Theories of Effective Leadership between the traditional face of management and modernism.
When Am I a Transformational Leader?
And When Am I an Attitude-Style Leader?
Educational institutions are one of the most important social institutions that contribute with others to the preparation of the human being, and help him grow in all aspects of his physical, mental, psychological, and social personality, according to his ability, preparations, and trends.
The management of these educational institutions by an effective leader or a traditional manager includes carrying out a number of tasks and responsibilities such as daily follow-up, planning, continuous evaluation, follow-up of developments that keep pace with the times in the field of education, and follow-up of teachers, especially new ones.
In view of the importance of the management of educational institutions, and its role in developing the educational process, and achieving its goals, so the tasks and responsibilities of the technical and social administration have varied, as the educational administration in essence is a leadership process in the first place, and the ability to influence other people and motivate them to achieve the goals and priorities of the educational institution and the constant pursuit of its development, effective leadership is based on joint cooperation, which in turn contributes to pushing the educational institution forward, taking into account that the current era is the era of the information revolution and communication technology. It therefore requires relationship engineering as well as process engineering.
This poses a major challenge to develop educational leadership within a modern intellectual framework, taking into account the leadership’s ability to learn, develop and reformulate in line with the requirements of the times and its technical developments, based on the fact that leadership is an industry process that can be reinvented and rethought, enabling it to manage future institutions efficiently and effectively.
_ Relying on one and typical style of leadership has become inappropriate and ineffective in responding to the various variables and factors that affect the nature of the leadership position, which calls for the adoption of theories of new models in leadership that are formed and crystallized according to the nature of the factors affecting the leadership position in terms of the characteristics of leaders and subordinates and the interactions between them.
_ In this regard, the theories of situational leadership and transformational leadership have emerged as theories that highlight the various leadership styles that leaders need to modify their leadership practices to suit the needs of subordinates and the nature of the situation. Situational leadership as proposed by “Hershey” and “Blanchard” indicates that there is no one appropriate style of leadership commensurate with any situation or circumstance, it focuses mainly on that leaders must modify strategies and tactics as attitudes change and modify their style of leadership in line with the level of maturity of followers in accomplishing the required organizational tasks or goals, and some researchers refer to situational leadership as the dynamic design of leadership because it emphasizes the combination of social authority and responsibility of leaders, Their application also provides the opportunity for the organization to adapt to the needs of employees depending on the degree of need for the guidance and support processes necessary to complete a particular task.
This theory allows leadership to align its practices to the needs of employees.
Situational leadership style can be defined as: “It proposes a classification consisting of four main leadership styles ranging from orientation to delegation, and includes a framework for adapting each style to specific situations, and can be defined as a leadership approach based on the appropriateness or effectiveness of leadership styles according to the level of maturity.
Thus, situational leadership theory is not about a particular type of leader or claims that one style of leadership is best. Instead, situational theory asserts that the best type of leader is someone who can adapt their style based on the situation. Leaders may respond to a situation by commanding, training, persuading, sharing, delegating, or however they think is necessary. Leaders are defined by their flexibility.
Perhaps the emergence of the recent transformational during the eighties of the twentieth century, represents a response to the requirements of the academic community, calling for effectiveness in the performance of organizations, and occupies importance in reforming educational institutions with poor achievement and developing performance in them, so this style of leadership emerged to adopt the idea of commitment and to create enthusiasm and motivation among employees in the educational institution for change, and to instill hope for them in the future, and belief in the possibility of planning for matters related to their growth. Professional and management The collaborative work that transformational leadership seeks to disseminate to those involved in the process enables them to master their work and foresee their future, and cultivates in them a sense of hope, optimism and energy to work.
Transformational leadership is one of the contemporary approaches that touched on the leadership process, and it is a holistic approach that can be used to describe a wide range of leadership, and from accurate attempts to influence subordinates at the individual level to broader attempts, to influence all organizations and entire cultures, and transformational leadership is the process that changes and transforms individuals, and focuses on values, ethics, standards and long-term goals, and transformational leadership includes evaluating the motivations of individuals, satisfying their needs and treating them humanely, and so my understanding Fall within the leadership of charismatic character and vision for the future. The transformational theory of leadership, also called “relationship theory,” asserts that effective leadership is the result of a positive relationship between leaders and team members. Transformational leaders motivate and inspire through their enthusiasm and passion. They are role models for their employees, with a focus on a collaborative work environment, effective communication skills, and effective delegation.
It is considered one of the most prominent theories of modern leadership, as it appeared in the eighth decade of the twentieth century, this term appeared for the first time, by the scientist Burns, the founder of this type of leadership, and stressed in it the urgent global desire in the current era, which is the strong need for leadership that calls for change and renewal, which in turn defined it as: “Leaders urged followers to act in certain ways, to achieve certain goals, which seek to achieve the values, motives, desires, needs, aspirations and expectations of each of the leaders and followers.”
Bass Waffolio then developed the idea of transformational leadership in 1985, introducing a systematic theory of transformational leadership, and modeling and measuring factors of leadership behavior.
Transformational leaders are usually moved by their ability to demonstrate the importance of the task and the higher good involved in performing the task to their employees. These leaders not only focus on team performance, but also give each team member the boost needed to reach their full potential.
From the above, we can mention the definition of Shawabkeh, Shalabi and Al-Khawaldeh, 2018, p. 148) as: “that leadership style in which the leader motivates his subordinates to accomplish what is required of them, by raising challenges in front of them / convincing them of the importance of their work, after developing their abilities, improving their skills, and motivating them as required, to build loyalty to the organization in which they work, which helps to maintain their survival and continuity in their work.”
_In light of educational institutions, how do we apply transformational management?
By developing long-term plans, working to excite and motivate teachers, and dealing with them within moral values, so that it becomes the most important goal of their goals, seeking to develop the school, and reach better achievements.
From the previous presentation, we conclude that transformational leadership depends on motivating the intrinsic motives of subordinates, and requires the leader to have knowledge and experience in establishing communication units with subordinates, and is based on his creative thinking and inspiring vision for the future, and the great importance of transformational leadership as it enhances the moral authority, which it exercises over individuals, which represents the frame of reference for transactional leadership, through which the authority of the traditional leader is strengthened by another authority, which is the authority derived from the ethics exercised by the transformational leader, which is also derived from good example And fixed principles, such as justice, integrity, wisdom and honesty, and thus the development of an ethical climate in the workplace.
That is, transformational leadership is concerned with ensuring that the workplace is free from chaos and conflict between workers,
It also includes enhancing motivation among employees, as well as raising the confidence of employees in the institution and making them feel loyalty and belonging to it, and sends them the necessary motivation to achieve outstanding performance, as it is based on cooperation, giving and participation among all members within the institution, and making them set a common goal with the goals of the institution, and it also works to find a united and adventurous leader who always seeks to renew and develop for the better, he is a leader who delegates authority to his team, and shares leadership with others by delegating authority to a team Integrated work.
A transformational leader is a leader with an influential charisma, who seeks to transform his subordinates and management, or his organization from a situation to a better one, and depends on a combination of his personal attractiveness and his ability to inspire and provoke others intellectually and emotionally, whom subordinates love for his person before they accept his message or future vision.
The transformational leader is also characterized at the personal and social levels by high skills, with the aim of activating and enhancing his self-alertness, which will motivate subordinates to work collectively, to achieve the goal.
As the conclusion of the conversation, transformational management is a complete transformation and transfer of the institution from one reality to another, with qualitative and great leaps, according to a real need, including change in culture.
Thus, we find that the leadership style has its effectiveness and great impact when managing educational institutions and its great role in the development of educational institutions, in light of the developments taking place, it has become very necessary to need effective leaders, and to create new models and theories capable of keeping pace with changes in a way that differs from the traditional style of managers in the usual stereotypical and bureaucratic manner.
