DOUBLE TAB TO ZOOM ON PHONE OR TABLET Transformational Leadership Leadership can be transformational—changing, motivating, and elevat- ing both leaders and followers in ways that improve society and prepare children and adults to participate in the leadership process. Transfor- mational leaders are usually charismatic, inspirational, intellectually stimulating, and empathetic. To become a transformational leader, you must focus on influencing and inspiring others to create change as well as provide a vision and work effectively with complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Transformational leadership is constantly needed, because you can’t solve complex problems once and for all. The current transformational change becomes the new static pattern, and today’s solutions become tomor- row’s problems. Keep this in mind as you develop your leadership ability. The change you create today will be great for solving today’s problems, but tomorrow will bring new problems, and the current solution will become obsolete. Ask Yourself Select a typical workday and review it from beginning to end. What specific events of the day would you describe as transformational? How were these events transforma- tional? Why? What actions, behaviors, beliefs, and dreams do you think increase your ability to transform yourself, others, and your work environment? Think back on a problem that existed in your work envi- ronment a couple of years ago, one that resulted in a change in how things were done. In what ways has that change created a new set of problems or stopped working now? If you could do one thing to solve the new problem, what would that be? Why might it work? 12 Chapter 1 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL