Transactional to Transformational Leadership – A Conceptual Analysis

In a globalised world, the role of every employee in an organization does not stagnate only with the idea of becoming a successive leader, but also to instill the organisational culture in them. Leadership is an individual's ability to efficiently direct a group of individuals or workers towards achieving pre-set goals of a given organisation. The characteristics of leaders have to impact the growth of the organisation. Developing the characteristics and skills is what differentiates between a follower and a leader. This paper tracks the impact of “Transformational leadership” on the society. The topic which has made a key impact on the global world post the industrial revolution was the qualities that have to be possessed by an industrial leader and entrepreneur which continues to be a debatable topic till today. Though there are many terms which describe the style of leadership, ranging from autocratic to laissez-faire, transformational leadership is a style in which, both subordinates and the leader, together identify the need for the organisation, set up a goal, and accomplish the same with a number of committed members. This conceptual paper contributes to the understanding of transformation that has taken place in the leadership style over a period of time and the necessary changes that will occur in the future in order to keep pace with the changing world. This study is done to bridge the gap between the skill sets and the characteristics that the traditional leaders possessed and how the influence of leadership has evolved from an era of post and pre - independence and a comparative study between spiritual, motivational and political leaders with business and functional leaders based on their quality traits.