Transformational leaders - as Shakespeare has shown in his play, The Tempest - devote their energies towards moral ends and to ignite the followers' sense of higher purpose to achieve organizational goals on a sustainable basis.

With increasing realization about the importance of human resources in the long-term success of organizations, the need of leadership that is strong and deep in terms of both philosophical underpinnings and business-related skills, is being felt more intensely than in the past. This new demand on leadership has become critical in the context of today's businesses being pulled in opposite directions by two contradictory forces, namely - "interdependence and diversity" (Lipman-Blumen, 1996). This paradigm shift in business dynamics, call for leaders who can act with enhanced inclusion and engagement of others, flexibility, responsiveness, openness, ethicality, and proactivity. Over and above that, today's leaders are expected to display high standard of behavior - they are simply held by the followers as role models for, and living images of, the values that society and organizations hold high. Now, the question is: How do businesses cultivate such leadership, which, in the management jargon is known as `transformational leadership'?

According to Burns (1978), transformational leadership is more a moral exercise in that it aims at raising the standard of human conduct. It makes a direct appeal to the followers' values. Transformational leaders are more prone to operate from a well-developed moral plane than their followers, and it is from such an exalted platform that they make an appeal to their followers' `end values' - ideals that encompass justice, liberty, freedom, equality and brotherhood. Transformational leadership is common and as well as uncommon. Common in the sense, it can be felt at any level of the society - teachers, coaches, religious leaders, political leaders etc., are often found displaying it while dealing with the affairs of their respective `wards'. Similarly, transformational leaders can be seen at any level of an organization - lower, middle or top management. Any person, who attempts to articulate a compelling vision for society or organization and marries it to followers' values and works in improving the followers' understanding and belief in the articulated values and thereby improve their moral standards and through it cause the desired change happen in the society or organization, can become a transformational leader.

Transformational Leadership, Shakespeare's Prescription, Human Resources, Political Leaders, Rhetorical Skills, Political Lleaders, Communication Skills, Business-Related Skills, Interdependence and Diversity, Management Researchers, Emotionalized Relationships, Globalized Economy.