Analysis of Transformational Leadership in Rachel Adams' Case Study

This case study analysis examines the transformational leadership style of Rachel Adams and its impact on her organization. The analysis highlights Adams' ability to initiate and manage change, her focus on employee motivation, and her creation of a positive working environment. The study details her use of incentives, flexible working hours, and empowerment of women, which contributed to the company's rapid growth. However, the case also explores the challenges she faced due to the company's expansion, including a loss of direct communication with employees and a shift in the focus of the departmental heads. The analysis concludes by emphasizing Adams' effective use of transformational leadership, while also acknowledging the difficulties that arose with the company's growth and the need for strategic adjustments.

Transformational Leadership 0
Case Study Analysis
Student’s Name
8/16/2019

Transformational Leadership 1
Introduction
Transformational leadership is recognised as a process that changes and transforms people.
Under this leadership style, the leader focuses on assessing the motives of the followers and
satisfies their needs by creating a positive working environment and treating them well. The
leader creates connection and raises the level of motivation and morality under employees
and followers. 1
From the analysis of the case study, it is recorded that the leadership style of Rachel Adams
has played a pivotal role in the success of the organization. The further paragraphs of the
report will highlight the leadership style and approach adopted by Rachel in creating a
positive working environment and will also include the difficulties faced by Rachel during
the growth of the organization. It will highlight the variations she faced in the vision of
becoming a model research centre. 2
Effectiveness of Rachel Adams
It is analysed from the case study that Rachel Adams has adopted transformational leadership
because she has the ability to initiate, develop and carry out the changes in the organization.
She analysed the gap and the need that the industry faces and converted it into opportunity by
developing a company that is first of its kind in the country. She collaborated with the other
researchers. 3
1 Bass, Bernard M and Ronald E Riggio, Transformational Leadership (Routledge, 2014)
2 Carr, Richard, Transformational leadership (Q LEARNING LTD, 2016)
3 Rolfe, Paula, "Transformational Leadership Theory: What Every Leader Needs To Know"
(2011) 9(2) Nurse Leader

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It was recorded that her business was not only successful but was growing expeditiously.
Such growth personifies her characteristics of a transformational leader. She has the charisma
of influencing the followers through increasing their motivation and making them more
committed towards the goals of the organization. 4She applied an optimistic approach and is
always open to adopt new ideas and opportunities that lie in the external environment. She
has offered various incentives and flexible working hour schedules to the women’s with
younger children and has focused on individual considerations of the followers.5
She has a clear vision of developing a model research centre that will blend credible science
and will develop cost-effective clinical trials. In order to fulfil her vision, she created a
positive working environment and has directed the efforts of all the followers. She developed
intellectual stimulation among the employees by delivering benefit packages such as full
health coverage to part-time employees and has empowered a large percentage of women’s.
She has established the leadership positions for women’s at all the levels in the organization
and provides the freedom to the followers to communicate and give constructive suggestions
for the company. 6
She was able to analyse the collective consciousness of all the members in the organization
and understand the feelings of the followers to motivate them and create a positive working
environment. She adopted a proactive approach to the business and was ready to take the risk
that helps in the growth of the company. She entertains new ideas and develops the culture of
openness in the whole organization by accepting the ideas from all position levels.
4 Rolfe, Paula, "Transformational Leadership Theory: What Every Leader Needs To Know"
(2011) 9(2) Nurse Leader
5 Scouts, Y, "10 Transformational Leadership Characteristics, Attributes And
Traits", Executive Search | Executive Recruiters • Y Scouts (Webpage, 2019)
https://yscouts.com/10-transformational-leadership-characteristics/
6 Wang, Lei, An Alternative Explanation For Transformational Leadership
Effectiveness(2011)

Transformational Leadership 3
From her dedication towards the organization, it is reflected that she has the quality of self-
management and is highly internally motivated that allows her to integrate her values with the
organisation and directs the organization at the right path. She has supported the women at all
the levels and has developed an on-site daycare programme to provide benefit to the
followers. She inspires the followers and has the ability to influence the actions of the
employees by motivating them and understanding their needs. 7
I feel that Rachel is always confident and competent to initiate change in the company. She
has the power of listening to the followers and do not get offended towards the opposing
viewpoints of the followers. She mainly focuses on the values, needs and morals of the
followers and was successful in creating a positive working place by closed interaction with
the employees and motivating them through benefits and packages. She inspires the
workforce and acts as a role model of various followers. She maintains a high level of
standards of ethical conduct and provides a sense of vision and mission to the followers. 8
Rachel Adams used the technique of empowering women and providing various benefit
packages that increased the motivation of the followers. It focused on designing cost-
effective clinical trials and implementing innovation that thrives the growth of the business.
She has guided the actions of the employees and stimulates creativity and innovation in the
company. It addresses a higher level of expectations to the employees and brings innovation
to the company. 9
7 Roueche, John E, George A Baker and Robert R Rose, Shared Vision (Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, 2014)
8 Castano, Nathalie, Perceived Leadership Effectiveness And The Role Of Transformational
Behaviors, Culture, And Gender Of The Leader (2010)
9 HANSBROUGH, TIFFANY KELLER, "The Construction Of A Transformational Leader:
Follower Attachment And Leadership Perceptions" (2012) 42(6) Journal of Applied Social
Psychology

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Such factors describe the effectiveness of Rachel Adams in operating the business and
turning its visions into successful research model centre. The business has not become
successful but has also seen expeditious growth that brings the assurance of long-term
sustainability of the business and being responsive to a dynamic business environment. 10
Problems faced by Rachel Adams in the operation of the business
It is analysed that the expeditious growth of the business has to lead to changes in the
leadership of Rachel and has created complexity in the operation of business due to
increasing travel throughout the country. In consideration of the situation of excessive travel,
she realised that she was losing control over the operations of the business and was not able
to have consistent pep-up talks with the employees.
She realised that the followers do not know her name and feel estranged within the
employees. This shifted the positive working environment and the integration of efforts
towards the achievement of the common goal. She believes that communication plays a major
role in motivating the staff and making them more committed towards the goals. She was not
able to gather the constructive suggestions of employees and in turn, leads to restriction of
grabbing the new opportunities. 11
It was analysed that growth at the company has increased the demand for delegation for more
planning and decision-making to the departmental heads. This increased demand created a
problem for Rachel in the area of strategic planning.
10 "7 Must Have Transformational Leadership Qualities | Bill Hogg", Bill Hogg(Webpage,
2019) <https://www.billhogg.ca/7-must-have-transformational-leadership-qualities/>
11
Austin, Jim, Judith Bentkover and Laurence Chait, Leading Strategic Change In An Era Of
Healthcare Transformation

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Delegation of increased authority to the departmental heads has led to a shift in the focus
from cost-effective clinical trials to the standard pharmaceutical company that is primarily
dedicated towards the research and the development of the new drugs. This becomes a major
concern for Rachel because she was not able to control the shift in her ideal model.
She realised that the departmental heads were getting more focused towards the development
of new drugs which drifted the innovation in the company and does not allow providing edge
over the competitors. 12
The expeditious growth has created complexity in controlling of departmental heads and
maintaining the level of motivation among the employees. The shift in the vision increased
the risk under the business and has reduced the opportunity of grabbing new ideas and being
more responsive to the dynamic environment.
It demands advanced strategic planning and controlling of the department heads. However,
Rachel was not able to have proper control over the business and increased expectations from
the employees due to less involvement and communication. This, in turn, decreased the
motivation and turned the company into an ordinary pharmaceutical company that focuses on
new drug development. 13
The increased growth in the business has created pressure upon Rachel because she has to
travel to other countries and was not able to maintain the efficiency of the company by losing
control over the operations and shifting of the vision of becoming model research centre.
12 Sinkkonen, Merja and Outi Wallin, "Challenges Faced By The Leaders In Integration"
(2018) 18(s2) International Journal of Integrated Care
13 Kalu, Dolly C., Nonyelum P. Okpokwasili and Monday B. Ndor, "Challenges Faced By
Leaders In Improving The Job Performance Of Subordinates" (2019) 9(3) Information
Impact: Journal of Information and Knowledge Management

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Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is critical to note that Rachel possesses the traits if the
transformational leader and has focused on initiating change by delivering values and morals
to the followers. She focused on ethical behaviour and increased the motivation of the
followers by providing the benefits and higher decision-making power to the employees. She
describes the increased expectations from the employees and further makes them more
committed by understanding their needs and wants. She was successful in creating a positive
workplace environment by coordinating the efforts of employees and providing guidance that
leads to the successful implementation of goals.
Apart from the expeditious growth of the company, it was analysed that Rachel faced the
issue of shifting of vision because the departmental heads were focusing more on
development of new drugs and were not able to perform the function of strategic planning.
She also faced the issue of the lack of interaction with the employees.

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References
"7 Must Have Transformational Leadership Qualities | Bill Hogg", Bill Hogg(Webpage,
2019) <https://www.billhogg.ca/7-must-have-transformational-leadership-qualities/>
Bernard M, Bass and Ronald E Riggio, Transformational Leadership (Routledge, 2014)
Judith Bentkover, Austin, Jim, and Laurence Chait, Leading Strategic Change In An Era Of
Healthcare Transformation
Kalu, Dolly C., Nonyelum P. Okpokwasili and Monday B. Ndor, "Challenges Faced By
Leaders In Improving The Job Performance Of Subordinates" (2019) 9(3) Information
Impact: Journal of Information and Knowledge Management
Lei, Wang, An Alternative Explanation For Transformational Leadership Effectiveness(2011)
Merja, Sinkkonen, and Outi Wallin, "Challenges Faced By The Leaders In Integration"
(2018) 18(s2) International Journal of Integrated Care
Nathalie, Castano, Perceived Leadership Effectiveness And The Role Of Transformational
Behaviors, Culture, And Gender Of The Leader (2010)
Richard, Carr, Transformational leadership (Q LEARNING LTD, 2016)
Rolfe, Paula, "Transformational Leadership Theory: What Every Leader Needs To Know"
(2011) 9(2) Nurse Leader
Roueche, John E, George A Baker and Robert R Rose, Shared Vision (Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers, 2014)
Tiffany Keller, Hansbrough, "The Construction Of A Transformational Leader: Follower
Attachment And Leadership Perceptions" (2012) 42(6) Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Y, Scouts, "10 Transformational Leadership Characteristics, Attributes And
Traits", Executive Search | Executive Recruiters • Y Scouts (Webpage, 2019)
https://yscouts.com/10-transformational-leadership-characteristics/