ABSTRACT

Today, organizational leaders are required to move the business forward and do it with minimal impact on the team while gaining maximum returns. This paper will take a comprehensive look at two of the most often-seen leadership styles in business today; transactional and transformational.

Four questions are examined in this paper, the first of which is the definition of each leadership style. When working through this definition, it was necessary to point out where each style would be best suited in an organization today. Second, what role would charisma play in becoming a strong leader and is this trait better suited for one style over the other? Third, what are the traits exhibited by each type of leader and are these inherent or can they be studied and learned? Finally, what impact does each leadership style have on the team?

Through careful research, these two styles, on the surface, may appear at odds with each other but end up needing help from each other to make a strong leader that the organization will want to follow.