Transformational Leadership in the Era of Change

The U.S. Army is currently in the midst of unprecedented transformation. Weapons, vehicles, technology, and most important, people, are the focus of the Army's future change. Understanding the relationship between people (soldiers) and change is a definite leadership challenge. By combining emerging technologies with people and change, future leadership challenges increase immeasurably. Transformational leadership is about leading an organization through change. In its purest form, it is the ability to guide and direct those within a given organization, focusing on one clear, directed vision through the application of the components of transformational leadership. As the U. S. Army continues to change and progress through the twenty-first century, we will without doubt need transformational leaders to spearhead this change, leaders that can effectively guide and direct their subordinates through this transformation, and to serve as "agents of change." The purpose of this monograph is to determine the applicability of transformational leadership within the U. S. Army through an analysis and comparison of transformational leadership styles and techniques based upon selected evaluation criteria. Moreover, the base question to be answered is should transformational leadership be adopted at all leadership levels within the Army, or at specific levels only? The case studies are an analysis and historic significance of transformational leadership, centering on two renowned transformational leaders of our Army, General George C. Marshall, and General William E. DePuy. Both of these leaders possessed exceptional transformational leadership ability through periods of true change and transformation within the U. S. Army. Furthermore, the case studies apply the principles of transformational leadership to these leaders'; abilities, decision-making, and overall leadership proficiency through periods U. S. Army transformation. Finally, this chapter illustrates how the skills an