An Assessment of Transformational Leadership in the Boys & Girls Club Organization

Introduction

Leadership effectiveness is the exercise of personal influence by individuals who aim to accomplish several goals due to the coordinated effort of those led; it is what the leader executes. Effective leadership accommodates people of diverse cultures or beliefs and helps them work towards a common purpose to achieve their potential (Alegbeleye & Kaufman, 2020). Transformational leadership transforms employee values; it encourages, inspires, and motivates people to work towards their goals and the organization’s well-being. Leader-member exchange enables the leaders and the members to develop a unique relationship that directly influences them to fulfill their purpose. As a result, in strong leader-member exchange relationships, both the leader and the employee feel a shared commitment to assist and not disappoint one another. Today, every organization works towards constantly improving its goods and services. For nonprofit organizations, the critical motivation for running the organization is the fulfillment of the organization’s objectives. Effective leadership is effective in such organizations due to the invigorating fundraising and community outreach approach. This study investigates the type of leadership within the Boys and Girls Club using transformational leadership theory and leader-member exchange theory.

Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley (BGCSV) is a nonprofit development organization that provides programs and services to enhance the development of young boys and girls ages 6-18 years. It serves more than 3000 regular members. Most girls and boys at BGCSV live in economic depression and high crime neighborhoods with no role models. The organization inspires and empowers young people to realize their full potential and purpose in life.

In most studies, transformational leadership has been defined as a single-factor model. This study examines individual components of transformational leadership in the Boys and Girls Club. Transformational leadership is leadership that changes and transforms people to aim at achieving their purpose with full potential (Alegbeleye & Kaufman, 2020). The components of transformational leadership effectively track and determine the organization’s outcomes. This study will investigate the components of transformational leadership, which are characterized by idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and individual consideration (Kasımoğlu & Ammari, 2020). For this research, the components of transformational leadership are conceptualized separately to provide a broad understanding and analysis of leadership with the Boys and Girls Club. Idealized influence has been used to investigate the leadership within the organization by analyzing how high-ranked leaders at Boys and Girls Club have influenced the members. Inspirational motivation relies on idealized influence to examine whether the leadership within the organization has a clear vision that the members follow and work towards with passion.

Additionally, this study uses the leader-member exchange theory to investigate leadership within the BGCSV. According to this theory, leadership quality depends on the leader and the followers (Chiu et al., 2021). The quality of the social exchanges determines the extent of influence of the leadership on the members. A primary data collection method was employed in this study. Specifically, a set of interview questions was developed and used to interview the organization’s current employees to gather important information. During the interview, confidentiality and anonymity of the interviewees were paramount. Additional information was obtained from the organization’s website. The findings of this study are based on the data obtained from the interviewees, website, and literature from the Transformational Leadership Theory and Leader-Member Exchange Theory.

Methods

For this research project, our group created a nineteen-question interview and conducted the interview with three employees from the Boys & Girls Club Organization, two site directors and a staff member. The recruitment of the participants was done in the effective review of their roles and impacts in shared developments and realized outcomes from the research study as a whole. The participants were chosen if they had sound knowledge of leadership traits and also the management structures and policies integrated in the Boys & Girls Club Organization. The choice of the participants opened up measures through which more individuals could be used to meet the goals and also in changing how they felt about some of their practices in the past. The participants were contacted before the interviews. They were allowed to share the time that they were most comfortable with to enhance the interview and ensure the attainment of the overall goals in the study objectives. The interviews were conducted face to face, and in other cases, online because of the distance restrictions. Interviews were chosen as the primary forms of data collection and analysis mostly because of the abilities to seek clarification as well as gauge the reliability of the answers being provided.

Results

The data collected from the interviews was analyzed and presented for review and development of the conclusion. The study ensured that the participants understood the requirements in the question, to help in informed answers that engage with the results. There was a wider and more influential venture through which they got to understand and appreciate the roles played by the different structures in meeting some of the set goals and intentional objectives over time. This also informed subsequent research positions which would rely on the results in the formation of future studies. In particular, the research focused on key areas of the analysis which help in development of transformational leadership styles. The three concepts of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration were each reviewed with the aim of determining their roles in shared developments around the transformational leadership style.

Idealized Influence

The concept of idealized influence is important in the engagement of transformational leadership styles. It explains the ability of a leader to act as a role model through the show of conviction and emphasis on the importance of purpose (Alegbeleye & Kaufman, 2020). The leader is authentic in the show of the levels of commitment and overall outcomes which are to be pursued within the avenues of organized developments. The end result is that the leader is admired, respected and trusted with the followers constantly seeking to emulate him. The results showed that the concept of idealized influence is present within the organization. The interview revealed that the leaders tend to show positive interactions with the employees. They trust them and put their needs first. Moreover, there are also instances in which they show their ways of trust in their expectations for the workplace venture over time. In other cases, they also work to provide the individual tasks and common goals which must be accomplished within the week. It helps them stay on track towards their intended goal in the analytical measure. The employees further explained that the calm demeanor showed by their leaders help them remain assured that potential barriers will be overcome in the work. These active measures are key and primary to meeting some of their goals in ways that are aligned with their practices for the future.

Inspirational Motivation

The aspect of transformational leadership explains the abilities of the leader to motivate their subjects and employees. It is a way of ensuring that they are closely related and have interventional aspects which are responsible for long-term growth and success. The interviews showed that the leaders at the Boys & Girls Club Organization periodically inspired the staff to work through engaging them in periodic meetings. They also considered their opinions in policy formulation and implementation. Moreover, they encouraged them to commit to the overall goals of the company through reiterating the need and importance for them to meet the outlined curriculum requirements in ways that mirror their opportune moments for growth, development and realized success benefits in each of their set outcomes in the future. Another key area of motivation comes from the inherent abilities to develop common goals which inspire the kids. For instance, the participants explained that their goal is to make sure the kid is comfortable and that a positive learning environment is encouraged at all times.

Intellectual Stimulation

Transformational leaders are also required to challenge assumptions, take risks and solicit new ideas from their followers at all times. These aspects allow them to engage with the employees and create enabling environments that are functional for them as a group. The findings show that the intellectual stimulation in the organization is somewhat limited. The data revealed that even though there are provided spaces for shaped insights and information for the teams, they still feel limited in the overall sense. The leaders retain the rights to the eventual decisions and choices made regarding some of the best ways to improve on the policies. They retain the rights to making informed choices on the best ways of engaging with peers in search for ascertained goals and eventual outcomes for them all. However, on the other instances, the leaders would entrust the employees with making solid decisions and improved outcomes which have the potential of bettering the positions and actual outputs which are unique and improving to the situations they may pursue in the long-term. It shows the potential for better improvement in the segments to ascertain responsible outcomes and more involved ventures which are superior to the teams and their placements in the future.

Individualized Consideration

Leaders are also required to provide individualized needs to their employees. They should uniquely attend to their needs as a way of guaranteeing better and more influential outcomes for their working segments in the future. The employees get to make feel appreciated and valued by their leader through the actions in attending to their desires. The employee’s explained that they are always provided with support and material from their leaders at all times. The leader also periodically checks in with the staff to make sure that they understand the practices of the company and are involved in development of aligned company policies. In other situations, they also get to acknowledge the individuality and uniqueness of each player, hence cultivating an air of better improvement, quality engagement and aligned success impacts in the future. This is the basis of their structured positive relationships and enhanced outcomes which have the goals for success when put together. The actions by the leaders help them to be popular with the employees. It also encourages them to enhance their productivity as they understand that they are valued and appreciated by the management as a whole.

Recommendations

Therefore, it is important to engage with the leadership in ensuring that the addressed and aggrieved issues and given their rightful mandates. These actions relate to the improvement of transformational leadership styles and their actualized impacts over the years. For instance, the Boys & Girls Club Organization can ensure that there are better policies in place to improve the intellectual stimulation measures. The leaders should at all times be involved in creating of solutions and better aligned measures for the achievement of success. They need to work around determined benefits where they understand and appreciate the roles of other players in joint relied outcomes and outputs of their work. These actions take charge of the premises and improve their ways of working together with the teams.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the analysis has demonstrated the importance of transformational leadership style in organizations. The Boys & Girls Club Organization has worked towards the integration of the style through joint relationships with key players. The individual practices measures in idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration each play an important role in the improvement and development of the people. They use the chance to determine their goals and improve on how best they can be successful when working together. Also, they tend to take up some of their beneficial workplaces in achievement of the desired leadership styles.

References

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Appendix

Interview Items

1. How long have you been employed with the boys and girls club?
2. What is your role, and how long have you been in that specific role?
3. Are you a supervisor at the boys and girls club?
4. Do you believe your leader is authentic to their commitment to the boys and girls club? (i.e. do they believe in what they are working for)
5. Does your supervisor demonstrate work expectations within the boys and girls club?
6. Does your leader outline the importance of a common goal or task
7. Are you often reassured by your leader’s assurance that barriers will be overcome?
8. Does your leader inspire you to be successful at work?
9. Does your leader encourage you to commit to the overall goals of the company?
10. Does your leader clearly explain and demonstrate a dedication to the boys and girls club’s goals and common vision?
11. Does your leader encourage a strong team spirit environment?
12. Does your leader encourage new ideas in the workplace?
13. Does your leader give you free roam to implement your ideas into the workplace?
14. Does your leader try to differentiate from the normal beliefs of the company?
15. Is your boss encouraging you to come up with novel solutions to problems that may arise in the future?
16. Does your leader provide you with the support you need to effectively do your job and to be successful at work?
17. Do you feel that your leader recognizes your effort and performance at work?
18. Does your leader acknowledge your individuality/ the diversity of your team?
19. Is your leader particularly interested in your work-related thoughts and feedback?