Transformational Leadership Approach

Introduction The transformational leadership approach offers public sector leaders a foundational model to develop a more tailored solution that is effective for their respective organizations. A tailored approach is applying transformational leadership in a manner that accounts for the unique challenges and obstacles of the public sector. This paper analyzes how military leadership can use such a tailored approach within a specific U.S. Army unit: the 516th Signal Brigade. After an initial overview of the unit, this paper analyzes the characteristics of bureaucracy, impacts of organizational considerations, and contextual conditions that influences a public sector leader’s implementation of a transformational leadership style approach. Finally,

Army in the Pacific Theater. Every day the 516th Signal Brigade and its subordinate battalions must defend against cyber-attacks, provide (IT) service support to many thousands of users, and remain prepared to deploy rapidly its mobile communications teams in the event of conflict or a natural disaster within the theater of

First, studies show a strong correlation between guiding coalitions and successfully achieving the desired end state of a public sector initiative (Cunningham, & Kempling, 2009). The commander can make effective organizational changes and deliver increasingly better service by developing a strong relationship with stakeholders and including them in decisions or problem solving. Second, a study by Wright and Pandey (2010) found that public sector organization or traditional administrative “red tape” did not affect transformational leadership behaviors such as innovation. Successful public sector leaders focus their attention on navigating their organizations around red tape to deliver solutions to meet the needs of the public while meeting regulatory or policy guidance. Third, Wright and Pandey (2010), also found that “…the greater reliance on hierarchical authority and weaker lateral/upward communication were both associated with a lower prevalence of transformational leadership behaviors” (p. 85). Thus, if the brigade commander empowers his or her followers, those followers will demonstrate the level of creativity, innovation and sense of ownership that leads to a higher performance level associated with transformational