 Full Range Leadership, FRL. Date published, 1 August 2016. Master Sergeant Hagar was recently assigned to a duty section with six military subordinates and three civilians. Since this is a special duty assignment, the military members all come from different AFCs and have various levels of experience in their current positions. Aside from her routine responsibilities, Master Sergeant Hagar receives daily taskings from multiple sources, attends scheduled and unscheduled meetings which require preparation and has an additional duty. Her staff admires the dedication and effort she puts forth, so they come to her regarding many issues, work related and personal. After delegating certain tasks, she often finds it necessary to go over much of their work. This is causing her to delegate less and attempt more of the taskings herself. She is becoming overstressed because there is not enough time to accomplish everything that is expected of her. She feels her staff can contribute more and offset the workload but realizes that in order to refocus their efforts, it will require changes in her approach to leadership. What should she do? Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better. Bill Bradley. Inside this chapter, Evolution of Leadership Theories. Full Range Leadership Behaviors. Fundamentals of FRL. Transactional Components. MBE-P. MBE-A. Contingent Reward. Transformational Components. Idealized Influence. Inspirational Motivation. Intellectual Stimulation. Individualized Consideration. Common Misunderstandings and Misperceptions of FRL. Unrealistic Expectations. Exclusive Use of Behaviors. Transformational Behavior in Rugged Duty Environments. Impact on Effectiveness. Subordinate. Senior NCO. Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to terminal cognitive objective, comprehend full range leadership concepts and or their impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Terminal cognitive samples of behavior, identify full range leadership concepts and or their impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Predict the impact of full range leadership concepts on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Effective Objective. Value full range leadership concepts and their positive impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Effective Samples of Behavior. Enthusiastically dedicate yourself to read and listen to all material about full range leadership concepts and or their impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. About full range leadership concepts and their impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Voluntarily complete all coursework related to full range leadership concepts and their impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Openly Accept Full Range Leadership Concepts and their Positive Impact on Subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Willingly develop a preference for full range leadership concepts and their positive impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Strive towards a commitment to apply full-range leadership concepts because of their positive impact on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. Why do we continue to study leadership? When it's all said and done, some people just make better leaders than others, right? As U.S. Air Force Airmen, we know influence plays a big part in successful leadership. If you're good at influencing others to accomplishing something they might not have attained on their own, does that make you a good leader? If so, do you think it has more to do with what you say or what you don't say? Since the first cave-dweller got someone else to help them move their rocks around the cave, people have influenced others, but what about when they worked in a coordinated effort to hunt for food or establish a sense of community? Someone had to envision a plan, communicate that vision, and establish the credibility to be trusted or followed by the others, either through respect or fear. Since prehistoric people exhibited some forms of leadership without ever reading a book, does that mean leadership is purely instinctual, or did they gain insight from their experiences by watching others? Learning and leadership are at the core of our profession. Military service must continue to be our nation's preeminent leadership experience. C.J.C.S.I. 1805.01b. For centuries, scholars have studied leadership and developed theories explaining why certain leadership behaviors are more effective than others. As senior NCOs, we continue to study the art of leadership and apply its principles to develop ourselves and our airmen. Leadership theories, such as those based on traits, skills, and styles, were predominantly focused on a person's characteristics. Early development of these theories was accomplished by studying the attributes of successful leaders and identifying which ones were most significant to their successes. These leaders were not only from military or government professions, but from a broad range of fields, such as commerce, transportation, and manufacturing. As the development of leadership studies evolved, theorists began looking at the workers followers and their required tasks, not just the leaders. This awareness gave rise to the concept of situational leadership, which provided a more modern approach to the increasingly complex relationship between leaders and followers, yet some theorists were still unsatisfied with the limitations presented by this concept. When J.M. Burns conceptualized leadership as either transactional or transformational in 1978, it provided a new paradigm in leadership theory. His studies then paved the way for Avoglio and Bass to develop the full range leadership FRL model, which captures many of the valuable concepts found in earlier leadership theories and provides more clarity on their usage. Since utilizing the FRL model is more comparable to having a toolbox, rather than an operator's manual, in order to benefit from this toolbox, a leader must first comprehend how the tools are properly used. You may recall learning about FRL, or FRLD, at the NCOA level of PME. If so, you will already be familiar with many of the principles. But for this level of PME, you are expected to comprehend them to a greater extent. You need to understand how senior NCO can apply these principles in a role commensurate with his or her rank and scope of responsibility. Comprehension of the material, not just memorization, is essential to your success as a full range leader. Identifying the visual differences between a carpenter's hammer, a ball peen hammer, and a sledge hammer only requires memorization. Understanding how each of them works and recognizing when they're not working correctly requires comprehension. When you're studying FRL, or any other lesson in this course, don't just memorize the facts. Strive to understand how the concept works and recognize when adjustment is necessary. This study of FRL begins with a refresher on the evolution of theories that attempted to capture the essence of leadership and establish ways to approach leadership situations. Next, you will explore the fundamentals of FRL and see how possessing a range of leadership behaviors can be beneficial to a leader. Followed by a brief synopsis of some misunderstandings and misperceptions that people have about FRL. The study wraps up with a focused perspective on how proper use of FRL can impact subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness. So let's start off by getting refreshed on leadership. The importance of this refresher on leadership theory is to help you understand how these concepts ultimately led to development of FRL, not how the theories were applied individually. So keep in mind while you're reading, it is not necessary to comprehend these theories on their own, but recognizing their principles will definitely increase your comprehension of full-range leadership. Evolution of leadership theories. Trait-based leadership. The first studies of leadership focused on fixed personal characteristics and innate qualities one possessed known as traits. Back then a person's leadership effectiveness was said to be influenced by their intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. Trait-based leadership poses a few problems. How does one develop a trait? Apparently trait-based leadership theories favor the notion that leaders are born and not made. Also leaders who share the same traits often times act differently. For instance, throughout history there have been self-confident and intelligent leaders who consistently displayed righteousness while other leaders possessing the same traits led followers down paths of murder and destruction. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler were both charismatic, confident and intelligent leaders with great public appeal, but the common traits between them were not accurate predictors of their behavior. Although it's true that leaders who have certain desirable traits tend to excel, there is evidence to support that education and training can improve leadership effectiveness which supports the notion that leaders can be made. Psychodynamic theory. Leaders can have a key role in influencing how their followers think, feel and act. Psychodynamic theory assumes that the world can be a hostile, unpredictable and unforgiving environment, and that the followers look for leaders who can make sense of such turbulent conditions and crisis situations. This explanation supports the notion that leaders and followers are drawn to their roles by virtue of personality type. We have all seen certain personality types excel in unique leadership roles in which other types might not have fared so well. Were these leaders successful because they operated within their comfort zones or because they understood their limitations or preferences, overcame challenges and shared lessons learned with their followers? Either way, having the right personality for a particular role is quite beneficial but is not always practical. Skills theory. Skills theory focuses on leaders who can control their emotions and successfully solve problems, since people tend to think and act with emotion. This theory advocates that skill and knowledge are involved when dealing with emotions and trying to manage them properly. For example, let's say one of your subordinates just unleashed some critical but inaccurate comments at you. How would you respond? Would you retaliate right there, defending your pride? Or could you compose yourself to de-escalate the situation and rationally discuss the problem? Problem solving, the second element of skills theory, proposes that leaders are effective if they can assist followers in solving personal, organizational, and career-related problems. In these situations, a leader's cognitive and social skills coupled with their own life experiences influence their leadership effectiveness. Style theory. Style theory focuses on two types of leadership, task-oriented and people-oriented. Task-oriented leadership concentrates on initiating structures and paths for followers to perform effectively. People-oriented leadership considers fostering good relationships between the leaders and followers. Both of these leadership styles influence followers' performance and satisfaction, the actual differences in order of priorities. Leaders who lack or avoid either one of these styles are usually less effective than those who can fittingly apply both styles. Therefore, having such a limited range would indicate why style theory does not provide much flexibility or latitude for a leader. Over time, the shift in theoretical focus from traits or skills to behaviors or styles improve the outlook on developing leadership, since an individual's behaviors are more easily changed than traits. Situational leadership. Situational leadership theory concentrates on two leader behaviors, directive and supportive. The four possible combinations of higher-low directive behaviors and higher-low supportive behaviors were used to establish four leadership styles, directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. Each style is a different approach to leadership defined by the situation or task and the followers' maturity or development. The leader chooses his or her appropriate behavior after determining a subordinates' level of competence and commitment. Since this method is also task-specific, leaders must readjust their behavior for each task, even if it's for the same subordinate. Although this theory quickly gained popularity in leadership studies and still remains popular, it does not provide the flexibility many leaders require on a day-to-day basis. Authentic leadership. Authentic leadership theory suggests that effective leaders are true to themselves and others, have positive psychological states, and adhere to strong morals and values. It sounds refreshing and idealistic, but the concept of authentic leadership is not new. Think about leaders who are known for great leadership, but exhibited behaviors that indicated questionable morals or compromised their people. Were they authentic leaders? Why are their great leaders, historical and current, who do not meet the criteria for authentic leadership? From a global perspective, we know some leaders rose from cultures or environments lacking in morals or standards of ethical behavior. But what about those who had foundations rooted in ethics and morals, yet still strayed from those values? What sort of moral compass did they use to stay on course? You can see that many of the leadership dilemmas we face each day are not recent developments. People that came before us examined different angles and approaches to leadership and tried to explain why some things worked and some didn't. In addition, practical application of some theories can be difficult and often require a degree of latitude not addressed within the theory. Fortunately, we now have a toolbox of behaviors to engage leadership situations and the flexibility to adapt them, accounting for variations in personalities, relationships, time constraints, and other dynamics in the form of full range leadership. FRL is unique because it requires us to view leadership as a system based on the leader, the follower, and the situation at its core elements. Factors acting upon these elements such as personalities, skills, styles, opportunities, challenges, rewards, and consequences create an ever-changing environment with all components bounded by constraints, resources, and susceptible to change over time. The concepts of FRL provides leaders with ways to navigate this environment by choosing different leadership behaviors based on their assessment of the situation, the follower, and themselves. The spectrum of FRL behavior is broken down into three categories, laissez-faire, transactional, and transformational. In this next main point, you will explore these fundamental behaviors of FRL and see how they apply to you as a senior NCO in the U.S. Air Force. With those earlier leadership theories fresh in your mind, think about what scholars were trying to accomplish to establish some sort of guide or pattern to follow when faced with the changing dynamics and leadership situations. Being familiar with various dynamics that impact leadership situations is essential to comprehending how FRL works. Now let's shift our focus towards the fundamentals of FRL, where we establish the relationship between three basic FRL behaviors. Full range leadership behaviors. Delving into the toolbox, we see that FRL behaviors are aligned on a spectrum from passive, least effective, to active, most effective. This spectrum helps us visualize their relative effectiveness and keeps things in perspective while learning about their characteristics. Fundamentals of FRL behaviors. Laissez-faire. At the passive end of the spectrum is laissez-faire, a French term which describes an attitude of letting things take their own course without interference from others. Theorists believe there are certain leadership situations when this behavior is appropriate. For example, when a worker or team is highly skilled, dependable, and reliable, and the leader has to focus on more pressing issues. The logic behind laissez-faire is to let them do their job without any interference. Now this may sound like a desirable situation. Worker or team does the job well. Supervisor doesn't have to spend much time with them. Everybody's happy, right? Well, maybe this isn't such a desirable situation. The downside is that the leader might not be engaged enough to know when the followers will need intervention in the form of subtle guidance, straightforward discipline, or somewhere in between. Some leaders choose to refrain from intervening even after discovering a subordinates poor performance, relying on the subordinates own motivation towards self-improvement. Whether it is a conscious decision based on trust and not wanting to further punish the individual or a result of leader apathy, refusing to acknowledge the poor performance is laissez-faire behavior and exhibits an absence of leadership. As leaders, we look out for the well-being of our people. We consider not only their duty performance, but their health, their families, and their careers. That's not to say we should interfere with their work in order to look out for them, but adopting a laissez-faire attitude towards an individual or team because they are most competent will lead to neglect. In reality, we know laissez-faire behavior does happen, usually as a result of conflicting priorities. It's important to recognize when you exhibit this behavior, because if it happens often, you can become or be perceived as a laissez-faire leader who avoids or ignores responsibilities, causing detriment and neglect to followers. Transactional. In the middle of the spectrum, you will find transactional behavior. This type of leadership behavior is based on connecting a transaction or social exchange to motivation. In other words, providing compensation in exchange for desired follower behavior or a consequence for undesired behavior. The transaction can involve actual rewards or penalties or be more interpersonal, like providing praise or criticism. It is often compared to the old carrot and stick cartoon, where the carrot represented a reward and the stick represented a consequence, yet they were both motivators. Granted, motivation is important in leadership and the practice of using rewards and consequences is foundational to good order and discipline. For example, some of the general NCO and senior NCO responsibilities found in AFI 36-2618. The enlisted force structure reflects transactional leadership, so it is a required behavior. But if a leader solely relies upon these transactions to motivate followers, he or she is not taking an interest in the follower's personal development. Unfortunately, it's easy to fall into this routine and leaders don't realize their negative impact until after the damage is done. As you can see, transactional leadership is more effective than laissez-faire because it provides forms of motivation, but it lacks opportunities for personal development and true empowerment. So if overutilized as a leadership tool, it limits leadership potential and could be demoralizing for followers. As USAF Airmen, we don't just lead others, we empower them. As senior NCO, it is your responsibility to mentor subordinates and prepare them for greater responsibilities, ultimately replacing you as you move on. This is very different from the corporate world where managers often worry about being replaced by subordinates who demonstrate greater leadership skills. In the profession of arms, we encourage and motivate our subordinates to achieve greater roles and responsibilities and we feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when they are successful. Empowerment is vital to leadership growth and transformational leadership behavior found at the active end of the FRL spectrum is the most effective way to develop and empower your subordinates. AFI 36-2618 directs us to appropriately recognize and reward individuals whose military conduct and duty performance clearly exceed established standards and hold subordinates accountable when they do not meet established standards. Transformational, empowering followers through transformational leadership requires much dedication and effort from a leader but is most rewarding. The leader motivates followers by genuinely caring about their concerns and appropriately addressing these concerns through open channels of communication. They inspire followers by establishing goals and challenging them to reach and exceed those goals. They stimulate creativity and original thinking by respecting and valuing their opinions and perspectives. They positively influence followers by setting an example of high moral character and displaying a strong commitment to organizational values. Some of the general NCO and senior NCO responsibilities found in AFI 36-2618 the enlisted force structure reflect transformational leadership as well. Transformational leadership involves inspiring followers to commit to a shared vision and goals for an organizational unit, challenging them to be innovative problem solvers and developing followers leadership capacity via coaching, mentoring, and provision of both challenge and support. BAS and RIGEO. General NCO responsibilities 4.1.6 Know and understand the wingman concept. Airmen take care of other fellow airmen. Be a good wingman means you share a bond with other airmen. You can be counted on to support each other in all situations both on and off duty. 4.1.13 Take an active leadership and supervisory role by staying involved with subordinates on a daily basis. Use their own experiences and knowledge to mentor others. Guide and instruct subordinates to ensure they are prepared to accept increased levels of authority and responsibility. Assist subordinates in reaching their full potential. 4.1.14 Provide career counseling to subordinates on benefits, entitlements, and opportunities available during an Air Force career. Ensure subordinates understand what is expected to be competitive for promotion and what types of career opportunities exist. At a minimum, counseling occurs in conjunction with performance feedback counseling or during quality review under the Selective Reenlistment Program. Review and provide a copy of the Air Force Benefits fact sheet. General Senior NCO Responsibilities 5.1.6 Be an active, visible leader. Deliberately develop junior enlisted airmen, NCOs, and fellow senior NCOs into better followers, leaders, and supervisors. 5.1.7 Secure and promote PME and professional enhancement courses for themselves and subordinates to develop and cultivate leadership skills and military professionalism. Senior NCOs should complete their CCAF degree, if not already earned, and continue development for self and subordinates through available on and off-duty education, leadership lectures and seminars, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Reading Program. 5.1.9 Clearly meet and strive to exceed the standards and expectations levied upon all junior enlisted airmen and NCOs. Epitomize excellence, professionalism, pride, and competence, serving as a role model for all airmen to emulate. 5.1.10 Attain and maintain excellent physical conditioning. Always meet Air Force fitness standards and set a positive example for subordinates. Lead the way by promoting, supporting, and participating in unit physical training activities and the Air Force Fitness Program. Incorporate physical training in their teams, duty schedules, as the mission allows. 6.1.9 Looking at the general responsibilities listed above, we begin to see parallels between the essential elements of transformational leadership behavior and what the U.S. Air Force expects of its senior NCOs. Notice the common terms or themes that appear, challenge, coach, develop, innovate, inspire, mentor, and support. All familiar terms, which are embedded in our culture. As you read about the components of transformational behavior further into this chapter, you will see even more parallels between transformational behavior and Air Force culture. Now that you understand the fundamental relationship between the three basic FRL behaviors, we will break down transactional and transformational behaviors by their components. Transactional Behavior Components The effectiveness of transactional leadership behavior depends on the consistency of reinforcing desired follower behavior through rewards and consequences. In consistency or in activity equates to ineffective leadership. An example of transactional behavior is the use of attention. Just as a child seeks his or her parent's attention, followers often seek the leader's attention and approval. Showing the proper attention, like praise, to a subordinate can reward or reinforce desired behavior, while criticism directed towards a subordinate should convey disapproval of undesired behavior. On the contrary, not showing their appropriate attention, praise or criticism will fail to reinforce desired behavior or deter undesired behavior. Senior NCOs have various means to acknowledge desired behavior, such as permitting comp time, submitting for unit recognition, and fulfilling specific follower requests within reason. As an alternative method of reward when applicable, senior NCOs can remove certain conditions that are unpleasant to the follower, such as altering work schedule by placing the individual on a different shift or team, or discarding an LOC. Transactional consequences can be the opposite of reward actions mentioned above, like denying comp time or administering an LOC, but could also be accomplished via increased oversight and scrutiny of work. The consistency of a leader's presence and involvement indicates how active or passive they are within the scope of transactional behavior and is directly related to its effectiveness. This relationship is categorized into three behavioral components, management by exception passive, MBE-P, management by exception active, MBE-A, and contingent reward, CR. Management by exception passive, looking at the diagram above, MBE-P appears as the most passive of the transactional behavioral components. It's more active and slightly more effective than the laissez-faire behavior because the leader holds subordinates accountable if they fail to meet standards of performance or disregard policies and procedures. Think laissez-faire with a follow-up if there's a problem. The leader does not put much effort into preventing these events from happening, although will occasionally acknowledge or extend a compliment when things are done correctly. Potentially, an absence of earlier involvement could be justified due to time constraints or conflicting priorities, a legitimate intent or purpose like trust or a result of leader apathy. Regardless of justification, if it happens too often, subordinates will be conditioned to focus their efforts on what provokes the leader to react and most likely neglect areas in which the leader shows little interest. People tend to distrust leaders who only get involved when there's a problem and often convey little commitment towards them. Passive leadership behavior usually yields passive follower compliance. Likewise, if a leader is inconsistent when addressing unacceptable situations or specific individuals, the followers will eventually become resentful. Consider this, even if followers do not become disgruntled by the leader's behavior, the non-verbal message communicated is the passive way of doing things is acceptable or perhaps even expected. Unfortunately, when leaders exhibit MBE-P too often, they get labeled by subordinates as finger-pointers or seagull managers, with a latter known as someone who continually critiques the team's efforts without participating, support, or offering solutions. The label comes from a seagull's tendency to drop in, make a lot of noise, leave a mess, then leave. Have you ever seen someone behave this way? Have you been guilty of this behavior? Military members are expected to be actively involved with their subordinates, providing guidance and focus as the norm, so it's important to recognize how and when you exhibit MBE-P behavior. Moving along the spectrum, we see the next component of transactional behavior is management by exception active. Management by exception active. MBE-A, with its more active nature, places it to the right of MBE-P on the spectrum. This leadership behavior is an effort to prevent problems from occurring by keeping people and processes in control. The leader monitors subordinates activities by ensuring compliance with rules, regulations, and performance standards. Effective use of MBE-A reduces uncertainties, avoids unnecessary risks, and ensures important goals are being met. It can also reduce the temptation for employees to shirk their duties or act improperly while providing additional clarity on performance expectations. MBE-A is commonly used in environments where critical, life-threatening situations are expected as the norm, but it can be used anywhere that compliance is a priority. When used appropriately, followers appreciate this leadership behavior as it reduces uncertainties regarding their mission or purpose. Consequently, if used inappropriately or overused, subordinates become regulated by unnecessary control measures in some ways similar to micromanagement. MBE-A can be a double-edged sword within the profession of arms. There are many situations where compliance is a priority, however micromanagement can have devastating effects on morale. Finding the right balance between subordinate control and freedom is essential to your effectiveness as a leader. Leadership responsibilities involve more than just control. What about follower motivation? Up until this point, we have only addressed transactional leadership behaviors that predominantly motivate by consequence. Contingent reward is intended to motivate followers by rewarding them for meeting expectations and demonstrating desired behaviors. Contingent reward. As the third transactional component, CR depicts the most active transactional leadership behavior and is situated to the right of MBE-A. CR transactions are more like agreements where the leader establishes goals, identifies ways to reach these goals, and supports the follower in meeting these goals. The goals are usually task-oriented and followers are required to perform the assigned task, reaching a specific performance level. After a subordinate fulfills the leader's expectation, a reward is provided to reinforce the positive behavior. However, if expectations are not met, the reward is withheld, otherwise it will reinforce substandard behavior. When properly administered, CR is more effective than MBE-A because the leader is setting the follower up with a path for success. Contingent rewards may appear in various forms. Affirmations such as personal compliments, praise in front of peers, public recognition from higher levels, granting agreed upon terms like participation in special events, attending specialized schools or programs, permitting greater autonomy, or even removing unpleasant conditions like changing the duty environment to a different shift location or team. Whatever the reward, it needs to be an incentive for the follower, otherwise it will not achieve the desired outcome. To be most effective, leaders should seek out what motivates each subordinate and establish his or her contingent reward accordingly. By demonstrating more concern for the follower over concern for the task, the leader is providing encouragement and not just motivation. Exercising leadership through CR can be a building block towards strengthening the leader-follower relationship. Based on the follower situation and factors surrounding the situation, we see that any of the transactional behaviors could be an appropriate leader response. Although the components depict more concepts of management than leadership, remember, leaders still have to manage. Transactional behavior is effective when the goal is task oriented, bounded by some constraint preventing a more actively involved leadership approach, or as a part of the direction discipline and recognition, DDR, aspects of progressive professionalism. However, just as frequent laissez-faire behavior can neglect the needs of followers, if you rely solely upon transactions as your normal mode of operation, only managing and not leading, you will fail to develop your subordinates leadership capabilities. Think about the source of motivation. If a follower's environment is limited to conditioning by external motivators, rewards, and penalties, how can she or he become self-motivated? This is where transformational leadership behavior comes into the picture. Transformational leadership not only provides opportunities for subordinate development, it promotes internal motivation among 21st century airmen. Transformational behavior components. At this point, you may still be asking yourself, what does transformational really mean? Or how can I tell if my typical leadership behavior is more transactional or transformational? A key difference that sets transformational behavior apart from transactional behavior is that the leader is genuinely engaged in the follower's personal development and positively influences the follower's self-worth. Subsequently, the follower becomes genuinely committed to the cooperative effort and demonstrates commitment to the leader. Moreover, the leader-follower relationship is further enriched by moving beyond a carrot and stick environment and evolving into an environment of mutual trust and respect. Ultimately, the follower can exceed prior expectations, experience higher levels of job satisfaction, and gain increased commitment to the mission. In addition to benefiting the follower's personal development, the leader's personal development benefits as well. Thus, both are transformed. Since transformational leadership behaviors are reflected in AFI 36-2618, the enlisted force structure, you should already have experience demonstrating them. Senior NCOs are the most experienced supervisors and are expected to personify these behaviors. So how can you improve your skills with transformational leadership? Start with comparing your daily behaviors to the transformational components below. Then honestly ask yourself, is this what I'm already doing? If you're lacking in any of the component areas, prioritize a list for self-improvement opportunities, then focus on developing one area at a time until you feel more natural demonstrating the particular leadership behavior. If there's a behavior that seems too challenging or unnatural for you, try taking very small steps instead of attempting to conquer it overnight. There's an old saying, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. To see what constitutes transformational leadership behavior, let's look at four components. Idealized influence, I.I. Inspirational motivation, I.M. Intellectual stimulation, I.S., and individualized consideration, I.C. Transformational leaders help followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers' needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group, and the larger organization, BASS and RIGEO. Idealized influence, influence is a key aspect to leadership and idealized influence, I.I., means ensuring we are communicating the right kind of influence, just as authentic leadership theory advocates. As U.S. Air Force Airmen, we exhibit I.I. when we consistently represent the virtues which define our core value of integrity first. Honesty is the hallmark of integrity. It drives us to advance our skills and credentials through our own effort. The service member's word must be unquestionable. According to U.S. Air Force core values, courage is not absence of fear, but doing the right thing despite the fear. Courage empowers us to take necessary personal and professional risks, making decisions that may be unpopular and admit to our mistakes. Having the courage to take these actions is crucial for the mission. The Air Force and the nation. Accountable individuals maintain transparency, seek honest and constructive feedback, and take ownership of the outcomes of their actions and decisions. They are responsible to themselves and others and refrain from actions which discredit themselves or our service. Think about some of the other qualities attributed to senior NCOs, maintaining high personal standards, holding others accountable for maintaining Air Force standards, supporting organizational decisions in words and actions, championing trust in each other, and sacrificing personal gain for the mission and subordinates. All of these attributes as well as others contribute to the strong character of leaders who earn the respect, trust, and admiration of their followers. In turn, followers want to emulate these credible leaders because they personify the qualities that some only speak about. Therefore, when you are communicating with a subordinate, your character and credibility as a senior NCO may have a direct impact on your ability to influence effectively. You may have the best of intentions, but certain speaking habits, postures, or other characteristics can detract from your influence. Many leaders walk the talk and live their lives ensuring all required boxes are checked, yet they're unaware of how they really come across to peers and subordinates. These leaders can benefit from asking their peers and subordinates for honest feedback on how they're perceived. By valuing the feedback and making necessary adjustments, the effort will be noticed and can be a boost to one's influence. Some behaviors that favorably depict idealized influence are instilling pride in others for being associated with you, going beyond self-interest for the good of others, acting in ways that build others' respect, displaying a sense of power and confidence, and reassuring others that obstacles will be overcome. Idealized influence is the component of transformational behavior that portrays the leader as a role model. If you model the core values and set the example as an ideal senior NCO, you will exhibit I.I. to your followers. If you depict a less-than-ideal example, your I.I. will suffer accordingly. While idealized influence is where you set the example, inspirational motivation is where you raise the bar. Inspirational motivation Leaders who use inspirational motivation, I.M., behavior motivate and inspire their followers via the spoken word, although loud and positive words are not enough. The status quo is unacceptable to transformational leaders who present their vision as the must-achieve future. These visions elevate performance expectations and inspire followers to put forth extra effort in achieving the leader's vision. Followers receive a strong sense of purpose from I.M. And it's this purpose that provides energy to drive a person, team, or organization forward. Inspirational motivation Develop and articulate visions that paint an optimistic and enthusiastic picture of the future. Motivate and inspire your followers via your words and actions. Recall someone in your life that inspired you to take action. What did they do or say that evoked an emotional response giving you the initiative to get started or the perseverance to follow through until completion? That person, as an external motivator, inspired you to generate your own internal motivation. Now recall the difference in motivation between transactional and transformational leadership behaviors. Transactional is external, while transformational encourages internal motivation. Inspirational motivation can be the fuse to ignite a follower's internal motivation. An important aspect of I.M. is articulating a clear and compelling vision of the future. So what constitutes a compelling vision? Start by providing an exciting image of what is important to followers and consider values and ideals that are common with Air Force culture. Next, the vision needs to be realizable where you stretch followers out of their comfort zones but keep goals attainable. Finally, the language describing the vision must use superior imagery that touches followers' emotions and be delivered with sincerity and passion. General Mark Walsh III is a transformational leader who motivates through inspiration and articulates his visions for the future. View an example of his inspirational motivation. Another aspect of I.M. is expressing confidence that goals will be achieved. Whether it concerns the goals of your vision or other goals within the organization continue to speak optimistically about the future outcome. When times get difficult followers may have doubt even if they don't vocalize it. They need to hear words of optimism from a trusted leader so they can refocus and face the challenges ahead. Being optimistic about the outcome only addresses part of the equation. You should also speak enthusiastically about the tasks to be accomplished in the short term. To experience a different example of inspirational motivation view this AF clip on excellence. Speaking with enthusiasm doesn't always have to be gentle as Airmen we're all familiar with stern motivation. Oftentimes we get bogged down by tasks or deadlines and feel overwhelmed almost to the point of defeat. If a leader allows that to surface when speaking to subordinates he or she will send a counterproductive message negatively affecting the subordinates motivation. In order to maximize your I.M. remember to remain confident when facing adversity and be that rock of stability for your subordinates. In 1970 Gene Krantz Flight Director of the Apollo 13 mission was faced with the near impossible task of getting the spacecraft back to Earth safely after it was damaged by an onboard explosion. He led a team in a desperate struggle finding alternate methods and innovative resources to power the navigation system before crew life support systems were depleted. Despite the odds he remained steadfast while directing focusing and motivating them towards a solution. If you've seen the movie you will remember the line failure is not an option. Articulating a compelling vision for the future and motivating followers to achieve that vision is remarkable. If you are a leader who inspires others to raise the bar and invigorates them to meet and exceed those challenges then you exhibit inspirational motivation. Changing our focus slightly let's look at how leaders foster innovation through intellectual stimulation. Intellectual stimulation the need for brainstorming ideas and finding creative solutions to problems has been essential in our enlisted culture for decades. Intellectual stimulation IS is the part of transformational leadership that encourages followers to be innovative. Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac IBM was spending at least a hundred times more on R&D. It's not about the money it's about the people you have how you're led and how much you get it Steve Jobs. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower Steve Jobs. If you look at history innovation doesn't come just from giving people incentives it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect Steven Johnson. Whenever current processes need to be reviewed for efficiency and effectiveness situations arise that require a new approach or existing paradigms are no longer valid these instances should be opportunities to challenge followers and stimulate their minds encourage them to brainstorm solutions and exercise their innovation and creativity provide them support as needed but let them work through problems and gain confidence in their abilities to resolve issues at higher levels than they already are familiar with. For instance present subordinates with a decision that you would normally make it needs to be a challenge provide them with the same factors or information that you would have available after they work through it discuss the potential solutions or outcomes and provide feedback as necessary it is important to value your followers ideas and solutions just because you encourage subordinates to work through a problem doesn't mean you value their solution so don't let them feel their work was in vain carrying it forward by presenting the solution as a group or individual effort is important to the leader follower relationship if you stand by their solution it not only shows loyalty but that you value their intellect and judgment and are willing to take risks based on their input additionally internal motivation has been elevated because they're trusted and empowered to make improvements and gain increased ownership of processes creating intellectual stimulation for followers by encouraging innovation is a great way to transition their development into more expanded leadership roles it provides bridging opportunities and is most effective in group or team environment next to complete our components of transformational behavior we'll look at the most personalized behavior individualized consideration individualized consideration Air Force culture is strengthened when leaders know their followers goals ambitions concerns individualized consideration supports this aim senior NCOs are expected to serve as mentors which requires supporting each person as an individual and providing guidance that is specific to their needs we care about our people and want them to succeed but how do they know we care individualized consideration I see supports this aim when leaders treat others as individuals with different needs abilities and aspirations and not just as part of a group when the current ops tempo and constant pressure on mission focus maintaining proper consideration for supportants is vital now more than ever one of the ways we initiate I see is by taking time to visit with our people in their work environment or taking them to lunch when appropriate and opening a dialogue allowing them to speak freely in this setting you must be present in the conversation and listen effectively remember to be mindful of any nonverbals that might convey impatience or disinterest if you're genuinely interested in your subordinate then be genuinely interested in the conversation otherwise you will be doing more harm than good you must get to know your subordinates for instance being able to discuss and recall names of their family members certain off-duty activities they enjoy or the degree program in which they're enrolled are examples of showing individualized consideration acceptance of different or unique preferences to social interaction is also a critical dynamic some people openly share a lot of personal information while some prefer to hold back on providing details so you should adjust your dialogue accordingly during these informal conversations you become more in tune with your subordinates needs which leads to increased development and mentoring opportunities IC involves showing empathy and compassion as a result of such attention followers become more willing to improve helping someone to develop their leadership capabilities is not a cookie cutter approach since each person has different strengths and weaknesses each will have different areas of needing improvement by spending individual time with your subordinates you attain a greater awareness of their preferences which helps you to personalize their mentoring and development remember transformational behavior reflects genuine concern for your followers personal development and positively influences their self-worth as a role model you set the example for them with your appearance your character and your leadership therefore your example should be idealized influence through inspirational motivation you inspire them to generate internal motivation and achieve greater accomplishments by raising the bar by challenging them to be innovative and resourceful and valuing their efforts you provide intellectual stimulation lastly by taking the time to learn from your followers their needs and preferences personalizing conversations with them and generally showing that you care you provide individualized consideration if you reflect on your current leadership behaviors and see areas for improvement start working to improve your capability for transformational leadership up until this point we have covered all of the full range leadership behaviors and behavioral components now that you understand how each one is properly utilized in order to fully benefit from full range leadership let's clear up some common misunderstandings and misperceptions the developmental nature of transformational leadership is best illustrated through individualized consideration sosek and yang common misunderstandings and misperceptions of frl some people have unrealistic expectations about transformational leadership thinking to be a transformational leader I must use transformational behavior all the time for the development of your subordinates you should exercise transformational leadership when you can but understand there are many situations when transactional behavior is appropriate or necessary some think that using a less active leadership behavior is a failure on their part based on the passive versus active relationship within the frl spectrum to clarify if you become lazy as a leader and inappropriately exhibit more passive leadership behaviors then yes it is a failure to lead effectively but if you are fully engaged and properly assessing situations using a more passive frl behavior might be what you need to motivate your subordinate another misunderstanding is that these behaviors are exclusive where you can only utilize them one at a time if you did you would be restricting the potential of your leadership the beauty of frl is that you can combine behaviors to suit the dynamics of the situation as airman we know that just because you're mentoring someone does not mean that you can't discipline the person if they're out of line if a subordinate responds better to transactional feedback rather than individualized consideration then use the transactions but that does not mean you have to forego the other aspects of transformational leadership remember the intent of frl is to have a full range of leadership behaviors which can be adapted to your respective leader follower situation and the factors impacting the situation for further clarification let's address using the terms laissez-faire leader versus laissez-faire behavior and the same comparison for transactional and transformational laissez-faire leader does not mean the same as laissez-faire behavior laissez-faire leaders frequently appear disengaged from their followers and do not normally make an effort to provide guidance or support they might demonstrate transactional or even transformational behavior at times but are known for exhibiting and overusing laissez-faire behavior a majority of the time whether intentionally or unintentionally transactional leaders are known for their predominant use of transactional behavior although they may demonstrate other behaviors at times lastly transformational leaders are recognized by their use of transformational behavior yet they will demonstrate other frl behaviors as necessary this final point addresses those individuals who feel transformational leadership will not apply in their duty environment the misperception of transformational behavior being a softer approach to leadership turns some people away from employing it which is unfortunate because transformational behavior does not have to be soft to be effective transformational leadership gets followers to move out of their comfort zones to develop their full potential even though the culture within a career field may require more use of transactional leadership to maintain control measures a resourceful senior NCO can still figure out ways to incorporate transformational leadership within that subculture we cannot cover every misunderstanding within the scope of this chapter let's face it everyone will have their own perceptions reading about each behavior and behavioral component can lead to a compartmental view of frl which is restrictive the takeaway for you to understand is realizing the latitude and flexibility afforded by frl which is greater than any previous leadership theory could provide as we near the end of this chapter let's look at how proper use of frl can impact subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness fundamental to the frl model is that every leader displays each behavior to some amount bass and rigio impact on effectiveness you now have a better understanding of full-range leadership so what's most likely to happen if you use these concepts to align your leadership behaviors why should you use them how have leaders around you applied them as you read the following think about how you can enhance your overall effectiveness by employing full-range leadership subordinate effectiveness remember that transactional leadership can be beneficial when a goal is task-oriented or as part of the direction, discipline, and recognition DDR aspects of progressive professionalism if you're setting ground rules with your subordinates it may be helpful to rely on some MBE-A or CR behaviors to establish a foundation by providing increased clarity, structure, and motivation you are helping your subordinates to become more effective in what they do as the rapport increases and the leader-follower relationship evolves you will incorporate more transformational behaviors to develop the subordinate's leadership capabilities and enhance their internal motivation making them even more effective the primary emphasis of transformational leadership is on subordinate effectiveness although it does benefit the leader to an extent it's more about guiding the follower to a higher level of greatness idealized influence and individual consideration provide the increased connection between you and your subordinates while intellectual stimulation challenges them and inspirational motivation lights the fire through your mentorship followers can exceed their own expectations and generate results beyond their previous capabilities FRL is not just about your subordinate's effectiveness consider your effectiveness as a leader as well senior NCO effectiveness according to AFI 36-2618 the enlisted force structure paragraph 5.1.1 senior NCOs are mandated to provide highly effective leadership they must lead and manage teams while maintaining the highest level of readiness to ensure mission success in addition according to AFI 36-2647 institutional competency development and management leading people is an AFI institutional competency with two sub competencies develops and inspires others facilitates others and guides them in establishing their long-term career goals based on their desires and the needs of the AFI through a combined approach of feedback coaching mentoring and delegating takes care of people evaluates options and selects appropriate actions solutions and resources when confronted with a personal problem or situation emotional physical spiritual and social these competencies are fairly straightforward so when measuring yourself against them you're either meeting the intent or not meeting the intent but to what extent without a more expanded description it's difficult to gauge the degree of your effectiveness the components of FRL provides you with a greater scale like a measuring stick to help you in determining your effectiveness as a leader after seeing where your typical behaviors line up on the FRL spectrum if you have room for improvement you can assess where you would like to be and determine your progress along the way that in itself is a tool which can help you improve your effectiveness as a leader if you find yourself frequently overusing or inappropriately using the less active and effective behaviors you will most likely compromise or limit your effectiveness as a senior NCO on the other hand you may think you're using the more active and effective behaviors correctly but a lack of self-awareness could limit your effectiveness as well remember there's more to FRL than just applying the behaviors using it as a self-assessment tool can positively impact your effectiveness as a senior NCO becoming more effective at leading and managing others is definitely important for your continuous self-development and self-improvement the synergy created by you and your subordinates influences others elevating the overall mission effectiveness summary full-range leadership is a beneficial resource like a toolbox of leadership behaviors to utilize at your discretion for maximum effectiveness you need to figure out what works best for you how and when to use each tool properly likewise these tools can be used separately or in conjunction with each other as driven by circumstances FRL behaviors are not new to a US Air Force senior NCO these should already be familiar to you FRL organizes these behaviors in a way that provides more clarity to their intent and purpose it's up to you the leader to decide how you will motivate inspire and lead your followers remember FRL requires leaders to consider all components of the leadership system when determining appropriate leadership behavior not just the core elements leader, follower and situation but take the factors personalities, skills, styles opportunities, challenges, rewards and consequences and the constraints resources and time into consideration as well this involves getting to know your peers and subordinates staying current on changing dynamics within the organization and duty environments along with identifying areas of improvement for yourself and your subordinates recapping this chapter we began with a refresher on certain theories that attempted to capture the essence of leadership and ways to approach leadership situations next you learned that FRL which grew from the earlier theories aligns leadership behaviors into spectrum with three fundamental categories laissez faire, transactional and transformational laissez faire is the most passive leadership behavior which is basically an absence of leadership transactional behavior comprised of MBE-P, MBE-A and CR uses external motivation in the form of rewards and consequences to influence follower behavior transformational behavior comprised of II, IM, IS and IC is intended to cultivate a follower's personal development and stimulate his or her internal motivation this was followed by a brief synopsis of some misunderstandings and misperceptions that people have about FRL finally we brought it all together by looking at the impact FRL can have on subordinate and senior NCO effectiveness you already have experience as a leader FRL provides you with ways to concentrate your leadership behaviors where there will be most effective make them count key terms contingent reward page 9 idealized influence page 11 individualized consideration page 13 inspirational motivation page 11 intellectual stimulation page 13 laissez faire page 5 management by exception active page 8 management by exception passive page 8 transactional page 6 transformational page 6