There are different leadership styles. Some leaders are more dynamic. Others are quiet and methodical managing to move a company forward without a lot of hype or sizzle. There are leaders who are motivated by serving those they lead, while their opposite counterparts’ rule with an iron fist. Here at Audacious You, we wanted to find out what the bold, fearless, risk taking business leaders style is and what we can learn from it. We wanted to know — Who are the best transformational leaders in business?
What is the transformational leadership style?
Transitional leaders are energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate. They inspire followers to change expectations, perceptions, and motivations and work towards common goals. They inspire and motivate their workforce without micromanaging because they trust trained employees to take authority over decisions to get the job done. It’s a management style that’s designed to give employees more room to be creative, look to the future, and find new solutions to old problems.
List of the best transformational leaders:
While there are many lists of transformational leaders on the Internet, there are only a few who show up on every list and at the top of the lists is Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who started a book e-commerce store with the vision of being the Everything Store and revolutionized how we shop.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon:
Harvard Business Review attribute’s Bezos’ “insider, outsider” status as part of what makes him a great transformational leader. He jumped from the finance world to bring a fresh perspective to e-commerce.
In 1994, Jeff Bezos took the first step to create the world’s first online bookstore which grew to include ebooks. Kindle sales, in addition to multi-product sales, have contributed to Amazon’s success.
Jeff Bezos always understood a successful business focuses on the customer. He always had a daring vision of what the world’s largest online retailer would eventually become – and how he would deliver it. He then did just that and changed how people shop. In many ways, Amazon is the perfect model of transformational leadership. It shows that by building on a series of short-term goals, it is possible to achieve things on a grander scale.
Reed Hastings, Netflix:
On the Harvard Business Review list, Reed Hastings tied for first alongside Bezos for similar reasons. Hailing from the software industry, he wasn’t rooted in pre-established process and procedure in the television industry.
When it first launched, Hastings had a grand vision of replacing Blockbuster as the consumer’s choice for entertainment purchases. He came up with the novel idea of user-friendly streaming that became the starting point of this dream’s actualization. Today, Netflix has nearly 200 million subscribers world-wide and is the largest online streaming service.
In addition to leasing previously produced content, Netflix creates its own original productions. Hastings’ foresight revolutionised the viewing habits of millions of people around the world. Yet, his greatest achievement is his management style. Rather than micromanaging and having warm bodies in uncomfortable seats, the company focuses on total autonomy for workers, allowing them unprecedented independence in exchange for a market-leading and generation-defining product.
Jeff Boyd and Glenn Fogel, Priceline:
Boyd and Fogel reinvented travel reservations by charging lower commission fees on reservations. They focused on smaller niche markets to create Booking.com.
Priceline, has helped make travelling easier and more affordable by charging lower commission fees on reservations. Although many other firms have since adopted this model, Priceline was the pioneers of what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Apple:
HBR points to Apple as an example of “dual transformation leadership.” Jobs innovated a software ecosystem. Cook extended on Jobs’ vision, maintaining a focus on innovation, software and brand loyalty.
Steve Jobs is one of the best examples of transformational leadership in the 21st century. From wearing pairs of the same clothing each day for increased productivity, to designing the break-through idea of the iCloud, Steve Jobs was the brain behind the success of Apple. With his legacy guiding the company, Apple shifted from product-based identification to a service and brand loyalty model.
Transformational leaders are the people who inspire a movement and change the way we work and live. They are visionaries who can inspire others to adopt their vision as their own and work hard to see it come to fruition. They are skilled at recognizing talent and giving them the autonomy and trust to do what they are great at instead of micromanaging.
There are plenty of names we can put on a list of transformational leaders. Whom would you put on the list? Let us know in the comments section.
What the Best Transformational Leaders Do – Harvard Business Review
What is Transformational Leadership – CIO.com
Transformational Leadership – Simply Psychology
