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qualities rarely bring about significant transformations in organizations.
Creativity demands intuition, uncertainty, unconventionality, and individual
expression. The charismatic leader embodies many of these creative forces
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and is able to stimulate enthusiastic responses from those who follow.

In the final analysis, Peter Drucker, one of the most respected of all
management consultants, came to the conclusion that effective leaders have
little or no charisma. He was of the belief that popularity is not leadership;
results are.

Transactional Leadership

Another leadership style, transactional leadership, assumes that people are
motivated primarily by reward and punishment. This style is very related
to the autocratic style discussed earlier. The belief is that employees

perform their best when the chain of command is definite and clear, and
that reward or punishment is contingent upon performance. They should
be happy to hand over all authority and responsibility to a leader, which is
the opposite thinking of an empowered employee. The focus of the
transactional leader is on maintaining the status quo, and the primary goal
of the followers is to obey the instructions and commands of the leader.

The transactional leader is more a manager than a leader, and is highly
focused on getting tasks accomplished, providing very clear direction, and
overseeing productivity in detail. He or she tends to think inside the box
when solving organizational problems. The concern is with the work
process, rather than with forward-thinking ideas. Rules, procedures, and

standards are essential to the transactional leader. This type of leader tends
to carefully monitor and micro-manage a subordinate’s work, making
corrections throughout the process. When a subordinate fails to meet
expectations, the next step is often a penalty or punishment.

A major downside of the transactional style is that it does not consider
other potential factors that may influence outcomes and therefore affect
leadership effectiveness. For example, if clear behavioral or outcome

47 Conger, Jay A. The Charismatic Leader: Behind the Mystique of Exceptional Leadership (San
Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1987) p. 17.

David Kolzow 42