanding of transformational
leadership with respect to its evolution and influence on
followers. Figure 1 is used to structure our discussion of
leadership development across the lifespan of leaders.
 LEADING IN THE 1990s: THE FOUR I's OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEA
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Antecedents of Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership does not just happen by
chance. Certain antecedent conditions set the stage for
the development of transformational leadership[8,9]. These
conditions include the individual experiences that a leader
has with early role models as well as current experience
in the leader's work and nonwork setting.
Early Context and Individual Development
Figure 1 provides a general framework for helping to
understand and clarify the development of individual
leadership potential. Our analysis of factors influencing
individual leadership development is portrayed at multiple
levels, e.g. family, work and societal. Starting at the left-
hand side of Figure 1, life context factors associated with
one's family as well as non-family factors help shape the
leader's individual development in terms of the leader's
self-concept, attitude, ability, personality, and skills/
competencies. For example, the level of challenge and type
of responsibilities provided by the leader's parents early
in the leader's development as well as parents' support
can have a significant impact on the leader's early
development[8]. Furthermore, the role model portrayed
by the leader's parents, previous leadership positions,
other experiences including the styles of leadership
exposed to the invidual in previous work settings can all
contribute to and/or detract from the development of the
leader. More specifically, each leader has a set of
developmental experiences that has prepared
or shaped him/her more or less to accept various
leadership challenges. The experiences described here
and portrayed in Figure 1, not only shape the leader's
personal development, but also shape the type of
leadership style that the individual is likely to use both
in and out of the work setting.
Coupled with each leader's personal experiences are
experiences and events that can impact an entire cohort
of leaders[10]. For leaders in high school and college during
the 1960s and 1970s, the influence of the Vietnam War,
the changing role of the United States in the world
economy, the rise of Japanese and Pacific Basin firms, the
effects of the civil rights movement, changes in immigration
patterns are some of the many key events that have shaped
the perspectives of an entire generation of leaders. In the
1990s the break up of the eastern bloc of nations, merging
of the two Germanys and the integration of Europe are
some of the key events currently shaping our future
generation of leaders into the next century.
In summary, events that are unique to an individual
leader's development, interacting with events common to
an entire generation, can affect the leader's personal
development as well as the type of leader the individual
will aspire to represent.
There are some specific links between an individual's life
context, self-development, and the development of
tranformational leadership that are depicted in Figure 1.
 12 JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 15,4
For instance, high self-confidence is one key ingredient
to being viewed as a transformational leader. Qualities such
as the leader's self-concept are developed over an
individual's lifespan on the basis of "life events" or
experiences. Some experiences originate in the leader's
early family life, at school and at work, while other key
experiences occur later in the leader's development. Being
surrounded by people who provide supportive feedback
and challenge is essential to the development of an
individual's self-concept and his/her transformational
leadership potential. Likewise, a family or educational
background which encourages a high need for achievement
will also foster the development of transformational
leadership capabilities. Providing young leaders with
opportunities to be successful, supporting them when
failures occur, and helping them understand the reasons
for failure will all aid to build a stronger sense of self-
confidence (concept) in the leader. In a nutshell, "self-
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development" is a key step towards developing
transformational leadership. In fact, retrospective
interviews with leaders evaluated by their followers as
being highly transformational, indicated that such leaders
strongly support a lifespan model of self-development and
the development of others, they thrive on and seek out
challenges throughout life, and they display a much higher
level of self-confidence than non-transformational
leaders [9].
Identifying one's weaknesses
is perhaps as important as
realising one's strengths
It is clear from earlier research that the aspiring
transformational leader must be willing continually to re-
examine his or her strengths and weaknesses as a leader.
It is essential for the leader to know his/her strengths
because from these strengths the leader will derive
personal power[ll]. An individual's strengths that build
personal power include technical expertise, willingness
to take intellectual risks, the concern he/she shows for
people's needs, his/her ability to communicate clearly and
powerfully, particularly when confronting a crisis, and the
leader's record of previous accomplishments. Possession
of such basic characteristics, qualities, and experience are
what allows an individual to have a strong transformational
influence on followers.
Identifying one's weaknesses is perhaps as important as
realising one's strengths. Some weaknesses may be due
simply to the absence of key developmental experiences
in the leader's previous lifespan profile. A leader has at
l ast two choices concerning his/her weaknesses — either
to do nothing and learn how to cope with them, or to
address them. For example, a leader who has a tendency
towards self-indulgence, or being less concerned with
other people's opinions, would be unlikely to be evaluated
as transformational. More importantly, to the degree that
information obtained from followers is critical to the
organisation's success, the less self-indulgence on the
leader's part the better! A key assumption here is that
to transform others the leader must be willing to change
and develop. Being aware of the need for change is one
key step in the development of leadership potential. Also,
feeling that one has some control over change, is another
key ingredient for transformational leadership.
Having now examined some of the early life context factors
that can influence a leader's personal development and
subsequent leadership style, we now turn to current work
and nonwork factors. As discussed above, these
work/nonwork factors can include political, legal, social
and economic factors that can influence an entire
generation of leaders.
Current Work/Nonwork Factors
In addition to previous life experiences, it is important
to consider what goes on in the leader's day-to-day
interactions that may enhance or inhibit transformational
leadership behaviour. At work these include: first, the type
of role modelling that other leaders display in the
organisation; and second, the structure and culture of the
organisation. Concerning role modelling, recent research
indicates that transformational leadership can develop in
individuals at lower levels in the organisation if those
individuals have the opportunity to observe the behaviour
of successful, appealing, higher-level leaders[5]. Overtime,
the behaviours of the leader that can readily blend into
an individual's personal style of leadership are adopted.
Consider a first-level supervisor who observes his or her
manager showing concern for another individual's needs
and/or unique problems. After observing the leader's
behaviour, the supervisor begins to show individualised
concern for his or her respective followers. This is
especially true if the boss seems to be successful using
such individualised consideration and rewards it when
exhibited by his/her employees. Effective styles of
leadership can cascade from one level to the next,
depending on the norms and culture of the organisation
and the type of leadership behaviour that is rewarded.
The same type of effect can occur for a leader who
continually questions his/her followers' assumptions
regarding the methods they use for solving organisational
problems. To the degree this leader and his/her followers
are successful in generating new and innovative
ideas/methods, such behaviour will eventually be modelled
by other followers.
The structure and culture of the organisation are also
factors that help mould leadership behaviour[11]. Highly
 LEADING IN THE 1990s: THE FOUR I's OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP 1
structured, rule-bound organisations make it more difficult
for innovative, transformational leaders to emerge. The
more rule-bound the system, the more difficult it becomes
for the leader to question the system and the methods
of solving problems. Instead, we would expect a
transactional style of leadership in that type of
organisational setting. Transformational leadership will not
evolve as quickly in organisational settings where there
is a lack of tangible or even intangible rewards for
developing employees. It will be less likely to emerge in
settings where managers fear that proficient employees
may replace them. In contrast, organisational cultures that
value and reward innovation, change, development, and
respect for the individual will have a more facilitative
influence on the development of transformational leaders.
Leaders are also affected by what goes on outside the work
setting. Role models may exist outside of work that affect
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the leaders orientation towards followers. The type of
experience the leader has in his/her church and/or
community organisation may have a demonstrable impact
on the individual's leadership capabilities. For example,
seeing that inspirational leadership works with a group
of volunteers involved in a fund-raising effort may
encourage a leader to use a similar strategy with his/her
employees at work. Too often, previous authors have
articificially separated the work and nonwork settings in
which a leader operates when explaining the origin of the
leader's style. In fact, both contexts can help shape the
leader's style of interaction with followers. To account fully
for leadership development, both work and nonwork.
contexts, in the present and past, will need to be taken
into consideration.
Transformational Leadership: Clarifying the
Four I's
Rather than merely focusing on ways to manage the status
quo and day-to-day operations, transformational leaders try
to maintain and communicate a vision of where their group,
department, or organisation should be heading. They focus
themselves on viewing problems as opportunities, and take
an active interest in the development of individual
employees. Transformational leaders are keenly interested
in broadening their employees' and their own ideas to help
move people from concerns for existence and security
towards higher level concerns associated with achievement
and growth. They put effort into raising their employees'
awareness of the needs of the organisation and the
employees' own personal needs. The awareness of needs
forms the basis for eventually elevating those needs. As
such, transformational leaders display four distinct
characteristics that we label the Four I's:
Individualised consideration
Intellectual stimulation
Inspirational motivation, and
Idealised influence.
Individualised Consideration
Transformational leaders pay attention to the individual
employee and his/her needs rather than treating all followers
alike and as having the same needs. Such leaders listen to
and share an individual's concerns while simultaneously
helping to build the individual's confidence. Perhaps
individualised consideration is best represented in the
mentoring role. A mentor takes the time to learn the
strengths and weaknesses of a "student" while helping to
nourish abilities and confidence; thus, individual treatment
of the mentoree is a necessity.
Individualised consideration can also be shown by a leader
who serves as a personal advocate for an employee by
"going to bat" for the employee whenever necessary. A
leader who goes to bat makes sure that the employee has
the help and resources necessary to achieve current goals.
This may involve active negotiating or manoeuvring with
people in other departments or units who pose problems
for the individual. For example, other managers may desire
to redirect or add to the job activities of an employee to
meet certain pressing demands that they may have at work.
However, the employee's leader would attempt to resist such
pressures if the new activities could result in an unreasonable
workload. Transformational leaders attempt to remove
unnecessary "roadblocks" in the system that inhibit both
the development of followers and their achieving optimum
performance.
Behaviours relating to the practice of individualised consider-
ation can be more symbolic in nature, especially at higher
levels of management. Consider the General Manager or
CEO who takes the time to learn as many employee names
as possible so that conversations, as infrequent as they may
be, can be more personal. Also, consider the upper-level
manager who practices ' 'management by walking about'' [12].
Managers who successfully show such leadership do not
primarily look for trouble or exceptions, but rather attempt
to find activities that are worthy of praise and recognition.
In summary, the behaviours mentioned above demonstrate
important symbolic concern for individual employees by
leaders who are at a much higher level in the organisational
hierarchy. The same kind of symbolic concern can also be
shown by a co-worker to another co-worker who merely
takes the time out of a busy day to listen or to say a few
words of encouragement to help their co-worker past a
difficult problem. A key assumption of individualised
consideration is that each employee has different needs and,
that for a specific employee, those needs will change over
time partially based on the influence of the leader. The
transformational leader must be able to diagnose and evaluate
the needs of each follower and then elevate them as required
for developing each follower to his/her optimum potential.
Intelledual Stimulation
To serve in a transformational leadership role, a leader should
be concerned with providing ways and reasons for people
 14 JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 15,4
to change the way they think about technical problems,
human relation problems, and even their own personal
attitudes and values that have developed over the
individual's life span. An intellectually stimulating leader
helps people to think about "old" problems in new ways
and to use reasoning and evidence rather than
unsupported opinion to solve such problems. The leader
may also attempt to align individual employee's personal
values that may be at odds with those of the leader or
the organisation. Consider the co-worker who does not
share important information with other co-workers.
Transformational leaders dissuade such behaviours by
attempting to provide reasons why it is in the group's best
interest to work as a team to achieve its objectives.
A two-way intellectual stimulation process may be
necessary when work problems and decision making are
complex and difficult. In some situations, a good leader
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not only stimulates the thinking of followers, but also is
open to and stimulated by their reasoning and ideas. This
represents a bottoms-up type influence. Such interactions
are especially helpful when the leader has limited
experience or information concerning a problem.
Intellectual stimulation is also helpful when the leader is
attempting to maintain excitement and a high level of
motivation among an educated workforce that prefers to
have their opinions at least considered by the leader.
Unfortunately, there are many organisational leaders who
do not practise intellectual stimulation. A survey of 400
US managers and professionals in technical and highly
skilled white-collar jobs revealed that they had little faith
in their bosses' leadership. They reported that although
they were hired for their ideas, little use was being made
of them by their firms. Nearly two-thirds said that their
employees failed to use their ideas at least half the time.
And almost half said conformity, not creativity, was
encouraged. They could not apply what they knew, nor
help their companies to become more competitive.
Actually, 95 per cent of the employees surveyed believed
they could be more productive on the job but that they
were not being pushed or rewarded for working harder.
' 'The brains of companies are saying the people in charge
aren't high quality"[13]. Clearly, intellectual stimulation
is not being used as much as it could or should be.
Through intellectual stimulation, transformational leaders
help followers to think about nagging problems in new and
unique ways. Followers are supported for questioning their
own beliefs, assumptions and values, and those of the
leader, which may be outdated or inappropriate for solving
the problems confronting an organisation. As a consequence
of being intellectually stimulated by their leaders, followers
develop their own capabilities to recognise, understand,
and eventually solve future problems.
An intellectually stimulating leader arouses in followers
an awareness of problems, a sensitivity to each follower's
thoughts and imagination, and a recognition of the beliefs
and values of the leader and his/her followers. Intellectual
stimulation influences follower's conceptualisation,
comprehension, and analysis of problems and the solutions
generated.
Inspirational Motivation
Until recently, management writers treated inspirational
leadership as something that could not be investigated.
The feeling conveyed was that inspirational motivation was
rooted in the leader's personal charisma. Unfortunately,
the dictionary definition of charisma is that it is a "gift"
and thus, something that one either has or does not have.
In either case, an individual's potential for being
inspirational could not be changed or developed, so the
tendency was to deal with more tangible characteristics
of leadership, such as participative leadership, while
ignoring how leaders inspire followers[4].
Inspirational leaders
often set an example
of hard work
The current emphasis on transformational leadership will
suffer to the degree that inspirational motivation is
considered the sole province of CEOs rather than a quality
shared in varying degree by people at all levels of
organisations. While inspirational motivation may be most
noticeable at the top of organisations, people at lower levels
may also show a high degree of inspirational motivation
in the eyes of their followers and co-workers. Antecedents,
such as past personal accomplishments, the development
of communication skills, and role modelling of other
inspirational leaders, create the potential to inspire others.
This potential is realised in part by the interplay with
individualised consideration and intellectual stimulation
when the person is in a leadership role. Such behaviour
strengthens the leader's inspirational appeal because it
makes followers feel valued, self-confident, and assured
that their leader can overcome obstacles and help the
group to meet new challenges and opportunities.
A leader's level of inspirational motivation is further
strengthened if a vision or simply specified mission of
where the group is heading is shared by co-
workers/followers. As other means of generating
excitement and confidence, inspirational leaders often set
an example of hard work, give "pep" talks, remain
optimistic in times of crisis, and search to reduce an
employees' duties and workloads by using creative work
methods.
 LEADING IN THE 1990s: THE FOUR I's OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LE
Idealised InfluenCe
By showing respect for others and by building their
confidence and trust in the overall mission,
transformational leaders are able to develop much referent
power and influence over followers. When followers
observe their leader achieving desired results, the
followers are more likely to want to emulate the leader,
i.e. to be like the leader in terms of the leader's
behaviours, attitudes and values. Showing followers that
they can accomplish objectives that they felt were
impossible, builds the leader's influence for future
missions and objectives. The leader who convinces his
or her followers that by achieving their full potential all
concerned will benefit, is the type of leaderwellhave
described as transformational. It is also the "ideal" leader
identified repeatedly in our training workshops. Such
leaders ultimately create in followers the ability to lead
themselves when necessary and desired. Idealised
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influence is, to a large degree, a culmination of the other
three I's coupled with a strong emotional attachment to
and identification with the leader. Such leaders are
emulated by followers and often labelled charismatic.
Linking the Leader and Follower
The payoff of transformational leadership must be
tempered by an important caveat: Some employees may
not react we to a leader even though most view the leader
in a positive way and as transformational. There are at
least two possibilities why this occurs. First, there may
be some style or personality conflict between leader and
follower. For example, a leader may have an overly direct
manner of communicating with followers. Although most
followers understand and would not mind the leader's
communication style, a particular follower could find it to
be offensive. Hence, the leader's attempt at individualised
consideration and/or intellectual stimulation could be
misinterpreted or ignored by some, even when the leader
has the best of intentions.
Some employees
may not react well
to a leader
A second and perhaps more basic reason for a lack of
connection between leader and follower is that the two
individuals(leaderand follower) may differ in terms of their
backgrounds. Differences between the leader and follower
with respect to previous experiences (both personal and
cohort) may impede the development of mutual trust that
is critical if a leader is to have a transformational impact.
This is not to say that, for example, a younger employee
cannot serve as a transformational leader for an older
employee, or vice versa. However, one or both of the
parties may have certain attitudes stemming from different
life experiences that may inhibit the development of a
successful transformational leader/follower relationship.
What is important is getting beyond these initial differences
and learning how they affect the leader/follower
relationship.
Payoffs from Transformational Leadership
Time is one of the most valuable resources for a leader.
According to Bennis, the reason why many leaders cannot
and do not lead is because they do not allow enough time
for leading[14]. Such leaders become overly involved in
the details of their office, short-changing the time needed
to lead effectively. As such, leaders need to be aware of
how they spend their time. Transformational leadership
is an active, time-consuming process in which a substantial
amount of time is initially devoted to followers' personal
development. However, the payoffs can be significant and
substantial. Inspirational motivation can often produce
individual effort and performance beyond normal
expectations, even when the leader is absent[4].
Ultimately, the leader creates followers fully capable of
handling challenges on their own.
Leaders need to be
aware of how they
spend their time
Individuals who work with transformational leaders may
"willingly" expand their job descriptions. Innovations and
creativity, sparked by intellectual stimulation and
individualised consideration, become the norm rather than
the exception in the leader's work unit and/or
organisational. Followers become self-motivated rather
than only relying on receiving motivation from others (i.e.
from the leader). Gradually, this means that less rather
than more time has to be spent leading followers. The
cascading process unfolds with followers becoming more
transformational themselves. The process is best
characterised as leaders developing leaders.
Perhaps the key payoff of transformational leadership is
that followers do not resist self-development and frequently
demonstrate, through personal sacrifice, an enhanced
commitment to their job, co-workers, and the organisation.
They are ready and willing to participate in the changes
necessary for the organisation to remain competitive and
to produce the best possible product. Transactional
leadership, by itself, will likely foster a "what's in it for
me" attitude among followers. Followers learn exactly
 16 JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 15,4
what they must do at work so that their own needs can
be satisfied. In general, but especially during hard times,
individuals must be willing to sacrifice some of their self-
interests for the long-term good of the group and/or
organisation.
Transformational leadership
is an integral part
of ensuring a
committed workforce
Downloaded by ECU Libraries At 13:59 19 April 2015 (PT)
Leaders at all levels can motivate employees to develop
as well as to make self-sacrifices that contribute to the
ultimate performance of their work units, and in many
cases, their own performance. Over time, commitment
is shifted from concern for one's own self-interests to
concern for one's work, one's co-workers, and the
organisation. Transformational leadership is an integral part
of ensuring a committed workforce focused on co-
operation and innovation.
Conclusion
In a continually changing environment, the long range
success of an organisation depends on the ability of its
leadership at all levels to develop, stimulate and inspire
followers. Transformational leaders — who offer
individualised consideration, spark intellectual stimulation,
provide inspirational motivation and engender idealised
influence — should be understood and then developed.
The Four I's are the key ingredients to that success in
particular and to human resource management in general.
Bruce J. Avolio, David A. Waldman and Francis J. Yammarino are based at the Center for Leadership Studies and School
of Management, State University of New York at Binghamton, USA.
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