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A Leader Who Transformed Me

When I worked at the United Way of the Coastal Empire I was handed a book by the director of resource development who was my direct supervisor. The book The Leadership Challenge (2012) by J.M. Kouzes and B. Z. Posner collected dust in my office until earlier this year. At the time, I was not quite aware of leadership theory. Since then I have come to understand The Leadership Challenge as transformational leadership theory and I’ve learned that many of the leaders in my past did their best to embody this leadership style. Transformational leadership, according to Northouse (2016), “is concerned with improving the performance of followers and developing followers to their fullest potential,” (p.167). This goal looks beyond the confines of transactional leadership, this for that exchanges, and encourages citizenship behaviors that put the well-being of the group, or organization, above the needs of the self (Bass, 1999). 

My career has largely been in the nonprofit sector wish is, in my humble opinion, the ideal environment for a transformational and charismatic leader to thrive. Nonprofit organizations in the United States serve a charitable purpose to provide support to low-income and underprivileged populations and support public good including the prevention of cruelty to children and animals (Internal Revenue Service, 2020). What has driven me to nonprofit work has always been the impression that my work is doing good for the world and my community. In my experience, it is why most individuals chose to work in the nonprofit field. 

Thinking back to a leader from my past who most intentionally embodied transformational leadership, I am called to think about the director for an organization that served children in foster care. This leader showed up every day to fight for the best interest of children who experienced abuse and neglect and expected each of her staff members to do the same. This leader explicitly verbalized that we should be focused on “mission over self” in our work and involved us in the strategic planning process for the organization. I felt a great pressure to change, and it wasn’t necessarily because I felt like my boss wanted me to, but because I wanted to do the best I could for the children in my community. With her great charisma, and personal story that tied her to the work, the director of this nonprofit sought to uplift her team by inspiring them to do great work, not for her or for themselves, but for the community where we live. 




Image from: https://www.hcli.org/articles/catalysing-culture-continuous-change-transformational-leadership-0 


References

Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development and transformational leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, (8)1, 9-32. 

Internal Revenue Service. (28 July 2020). "Charitable" Purposes. IRS.gov. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-purposes

Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations (5th ed.). The Leadership Challenge. 

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Sage Publishing.


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