The Role of Transformational Leadership in Boeing

Boeing is an American multinational business that specializes in designing, making, and selling of airplanes, rotorcrafts, missiles, and rockets globally. The business is well-known for the production of a unique class of aircraft and their spare parts. Some of the market-dominant brands include the Boeing 787, Boeing 777, and the Boeing 787-8 models. Boeing’s products range from commercial jetliners to military and weaponry aerospace devices. Evidently, the company is able to launch new models of its branded products owing to technological advancements, which have enabled the progression and improvement of the functional systems within the organization. As the Boeing business model relies heavily on the effectiveness of innovation, the management prioritizes the employment of an integrated inclusive transformational and transactional leadership styles to empower the people and make way for continuous learning to spearhead novelty in the business.

At Boeing, the leaders have the audacity to communicate and initiate strategies in light of the need to enable positive change and growth. In this perspective, managers are entitled to sharing in the knowledge and information that could help empower the workforce toward goal attainment. For instance, Boeing managers work with relatively smaller groups of followers who are guided accordingly through the corporation’s employee training and inclusion programs. In addition, the company operates the Boeing Leadership Center, which aims to emancipate upcoming leaders from the ignorance of core leadership attributes that are advocated for at Boeing (Lawrence & Thornton, 2017). Further, Boeing leaders are dedicated to effectively engaging the workforce through workshops and seminars to build the desired competencies through skill development and knowledge acquisition.

Boeing leaders are not only mandated to leading strategic implementation but also to actively participate in problem-solving and strategy execution. From this approach Boeing aims to enable feedback generation and acceptance to inform improvements and advancements at all functional levels of the business. Similarly, sectorial leaders in Boeing tend to establish a long-term rapport with their followers so that to build trust, which is necessary for flagging off positive change based on reception of the followers. This is based on the source credibility theory whereby information relayed to a large group of people can only be accepted if those who convey the message are perceived as influential and trustworthy (Ayeh, 2015).

The transformational leadership approach befits Boeing’s business model. If inclusive and effective, transformational leadership styles could revolutionize the performance of the Boeing business owing to improved productivity and performance of the workforce. Technically, Boeing’s transformational leadership style focuses on articulating the skills and knowledge of the workforce in light of the need for innovation for Boeing to remain competitive amid the fast-changing aerospace manufacturing industry. Therefore, it is recommended for Boeing to extend the application of inclusive transformational leadership styles to address the incentives and workplace requirements of the workers as well as the needs of the target customers and other stakeholders that facilitate Boeing. Employee motivation and marketing research are some of the expected resultant measures of the leadership reinforcement technique to leverage and accommodate the needs of the entire business influencing fraternity. Furthermore, a more inclusive transformational leadership approach is imperative to enabling flexibility to change in response to the dynamics of the aerospace markets globally.

Transformational leadership in Boeing is responsible for the people’s inclusion and development toward the attainment of personal and corporate goals. It is an inclusive approach whereby leaders are not only entitled to providing oversight but also engage in the real problem-solving process while guiding others to effectively execute strategic goals and objectives through practice. These leadership styles enable managers at Boeing to interact with the workers in a bid to develop a sense commonality toward corporate goal attainment. For instance, research grants and scholarships are used to promote continuous learning in the workforce. This strategy has enabled Boeing to deal with drift effects when it comes to technology adoption and innovation. As a result, Boeing is among the pioneers of current technology, especially in the aerospace crafting industry. Other than employee training, Boeing also focuses on assessment and productivity improvement at the corporate level to inform developments and advancements within the product designing sector (Lawrence & Thornton, 2017). Transformational leaders at Boeing are dedicated to building capacities among the workforce to build stronger teams that can comfortably uphold the core values. For example, the leader development center provides a wide spectrum of managerial knowledge and skills that are aligned with the leadership attributes, which are set to benchmark Boeing’s leadership performance.

On the other hand, transactional leadership styles are employed in Boeing to ensure organization, effective oversight, and performance. In this perspective, transactional leaders are in Boeing to supervise the production and other operations whilst monitoring the performance of the adopted strategies. Boeing benefits from transactional leadership, especially when it comes to matters legal compliance, strategic conformity, and organizational culture. As much as the corporate organizational culture is built on the transformational leadership effect whereby teams are created and required to function according to shared values, it is critical to acknowledge the role of transitional leadership toward ensuring the behavioral conduct of the workforce is in check and in favor of the desired brand reputation. Therefore, transformational and transactional leadership techniques can be smartly integrated to drive the success of Boeing. Notably, it calls for accurate research and effective planning to discern the appropriate leadership styles and activities that befit a business based on the model. For instance, Boeing uses a set of corporate policies and a well-defined code of ethics to check the credibility of the business dealings acceptable for the Boeing brand.

In another example, Boeing’s Learning Together program paves the way for skill nurturing and knowledge empowerment. The program is designed to ensure the Boeing workforce is accessed to the relevant learning materials and opportunities so that individuals can pursue their career goals via continued learning regardless of the position they hold in Boeing. Technically, even those who are entrusted with teaching upcoming leaders and members of the workforce are encouraged to expand their knowledge for the betterment of the competencies and workplace productivity. Further, the role of attention in learning environments is addressed at Boeing such that the corporate acknowledges the effectiveness of teaching and dealing with a relatively smaller group of followers. According to Lawrence and Thornton (2017), aeronautical engineering, information & communications technology, and general business knowledge are taught and expanded at Boeing to pave the way for consistent improvement in the product deliverables.

As a result, Boeing operates under the corporate motto, which states that “we never stop learning.” In lieu of outsourcing and recruitment, Boeing promotes its senior managers from the workforce. This leadership technique paves the way for the sustainability of the business as employee motivation and job enrichment practices lead to employee satisfaction. Eventually, Boeing is capable of registering a relatively lower employee turnover rate compared to the other production businesses that have not prioritized continuous learning. Further, employee retention puts Boeing in a good position to spearhead business growth through product diversification and improvement as well as productivity increase. The high retention rate also ensures Boeing maintains the reputable talents, which enable a continuous success culture.

Despite the constraints and dynamics of the aircraft manufacturing industry, Boeing is able to deal with competition and develop resiliency when it comes to addressing technology adoption and innovation issues that jeopardize corporate goal attainment. For example, Boeing C-17 Globemaster program could have been canceled in the 1990’s; was it not for the company’s innovative culture. In its entirety, the Boeing business is founded on the culture of innovating to operate on a unique level from the industrial rivals. However, innovation for the Boeing is brought about by excellent leadership which focuses on connecting the people to their futures. As a result, Boeing’s innovation strategy relies on more than just creating new ideas. Rather, Boeing is envisioned as a top-selling aircraft manufacturer that focuses on the betterment of systems that support human life in general. Bowman claims that Boeing Defense, Global Mobility Systems, Security, and Space represent Boeing’s ‘servant-hood model’ of leadership (Carroll, 2016). They allow the company to focus on addressing the needs of the employees whilst improving the productivity and general performance of the Boeing in its entirety.

Besides, Boeing’s decision-making crew practices transactional leadership whereby strategic management techniques are employed to evaluate, plan, and formulate feasible strategies that guarantee goal attainment if well implemented. An effective communication plan is used to inform the lower-level managers and workers about the strategic decisions that are laid down for Boeing. Similarly, feedback is communicated via the same hierarchical route to reach to top-management for informing sound decisions. Punishments, penalties, and fines, which are associated with non-compliance to internal and external rules, are enforced at Boeing to supervise strategic implementation practices. Therefore, the management is capable of keeping track of the progressive performance of the business while playing a critical part in enhancing improvements according to the dynamics of the market.

According to the laid down strategies, to be a successful leader at Boeing, it is necessary to possess the right qualities of a leader alongside the corporate leadership attributes that are taught at the Boeing Leadership Center. In Boeing, excellent leaders must be ready to learn and accept feedback. This is a core trait as the company is generally dedicated to continuous learning to bring about innovation and effective technology adoption. Therefore, it is prudent for leaders to start by showing a good example to inspire others. According to transformational leadership principles, exemplary approaches are necessary for luring the followers into adopting a certain mannerism of approaching issues (Sabat, 2015). The followers literally imitate what leaders do through mentorship. Through the interaction with others is possible to identify good learners from the way they receive information regarding change and flexibility. Also, to learn effectively, one must be ready to accept feedback and make the appropriate improvements.

In addition, eligible leaders at Boeing must uphold integrity, transparency, and honesty. This is based on the premise that to relay acceptable and believable information, an excellent leader must be trustworthy. Amid inclusive and engaging programs used by transformational leaders to empower and educate the people leaders are expected to develop a rapport with their followers (Breevaart et al., 2014). Without these core valued (integrity, transparency, and honesty) it is difficult to manage a group of people who are expected to rely on the credibility of the leaders to validate information (Ayeh, 2015). This is according to technology acceptance and source credibility theories (Ayeh, 2015). In addition, the aircraft making business requires proper business dealings to sustain the desired brand name since the cost of quality is relatively higher than other consumer commodities whenever compromised. Therefore, it is imperative for Boeing leaders to have the capacity to deliver results.

A good leader for the Boeing Company must be selfless and lives the Boeing values to pave the way for others’ development in an attempt to foster a sense of commonality toward goal attainment. According to Boeing’s Chief Executive, Bowman, the C-17 program was successful due to the shift from the conventional leadership styles whereby positional leaders had to abandon the control-and-command managerial approach (Carroll, 2016). In this case, a good leader is expected to prioritize the needs and requirements of others before self. Further, the Boeing leadership development center program is mainly aimed to identify and adopt a set of shared values whereby the needs and interests of the others have to come first for a leader to successfully complete a corporate-based project. Teamwork is rooted in selflessness to allow individuals to think critically and care about the welfare of their colleagues.

Therefore, Boeing’s transformational leadership techniques enhance performance improvement and sustainability of the business through continuous learning and innovation (Breevaart et al., 2014). Further, an innovation culture is responsible for Boeing’s capacity to deal with business constraints such as harsh competition and market uncertainties. Mentorship programs are also extensively used at Boeing to mold new leaders who will take up the managerial responsibilities in the future. For instance, the Leader Teaching Leader (LTL) program enhances integrative mentorship between senior and aspiring leaders. These leadership practices echo Boeing’s vision and mission of enabling people to work together in a world-class entity for aerospace industrial leadership (Sabat, 2015). The leadership framework adopted at Boeing allows for the interactive working between leaders and the workforce to attain the prior set goals and standards.

As an aspiring leader for the Boeing Company, my change strategy would be to further diversify operations to meet the cross-cultural needs of the global business. This strategic recommendation is aligned with the envisioned goals of Boeing within the aerospace manufacturing industry. Further, the strategic recommendation befits Boeing’s need for a well-defined globalization strategy in the future owing to the perceived expansions.

In a nutshell, Boeing has managed to remain a top-selling aerospace maker around the globe due to the adoption of transformational and transactional leadership styles to empower the people and use the right oversight techniques that guarantee strategic improvements and goal attainment (Breevaart et al., 2014). The corporate leadership framework paves the way for focusing on the welfare and development needs of the human and personnel resources. Further, Boeing’s leadership has enabled continuous learning and effective innovation, which has revolutionized the product designing, marketing, sales, and customer research (Breevaart et al., 2014). As a result, Boeing’s innovative culture enables timely technology adoption and system advancements to meet the changing needs of the markets. However, Boeing should address effective leadership and quality improvement at a global level through proper diversification strategies.

References

Ayeh, J. K. (2015). Travelers’ acceptance of consumer-generated media: An integrated model of technology acceptance and source credibility theories. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 173-180.

Breevaart, K., Bakker, A., Hetland, J., Demerouti, E., Olsen, O. K., & Espevik, R. (2014). Daily transactional and transformational leadership and daily employee engagement. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 87(1), 138-157.

Carroll, E. R. (2016). Systems Engineering Cultural Transformation (No. SAND2016-10827C). Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States).

Lawrence, P. K., & Thornton, D. W. (2017). Deep stall: the turbulent story of Boeing commercial airplanes. Abingdon-On-Thames: Routledge.

Sabat, K. C. (2015). Boeing’s global supply chain for 787 Dreamliner: A sustainable competitive advantage or lack of oversight? FIIB Business Review, 4(1), 32-40. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1970563362?accountid=776