Burns And Bass: Difference Between Qualitative And Transformational Leaders

Characteristics and Traits Transactional and transformational have distinct characteristics that differentiate between the two. Whether the paradigm is presented from Weber to Bass’s point of view, there is a common shared element among these models- leaders’ actions have significant influence or impact on their followers (Kuhnert & Lewis, 1987). Based on these features and traits, each style can be identified and its application within the accord development between the two parties. In this section, characteristics and traits will be discussed from the proposed models by two of the most influential contemporary leadership theorists, Burns and Bass. From a research and measurement perspective, one can evaluate the main difference between the two is the parallelism to quantitative and qualitative approaches as transactional associated with quantitative and transformational are qualitative (Shamir, House & Arthur, 1993). One can also recognize the dissimilarity from the definition of each term in the context of motivation. Prior to Burns, transactional was just viewed as an exchange theory (Bass & Avolio, 1990); a process of exchange in value between …show more content…
The typical traits of a transactional leader would include: (a) short-term inclination, (b) policies and procedures protocol, (c) abide by rules and regulations, (d) efficiency, (e) focus on tactical issues, (d) inflexible, (e) oppose to change, (f) attach to daily activities, (g) data driven, and (h) goal-oriented (Covey, 1991); the leader tend to be in command and confer to actions and passive (Odumeru et al., 2013); narrow-focused and lacks of creativity (Nikezic et al., 2012). It is an exchange concept based on contingent, so the modus operandi derived on three separate dimensions as exhibited in Fig. 6 that include: (a) management by exception-passive, (b) management by exception-active, and (c) contingent reward (Trotter et al.,