transformational leadership

 transformational leadership

As competition continues to become detrimental in the 21st century, leadership has become one of the tools that several organizations are using to gain competitive advantage. According to Al Harbi, Alarifi, and Mosbar, leadership influences employees’ values, behaviors, practices, and attitudes towards the obtainment of the projected organizational goals (1082). Despite these roles, effective leadership ought to spur the follower’s creativity to enable them to come up with innovative solutions that can give their entities an edge over competitors. Innovation is considered critical in organizational management because it supports employees to address existing and foreseeable problems effectively (Harbi et al. 1082). While leadership is essential to instilling a sense of creativity among followers, some approaches to management have been found to be more effective than others. Available literature confirms that transformational leadership is powerful in empowering employees to become highly creative (Al-Amin; Zhang, Zheng, and Darko). Evidence from these studies underlines the importance of adopting this type of leadership in managing employees.

Organizations in Qatar can significantly benefit from the adoption of transformational leadership to instill creativity in their workforces. A shift to this approach can be beneficial to enterprises, given the fact that most people in the country are less innovative when faced with uncertainties. In his study, Tok found that most of the residents in Qatar tend to be risk-averse and substantially depend on the government for the opening of new entrepreneurial opportunities (12). Apparently, this evidence suggests that companies with a relatively higher proportion of local employees may struggle to generate innovative ideas. Besides native employees, organizations may find transformational leadership in improving their competitiveness through creative solutions. The current study seeks to examine the correlation between transformational leadership and employee innovation, and subsequently, apply its relevance in Qatar firms.

Literature Review

As the quest for creativity continues to take center stage in most entities throughout the due to the adverse effects of globalization, researchers and other scholars have authored many sources to explain its relationship with a competitive advantage. Therefore, insights from these sources can be critical to showcasing the state of creativity in Qatar, and the reasons why organizations should try to incorporate into their strategic core. The literature review section intends to critically examine available literature to comprehend the impact of transformational leadership can help Qatar organizations to become highly competitive through employee creativity.

The Need For Creativity In Qatar-Based Organizations

Innovation is a crucial strategy in gaining a competitive advantage in the current tough economic times. The Organization For Economic And Co-Operation Development (OECD) defines innovation as all steps involved in, and necessary for, the development of useful, new and/or improved manufactured products, processes, or approaches to services, where science and technology are at the base of this process (qtd in. Koc and Al-Mansoori 2). From this conceptualization, innovation is highlighted as the art that incorporates science and technology in the establishment of new solutions. Because creativity is closely related to innovation, it is worth noting that the former represents the early phases of the latter (Koc and Al-Mansoori 2-3). From a broader perspective, innovation entails going the extra mile beyond creativity. Innovative outcomes are desirable among organizations because of their capability to present competitive advancements that are significantly critical, obtaining both financial and non-financial improvements (Koc and Al-Mansoori 3). Overall, the ability to generate innovative ideas is central to improving organizational competitiveness.

In Qatar, this aspect is of urgent need, given the country’s poor performance on the same. On account of the economic strides the country has made in recent decades, it can be tempting to believe that its firms are some of the most innovative in the world. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that Qatar-based organizations are nowhere to be seen among the top-notch creative enterprises in the world. Compared to other economically stable countries, Qatar companies have a low presence on the internet when it comes to the concept of creative outputs (Nawaz and Koç 131). In effect, this poor performance reveals the inability of these enterprises to empower their employees to venture into creative adventures.

While it is evident that organizations in Qatar are in dire need of innovation, it may be difficult for them without adopting appropriate leadership models. Innovation requires entities to establish and fortify a culture that supports their members to become highly creative (Mohtar 46). investment in research and development is essential in fostering an innovative environment. At the national level, the Qatar government has been demonstrating great leadership by empowering its citizens through improved educational initiatives (Mohtar 49). however, this approach needs to be emulated at the organizational level to reap the benefits of innovation. For this reason, organizations within Qatar have a considerable obligation to implement leadership styles that can enable them to empower employees to take initiatives of venturing into innovation.

The Link Between Transformational Leadership And Innovation

Transformational leadership theory is one of the models that has gained much recognition in the management of employees in the 21str century. Conceived and coined by McGregor Burns in 1978, this concept emphasizes the importance of close working relationships between leaders and their followers. Transformational leaders achieve this objective by fostering high levels of charisma, intellectuality, and risk-sharing (Obasan and Hassan). From this conceptualization, people that utilize this style to manage their followers are not only intellectual and charismatic, but they are also willing to take far-ranging risks to get the best out of their subordinates. Undoubtedly, it is often tempting for many administrators to rest the need to involve their employees in major organizational courses. Nonetheless, this behavior is absent or less prevalent in those individuals that use transformational leadership to manage their organizations. Notably, these people tend to frequently incorporate their subordinates in the decision-making process, even though the final say belongs to them (Obasan and Hassan 151). Therefore, transformational leadership is characterized by a higher tendency among leaders to integrate employees in decision-making discourses.

Leaders in Qatar organizations may find transformational leadership critical in instilling a sense of innovation among their employees. The approach’s capability to achieving this objective is associated with its positive impact on motivation. Leaders that use transformational leadership run their organizations or departments frequently exploit intellectual stimulation to trigger a sense of innovation and creativity in employees by challenging their status quo (Al-Amin 31). indeed, one of the main problems that organizations face in achieving improved performance is the temptation to be contented with their current statuses. As the field of operation continues to change due to the pressures of global pressures, firms need to adjust their ways of operating by outsmarting their rivals. Therefore, the intellectual stimulation element in transformational leadership can enable organizations to trigger innovativeness among their workforces.