The theory of transformational leadership and adaptive leadership will be discussed in relation to IT governance. De Haes, Van Grembergen, and Debreceny (2013) have been formulating the main ideas of IT governance for only about 20 years, but the amount of literature is abundant and still provides a prolific amount of current documentation. Both transformational leadership and adaptive leadership represent appropriate and critical leadership styles for organizations that strive to keep pace with continued technological advancements and are focused on rapidly adopting new business concepts and improving process (Xenikou and Simosi, 2006). The specific benefits and problems associated with each leadership style include organizational opportunities and challenges. The timing of each leadership style when applied requires timing and cooperation. Yet they both have similar operational goals: improving IT governance processes by utilizing the innate strengths of each leadership style for the betterment of the organization. Knowing the strengths of each leadership style facilitates implementation, mastering the pitfalls of each leadership style improves metacognitive understanding of the risks and weaknesses involved in the process. Transformational Leadership and IT Governance Hawkins (2009) states that transformational leaders support the efforts of all employees toward the mission. , advance the lines of communication within the organization and share all threats, from competition to organizational waste, to define the problems in addition to the need to reorganize for the future success and survival of the organization. Transformational leadership styles are essential to advancing IT governance through success...... middle of paper ......9-640. doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1486-0Sur, V. and Prasad, V. M. (2011). Relationship between self-awareness and transformational leadership: A study in the IT industry. IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 7-17. Williamson, S. (2014). Developed a governance framework for the global support organization at GlaxoSmithKline, using COBIT. COBITFocus, 120-23. Yukl, G. and Mahsud, R. (2010). Why flexible and adaptive leadership is essential. Journal of Counseling Psychology: Practice and Research, 62(2), 81-93. doi:10.1037/a0019835 Yukl, G. (1999). An assessment of the conceptual weaknesses of transformational and charismatic leadership theories. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 285-305. Xenikou, A. and Simosi, M. (2006). Organizational culture and transformational leadership as predictors of business unit performance. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(6), 566-579.