LEADERSHIP AND PERFORMANCE BEYOND EXPECTATIONS

by Bernard M. Bass

Why do most leaders or managers elicit merely competent performance from their followers, while a select few inspire extraordinary achievement? Leadership expert Bernard Bass takes this question beyond the usual speculation, presenting original research that for the first time documents the traits of the exceptional leader.

For half a century, leadership studies have focused primarily on "transactional" leaders: those who provide well-defined rewards to their followers -- whether they be office employees, community volunteers, or infantry soldiers -- for well-defined services. Because they are harder to study and measure, "transformational" -- or charismatic -- leaders have been largely ignored. Until now.

Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations represents a major breakthrough in our understanding of who these leaders are, how they get results, and why their leadership often exceeds all expectable limits.

In its most complete summary to date, Bass reviews the theory and research on transformational leadership. He closes the gap between the work of social and organizational psychologists, whose focus has been on small groups and institutional settings, and that of political scientists and psychohistorians, who have done most of the important studies of world-class leaders.

To these previous studies Bass adds his own crucial findings. He shows that charisma is not a rare phenomenon -- many of us are blessed with it in varying degrees -- and he suggests ways to identify and encourage it in corporate, educational, governmental, and military settings.

Bass also provides an important Leadership Questionnaire for measuring both transactional and transformational traits -- a tool that is sure to become heavily used for individual self-appraisal and personnel evaluations in a variety of organizations. And he presents numerous examples of real-life transformationalists, including Thomas J. Watson of IBM, Lee Iacocca of Chrysler, Steven Jobs of Apple Computer, George F. Johnson of Endicott-Johnson, and such historic nonbusiness leaders as Jane Addams of Hull House, General George S. Patton of the U.S. Third Army, and Robert Hutchins of the University of Chicago.

Not all charismatic figures are born leaders; some can be nurtured in organizational contexts. Tracing the interrelated effects of personality and environment on leadership, Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations will change ideas about what a leader is at both the personal and institutional level. It is bound to alter the course of leadership research for the next decade.

Genres: Leadership

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1985

Reviews

[Anonymous · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book at Mortimer J. Adler's second level of reading (Inspectional reading or skimming). Thus they are only a few key concepts and insights that I have gained from reading the book the first time now. I can definitely benefit from reading this book a second time more thoroughly.

1️⃣ What is the book about as a whole?

☐ Classify the book: Is it practical or theoretical? What subject area?
The book is about leadership and it is theoretical. It belongs broadly to the area of organizational psychology.

☐ State the book’s main theme in 1–2 sentences.
The main theme of the book is that there are four key factors that contribute to transformational leadership namely idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation. He also draws contrasts between transactional leadership and transformational leadership.

☐ Outline its major parts and how they fit together.
Transactional leadership is where the followers are contingently rewarded by the leader for performing certain tasks. However, transformational leadership is where the leaders arouse the motivation of the followers to perform beyond expectations. In one of the chapters he describes the key factors behind arousing motivation in the followers using Maslow's hierarchy of needs. He mentions three ways in which one the leader create motivation among the followers.
(i) By helping the followers realize the importance of their needs better.
(ii) By raising the level of needs of the followers.
(iii) By providing a purpose beyond oneself for the followers to pursue.
He further explains in more detail how each of the four factors affect transformational leadership. He also provides quantitative details related to the research behind transformational leadership and these factors affecting it.

☐ Identify the central problem(s) the author is addressing.
The author tries to explain what makes a leadership transformational.

2️⃣ What is being said in detail, and how?

☐ Identify the key terms and understand their meaning.
As I only skimmed the second half of the book, there are only a few key concepts or terms that I read thoroughly. I learnt about convergent thinking, divergent thinking, cognitive creativity, and Maslow's hierarchy.

☐ Extract the author’s main propositions (claims).
The author claims that for performance beyond expectations, leaders need to be transformational and not transactional.

☐ Trace the arguments: what reasons support each proposition?
He presents empirical evidence for his claims.

☐ Note which problems the author has solved, and which remain unsolved.
He solves the problem of creating motivation among followers. However, he does not as thoroughly explain the methods to create idealized influence.

3️⃣ Is the book true, in whole or part?

From my observations in real life, the author's claims seem true and are convincing. Since the author provides empirical evidence to support his claims, the book is true in whole.

4️⃣ What of it?

☐ Decide on the significance: Learning about the theory behind transformational leadership makes me more aware of how to lead a classroom, for example. It helps me be more conscious of all the four factors that influence transformational leadership.

* What have I learned? I learnt that it takes more than merely granting contingent rewards to be a good leader. I was also not aware of the importance of cognitive creativity in being a transformational leader. I learnt about the concepts like divergent thinking, convergent thinking, and Maslow's hierarchy.
* Does it add to or change my knowledge? It definitely adds to my knowledge.
* How does it connect to what I already know? I earlier viewed Maslow's hierarchy through a personal lens in the sense of fulfilling my own needs but now I know that I can use it to create motivation among followers.
* How might I use this knowledge? I can use it to be a better leader in the classroom, as an instructor and potentially a mentor.