Comparison of Transformational and LMX Leadership Theories

Student’s Last Name 1
Leadership
Submitted by
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MGT3LWM
LEADERSHIP
(Instructor’s Name - here)
(Workshop here)
Date (here)
Word Count (1557)
School of Business
College of Arts, Social Science & Commerce
La Trobe University
Bundoora, Victoria, 3086
Australia

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Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................3
Transformational Leadership.....................................................................................3
Pros..................................................................................................................................................3
Cons.................................................................................................................................................4
Leader-Member Exchange Theory...............................................................................................5
Pros..................................................................................................................................................5
Cons.................................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.................................................................................................................7
Bibliography..............................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The primary goal of any type of leadership is to make sure that the staff performs beyond
what is expected of them. Many leadership theories such as transformational theory mostly
emphasize leadership from the leader’s point of views such as the trait approach, style approach
as well as the skills approach or the follower and the context. Transformational leadership
ensures that the employees achieve the unexpected by influencing other peoples’ values and
attitudes. However, the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory considers a different approach
whereby it views leadership as a process that is based on an interaction between a leader and a
follower. It takes a special person in delivering a vision that is inspiring, but there are advantages
and disadvantages linked to every type of leadership style. The reason for this report is to
compare and contrast transformational and LMX leadership theories to determine the most
appropriate of the two.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership takes place when a leader performs his/her role so perfectly
that they end up gaining the trust, loyalty, and respect along with the appreciation of the
individuals that follow them. In turn, this transforms the followers’ behaviors. With this type of
leadership, the leader completely motivates the people to work harder by giving them rewards
which comprise of promotions, paid vacation, or even bonuses for their good behavior, as well as
punishments, - demotions and improvement programs- due to their poor behavior (McCleskey,
2014, pp.117). Following this type of leadership, the staff is intrinsically motivated to follow the
example of their leader due to the respect that they develop for them.
Pros
United for a common cause: these type of leaders are exceptional in their ability of
quickly analyzing the current situation of an organization as well as developing a virtuous vision
to assist in the growth and development of the organization.
Reduces turnover costs: in some instances, employees come and go. In this case, it may
result in a high cost for the company to find and train new employees for replacement (García-
Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo and Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, 2012, pp.1044). However, this type of