Leadership Theories: A Comparison of Transformational and LMX

This essay provides a comparative analysis of transformational leadership theory and leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, highlighting their differences in leader-member relationships, worker motivation, work engagement, intellectual stimulation, and work efficiency. Transformational leadership focuses on the leader setting standards and directing tasks with less input from team members, potentially leading to decreased motivation and engagement. Conversely, LMX theory emphasizes collaboration between leaders and team members in decision-making and goal setting, fostering trust, motivation, and higher job satisfaction. The essay concludes that different leadership styles yield varying outcomes and influence team dynamics, with LMX promoting a sense of belonging and efficient teamwork, while transformational leadership may result in a weaker leader-subordinate relationship and less collaborative work environment.

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Student’s name
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Date

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Definitions..................................................................................................................................3
Comparisons between the transformation leadership theory and the leader-member leadership
theory..........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Reference....................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Leadership is a term amongst the many others that were recently added to the English
language. The term leadership was added to the English language about 200 years ago despite
the term leader (where lead was derived) being in existence from the A.Ds. Leadership has
different definitions according to various researches and researchers' point of view and as per
the aspect of what is of more importance or interest to them. The transformation type of
leadership the leader set the standards for the group, without including the team members.
The LMX leadership theory is a leadership theory where the leader and the team members
work together to identify the required change, and they jointly create a vision which they use
to meet the difference.
Definitions
Leadership is defined as a person's ability that bonds power and inspiration. From this
definition, we can understand that leadership does not only depend on the power but also
requires self-inner motivation to attract followers, inspire them to turn around their behavior
and thus to lead to achieving the set goals of the organization (Bekker, 2015)
Leadership can also be defined as the interaction between the members of an organization or
group. Leaders act as mediators of change who are less affected by other people's doing, but
their acts influence other people in a significant way.
Leadership is the procedure of understanding the prevailing situation and set goals about the
future. Leaders offer solutions to the current situation by making the right decisions. They
earn assurance from the members of the organization that the set goals will be accomplished
(DuBrin, 2015)

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Comparisons between the transformation leadership theory and the
leader-member leadership theory
1. Leader-member relationship
The characteristics of the members of the team are highly influenced by how the manager
treats them and engages them in the organizational goal setting and decision making. As a
result of a different experience from the two types of leadership theories, the subordinates
either develop a negative or positive character for their daily work.
According to the transformational leadership theory, the workers are not engaged in many
decisions making. In this type of leadership, the manager has significant power over the
members of the group and gives each of the members their responsibility and directions on
what is expected of them. This type of leadership only concentrates on the interest of the
organization (Imran, Ilyas, and Aslam, 2016). As a result, this form of leadership has some
disadvantages;
i. Workers feel inferior
ii. There is a lot of turns over
iii. Workers work to impress the manager
According to LMX theory, the leaders engage their group members in almost all decision-
making activities and goal setting of the organization. The managers interact with the
subordinates, and thus, their interests and views count in the decisions of the organization
(Zhu, Avolio, and Walumbwa, 2016). The LMX relationship between the managers and the
subordinates has many advantages;
I. Performance ratings are high
II. Turnover is less
III. Best job satisfaction

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2. Workers motivation
Due to the excellent relationship between the workers and the manager in LMX, the members
of the team develop good attitudes towards their job and work wholeheartedly to attend to
their responsibilities. This way, the members earn trust from the leader, and they are more
motivated (Zhu, Avolio, and Walumbwa, 2016).
Advantages of LMX theory
a) Workers are allowed to express their opinions
b) The team members love their work and give out their best
c) There is trust between the group leader and the members of the team
In transformational leadership, the workers take orders from the manager, and they are
required to work to meet the set standards of which they were not included in their
formulation. The manager gives strict responsibility to each of the group members with stated
deadlines (Riggs, and Porter, 2017). As a result, the workers are very unmotivated to work,
and they are unreliable and incompetent.
Disadvantages of transformational theory
a. Workers are not motivated
b. Team members work to impress the leader
c. The vision of the group is an idea of an individual (the leader).
3. Work engagement
In the LMX theory, the members of the team are motivated to work together to achieve the
goals of the company, which they were part of their formulation. The members are loyal to

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each other and also to the group leader (Wang, Fang, Qureshi, and Janssen, 2015). With this
type of relationship between the members and the leader, the theory thus results in an in-set
form of contact.
Advantages of LMX theory (work engagement perspective).
a) Productivity is higher
b) Managers are satisfied with the job done
c) Workers are appreciated with more rewards and offered more responsibilities.
In transformational theory, the team members have specific tasks delegated to them, and as a
result, they work to meet deadlines. There is less teamwork amongst the members of the
group, and this eventually leads to some members having a negative attitude towards their
work. Organizational policies and rules guide the members. This theory results in an out-set
form of relationship (Thoroughgood, Sawyer, Padilla, and Lunsford, 2018).

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Disadvantages of transformational theory (work engagement perspective)
a) Members offered fewer rewards
b) Members are not motivated to work
c) Member withdrawal is high
4. Intellectual stimulation
In transformation theory, the team members work independently. As a result, they find
strategies of handling their tasks alone. They think deeper to find the best way of attending to
their responsibilities (Hoch, Bommer, Dulebohn, and Wu, 2018).
On the other hand, in leader-member exchange, the team members embrace teamwork, and
this leads to some members depending on the knowledge of other members (Herman, and
Dasborough, 2016). There is a little creativity, and to some, there is no creativity at all. There
are no brainstorming challenges as they all work together, and everyone contributes a small
piece of information to come up with the required solution.
Advantages of transformation theory (intellectual stimulation perspective)
a. Workers become creative
b. Facilitates change
c. It keeps the organization moving as all departments are on at any time.
Disadvantages of LMX theory (intellectual stimulation perspective)
a. Some members of the team depend on the knowledge of others
b. Workers are lazy as a result of simplified work
c. Due to too much trust by the leader, workers may relax and underperform
5. Work efficiency

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The efficiency of work is very much influenced by the manager and the relationship between
the team members and the members. In LMX leadership, subordinates interact with their
bosses and discuss different issues concerning their duties. As a result of a good relationship,
work is more efficient, and its faster cover a large portion of work within a short period
(Breevaart, Bakker, Demerouti, and van den Heuvel, 2015).
Advantages of LMX theory (work efficiency perspective)
a) Work is more efficient
b) Work is done faster
c) The work is simplified by working in groups
In transformation leadership, there is a weak relationship between the manager and the
workers. The team members work to impress the leader and to meet the set standards. All
team members are required to work on their own, and thus, there is no teamwork (Engelen,
Gupta, Strenger, and Brettel, 2015). Work is done faster, but the work is not entirely reliable
since its usually done by individuals, compared to LMX theory where work is done in
groups.
Disadvantages of transformational theory (work efficiency perspective)
a) Unreliable work output
b) Workers struggle to meet the standards
c) There is no teamwork
Conclusion
In conclusion, the comparisons between the two leadership theories suggest that different
styles of leadership bring different outcomes, and they influence the characters of the
members of the team. By engaging the group members in the planning of the organization

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and the making of the organizational policies, gives the members the sense of belonging, it
creates a good relationship between the leader and the members of the team thus maximizing
on production. In leader-member relationship (LMX) theory, the leaders actively engage their
subordinates in sharing the organizational responsibilities, they reward the employees,
motivates them to work together and form in-sets thus work carried out more efficiently. In
the transformational leadership theory, the team members take orders from the manager.
They are expected to work to meet the standards of the organization. The leader does not
interact with the subordinates, and this, in turn, creates a weak relationship between the two.
The manager does not emphasize teamwork, and thus, the employees work on their own
according to their responsibilities.

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Reference
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pp.67-121.

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Corrigendum.