Transactional leadership is a term used to classify a formally known group leadership theories that inquire the interactions between leaders and followers. A transactional leader focuses more on a series of “transactions”. This person is interested in looking out for oneself, having exchange benefits with their subordinates and clarify a sense of duty with rewards and punishments to reach goals.
Three types of leaders:
- Charismatic leaders – brave risk takers.
- Transactional leaders – more common than other leaders.
- Transformational leaders – conform to network and coworkers in the best fashion in order to benefit the organization while still sharing ideas.
Transactional leaders believe that people are motivated by reward or punishment. These leaders give clear instructions to followers about what their expectations are and when those expectations are fulfilled there are rewards in store for them and failure is severely punished. They allocate work to subordinates whether resources are there or absent.