Transactional leadership makes me cringe. Transactional leaders focus on title and hierarchy. They search for and crave prestige and authority. It all feels so political, and it’s a real problem for me.
You manage things. You lead people.
Grace Hopper
Maybe it’s quotes like this that began my rub. Or maybe it’s my preference for what I typically call relational leadership. Research agrees that transformational (aka relational) leaders have a positive effect on employee retention so why wouldn’t we always leverage a relationship-first style of leading our people?
Then again, maybe I’ve had it wrong all this time. Maybe they’re not so bad, and at times, maybe I’m a transactional leader myself.
Scary thought.
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