A Paradigmatic Frame in the Definition of Leadership: “Transformational Leadership”

Abstract

In our age, individuals who can establish effective communication with their social environment, who can think critically, who are skillful in problem-solving, who bear responsibility, who can find access to actual or critical information, who can think and produce, and who are open to change and development are sought for. It is thought that humanity has started to understand or become aware of change for the first time by Heraclitus’s saying “Everything is in constant transformation and flux and nothing remains unchanged.” There is no doubt that this process which is called as change or transformation has influenced the cultures of all of the social systems regarding life, ongoing rapid change, and transformation in technology and the knowledge accumulation together with rapid development and communication. Hence the leadership phenomenon was brought to the agenda in this transformation process. After it became apparent that the conservative leadership concept was not sufficient in explaining the leadership understanding, it became necessary to restructure its understanding. Thus, it is asserted that this restructuring need brought forward the transformational leadership concept. In this process of change which has been continuing in an uninterrupted manner, transformational leadership is accepted as the best solution for overcoming the challenges that are encountered in all of the sectors. By starting from scientific or empirical facts which defined leadership as a set of acquired characteristics and also from the principle of power and inevitability of change, the school administrators are required to internalize the behaviors of transformational leadership by following up the change and transformation in education. The objective in this study is to analyze the theoretical and applied scientific aspects of transformational leadership concept. In line with this objective, the related literature and the other related research findings shall be utilized in order to reach to a conclusion in this paper.