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Sarah Aldrich

Ginny Walters

HONR401

6 May 2015

Transforming Leadership and My Transformation as a Leader

Part One: The Transforming Leadership Theory

Certainly ever since its first definition up until the present day, leadership has been a

changing ideation, resulting in many different leadership models and theories to be created

(Komives, Lucas & McMahon 41). To me, leadership should be a relational, shared experience

which seeks to make a difference in the community. This is why after I read about the reciprocal

leadership theory, I knew that I agreed with it. Under this theory, I found the transforming

leadership theory to be a viewpoint on leadership with which I agreed on a more specific level.

In the text, the transforming leadership theory is described as a relationship of mutual

stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral

agents while placing emphasis on higher ideals and moral values such as liberty, justice,

equality, peace and humanitarianism (Komives, Lucas & McMahon 71). While learning

more about this theory, I found that some of my accumulated experiences related to this model.

First of all, I agree with this theorys desire to allow followers to become the leaders

themselves (Komives, Lucas & McMahon 71). In the past, this makes me think about my time

being the section leader for the flutes. While our conductor was the leader of our band, I was the

leader within my section on a smaller scale. I think this element of the transforming leadership

theory is a great way for more people to become involved and allows the organizationor in my

case, a bandto take more pride in what they want to accomplish. From a more current point, I
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think that during the development of the Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference, each of

us in our committees had the opportunity to step out as leaders, although there were other leaders

above uslike Dr. Corley, Ginny or other Honors Program staff. In the future, I hope that as a

Spanish teacher, my students can step into leadership positions themselves within my classroom.

And followers becoming the leaders is something which can be learned and improved through

practice ("Transforming Leadership for Success and Sustainability" 19). As someone who will

work to improve upon her leadership competency during two additional years at Minnesota State

University, Mankato, it is an important belief of mine that leadership is a skill which can be

honed through dedication and reflection. This theory places emphasis on that quality.

Also, a large part of the transforming leadership theory is that it is based on higher

ideals and moral values such as liberty, justice, equality, peace and humanitarianism

(Komives, Lucas & McMahon 71). To me, a leader must be someone who always looks out for

the good of his/her organization, but this should always be done in an ethical way. And the

followers should be enforcers of those values and ideals. Within the Honors Program, I think

one could say that their values are based on leadership, global competency and research. When I

think of a good leader/follower situation, I see someone who is very honest, true to oneself, kind

and a worker for the greater good, which very much relates to the transforming leadership theory.

Additionally, this theory is successful because the leaders and followers raise one

another to higher levels of motivation and morality (Paulien 93). This theory seeks to include

all of the followers and its leader (Komives, Lucas & McMahon 71). In my life, I think this will

be important in my role as a teacher. I hope to be the kind of leader in a classroom who

invigorates my students; likewise, I want my students to push me to be the best instructor I am

capable of being. Likewise, being ethical and moral in future situations is something which is
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very important to me. Also, I believe that everyone in an organizationwhether it be the leader

or the followershould place an equal amount of effort and pride into achieving the final goal,

since it is shared between them. During the Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference, I

think that our class did a good job of keeping each other excited, with suggesting new ideas and

brainstorming. We had a lot of fun getting to be creative, especially in the hospitality committee.

I think that excitement emanated throughout all the Honors Program so that when the conference

came, we were all so excited to greet guests and show them what Mankato had to offer.

Ostensibly, the transforming leadership theory offers a vision of what could be and gives

a sense of purpose and meaning to those who share that vision (Roberts 1024). In addition to

that, this theory facilitates the redefinition of a peoples mission (Roberts 1024). I believe that

having a purpose is essential to any effective organization. Without a goal in mind, what would

be the point of the group? During the Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference, I think it

helped that there were different committees, since we could break down the huge task of creating

the conference into smaller goals, like creating a program for the event, coming up with social

events, or working on the Twitter page. In a different situation, being on the Prom Committee in

high school was a team in which we had many goals, like choosing and creating decorations,

selecting the menu, designing a program and picking the music for the night. Along with having

a significant purpose for ones organization, it is equally as important to have a sense of passion

and pride for what one is trying to accomplish.

The transforming leadership theory is a great example of placing importance on the

relationship side of leadership by making sure that followers and leaders are in a relationship of

mutual stimulation and elevation with higher ideals and moral values (Komives, Lucas &

McMahon 71).
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Part Two: My Transformation as a Leader

In the spirit of transformation, reflecting now upon my own leadership skills during this

past year and seeing my growth during the Exploring Leadership in the Context of Conference

Development course this semester has been beneficial in determining what I have learned from

those experiences and what I can take with me into the future. My growth can be charted using

the Honors Program leadership competency rubric.

As a freshman, this was the first year in which I had the opportunity and challenge of

discovering and reflecting upon my leadership values and strengths. At the beginning of the

semester, I would say that in terms of my leadership competency, I started out about halfway

through level two on the rubric. This is to say that I knew what the basics of my leadership

values and the types of strengths or weaknesses I had as a leader. I knew that I preferred a

leadership style that is more democratic, where followers play a big role in the organization and

where leaders are caring, compassionate individuals. Also, the StrengthsFinder assessment from

the First Year Seminar course allowed me to see that the majority of my skills are related to

interpersonal relationships, especially with my two top strengths being Relator and Empathy.

However, I had not yet reflected upon different roles within groups and how leadership changes

with different contexts.

Now at the end of the semester after going through this leadership course, I can say that I

have changed in terms of being a leader. Not only have I had the opportunity to work with a

team and reflect upon that experience, but also I have gotten to look at different leadership

theories and even create my own based upon my values. Also, this course prompted me to

become more aware of roles in groupsor in this case, committees. I saw how everyone in a

group plays an equally important role and that different leaders can emerge depending on what
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task needs to be accomplished. Going through the process of planning a conference has helped

me develop my strength in being a collaborative leader. In addition to that, this class really

allowed me to place connections between the values I had at the beginning of the semester and

certain existing models or theories of leadership, especially the relational and authentic

leadership styles. I was able to look further into those theories during essays or journal prompts,

where I needed to agree or disagree with that particular view of leadership. This helped me to

further determine my values and by the end of the semester have my own theory of leadership,

which was concentrated on relationships between leaders and their followers. Now, I would say

that although I have created my own leadership theory, which is under level four on the Honors

Program leadership competency, I think that my journey in being a leader has just begun. My

current theory will no doubt change over time as I accumulate more experiences during my time

at Mankato State. I would say that my leadership competency is in the late stages of

development or the early stages of mastering. In the future, I will be able to apply this theory to

my own life experiences, academically and professionally.

Varying experiences during this past year and especially this semester have made an

impact on my leadership journey, moving me through the levels of the leadership competency.

One of the most important experiences in my leadership development has been working as a

substitute paraprofessional in my hometowns school district this past winter break. It is a job

which changes every day because of having different kids, being in a different building or

because of the subject matter being learned. This experience called me to be an adaptive, patient

leader who knows what each different child needs from me as their helper. In this way, I saw

how leadership roles vary from day to day and to use my different strengths, such as Relator and

Empathy. Also, being a part of the Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference was a
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beneficial part of my leadership experience here at Minnesota State University, Mankato. There,

I learned how stepping into a leadership position is something which I am natural at doing. The

conference allowed me to be part of a group of people working for one common goal and to

analyze the dynamics of the group. Sometimes it was necessary to let someone else take the

reigns, if he/she were better at that task, such as if there were a technology problem. Also, this

past semester working on a group project in my Drug Education class helped me see what type

of leader I am. It made me see that in a group where no one else takes charge right away, I like

to be the one to delegate tasks and make sure that everyone knows what he/she is supposed to be

doing. I also liked having clear-cut goals so that we could accomplish the overall project by its

due date. In future groups, I will be able to take my reflections from this course and apply them

to that new experience.

Over the course of this semester especially, with recognition to the Honors course

Exploring Leadership in the Context of Conference Development, my leadership competency has

grown. In the future, I hope to nurture this competency and learn not only from my past

experiences but from the ones I will no doubt have in the future.

Works Cited

Komives, Susan R., Nance Lucas, and Timothy McMahon. Exploring Leadership: For College
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Students Who Want to Make a Difference. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2013. 41,

71. Print.

Paulien, Rasa. "Transforming Leadership Styles and Knowledge Sharing in A Multicultural

Context." Business, Management and Education 10.1 (2012): 91-109.

Roberts, Nancy C. "Transforming Leadership: A Process of Collective Action." Human

Relations 38.11 (1985): 1023-1046.

"Transforming Leadership for Success and Sustainability." Strategic Direction 27.3 (2011): 19-

21.