Keys to Being a Transformational Coach

We all have different leadership or coaching styles, this is why it’s so important for you to get to know your own style to understand your own strengths and weaknesses. This helps show you areas that you need to improve. Having a transformational leadership style can help you in this age of digital transformation. Here are some key ways you can be a transformational leader rather than a transactional leader. 

What is transformational coaching?

Transformational coaching is a leadership style that can help inspire positive changes in those that are being led. Transformational coaches usually possess characteristics such as being enthusiastic, passionate and energetic. Not only are these types of leaders concerned and personally involved in the process of leading, but they also make an effort to help each and every member of the group succeed too. 

Qualities of a Transformational Coach

Any coach who does the following is a transformational leader: 

Forgets About Perfectionism

There is a lot of false conjecture that many great men and women were perfectionists. Although transformational leaders are committed to their vision, they are not perfectionists. They understand that having a big vision is accompanied by constant testing and learning at a decent pace. This is something that perfectionism often derails. And forcing your team to be aggressively perfect actually eats away at their energy at an astonishing rate. 

While a transactional leader might focus on what areas went wrong, thus lowering morale, a transformational leader will focus on the things that went right, boosting team morale instead.

Able to Put Things Into Perspective

This characteristic truly makes the most difference between transactional and transformational. Transactions are, after all, one-sided, single-point activities where no context is needed. Leaders who are not open to suggestion, where they want things to go their way are in the transactional territory.

On the other hand, a transactional leader will still applaud a failed effort that is still on strategy, because this means the right kind of knowledge was built in the grand scheme of things. However, a transactional leader will cheer on a revenue-generating activity that is off strategy, simply because the gained revenue looks great out of context. 

Transparent and Fair

In a highly competitive world, transactional leaders choose to withhold certain information to help them build their success. They do not hesitate when it comes to applying rules unevenly, since it might optimize single-point outcomes. Transformational leaders, however, understand that circulating information across a broader circle will help build the grassroots energy for bigger changes. 

The more knowledge that people have access to, the more they can accomplish – and the more they want to accomplish. Research has shown that inspiring a collective belief in fairness at the workplace can reduce burnout. And if you want to see transformation, then maintaining a desire to participate is not an option. 

If you want to avoid being a transactional leader, know that it can be tough, especially in a corporate environment. But if you think about your own actions through the characteristics above, then you can slowly change your habits and ways of thinking while at the same time bolstering your team and the people who work with you. 

Level Up Your Team With 1Huddle

1Huddle can help you and your team stay ahead of the learning curve. We offer cloud-based employee gamification software. You can customize your content for a seamless experience and all of your employees will be able to access their training anywhere, anytime and at the push of a button. You can use our game platform to measure their performance and make key decisions on where you should take your gamification strategy next. 

Do you want to learn more about how 1Huddle can help you level up your own workforce? Talk to us today.