Reference no: EM132290213

Transactional or Transformational Leadership

Each week, you will be asked to respond to the prompt or prompts in the discussion forum. Your initial post should be 75-150 words in length, and you should respond to two additional posts from your peers.

Last week you explored several elements of managing human capital, including how to motivate them to be the best they can be. A key element of motivating others is being a good leader. But what type of leader is needed, and when? Transactional leadership is primarily concerned with maintaining the status quo whereas transformational leadership is geared toward moving beyond the current status to get to the ‘next level'.

Research the key leaders in the company you have chosen for your final project. Common leaders to consider researching include the CEO, President, Vice President, CFO, and any board members. Based on what you find in your research, do you feel the company leaders are generally more transactional or transformational leaders? Why?

Given the current circumstances of your company and the economic environment in which they operate, do you feel the leaders are demonstrating the best leadership form possible? (transactional versus transformational). Why or why not?

Review a minimum of two of your classmate's posts and respond with additional insights, information, questions, or links to more information on the leadership types they shared. Do you agree with their assessment of their leadership team? Why or why not? Your responses should be academic in nature and linked to research and management topics discussed this week rather than personal stories of shopping with the company they chose for example.

Jeffrey Dufrene

I researched the CEO of Delta Airlines, Ed Bastian. Ed Bastian displays several characteristics of a transformational leader and I think his accomplishments speak well to that fact.

He focuses on strategy, taking care of his people, and sets the tone for his company in a way which has transformed Delta into one of the greatest and most respected airlines in the United States. These are some examples of his recent accomplishments, how I came to that conclusion, and all have happened under Bastian's Leadership since 2016:

-Delta became the most reliable airline and rated top US airline according to the Wall Street Journal

-Fortune Magazine's "most admired" airline worldwide.

-Delta has paid out more than $1 billion every year for four years to employees as part of Delta's profit sharing benefit. Further, Delta has sustained profitability despite these massive payouts.

-In 2018, Forbes named him one of the "The World' 50 Greatest Leaders."

Jon Jordan

Jill Soltau, the CEO of the J C Penney Company, is a transformational leader. She was hired by the Board of Directors in the fall of 2018 because she is that type of leader

Penney's has been struggling for several years and the status quo was obviously not going to work. Since being named the CEO Soltau has made a lot of changes, from closing stores, changing the products they sell and downsizing the overall size of the stores (article from the Business in Insider, February 2019). Those are not the only changes she has made. She has rebuilt a large part of the top leaders in the Company.

A recent press release from the J C Penney newsroom, dated April 17, 2019, list the latest changes of new leaders that Soltau has reached agreements to hire this month. Penney's just announced that Soltau is bringing in more new leaders from other successful retailer such as; Steve Whaley, formerly of Walmart, Laurene Gandolfo, formerly of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, and Trish Adams, formerly of Target. These are just the latest three new leaders that Soltau has recruited from other retailers to join her leadership team.

I do not have a crystal ball to know if the changes will create the success J C Penney once had, but Soltau is working at transforming J C Penney's into a vibrant, successful retail department store for the future. In my opinion, Jill Soltau is using the correct leadership style for the problems that J C Penney's faces.