Transactional leadership is a leadership style, most closely associated with the work of Bernard Bass building on earlier ideas from James MacGregor Burns, based on a structured exchange between leader and follower in which the leader clarifies role and task requirements and provides rewards or corrective action contingent on the follower's performance. Bass described transactional leadership through elements such as contingent reward and management by exception, in which the leader intervenes only when standards are not being met. The style is commonly contrasted in leadership research with transformational leadership, which emphasizes inspiring followers toward a shared vision rather than managing performance through a series of transactions.
Facts
Core ClaimTransactional leadership is a leadership style built on an exchange between leader and follower, using contingent rewards and management-by-exception to secure short-term goal performance. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Paired leadership styles from the same Burns/Bass framework, standardly discussed together.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Transactional Leadership
WikipediaWikipedia, Transactional leadership lead sectionQuote, Wikipedia, Transactional leadership lead section
Although James Downton is generally credited with coining the term "transactional leadership", James MacGregor Burns expanded upon the concept in his influential 1978 book Leadership.
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