The classic definition comes from the father of leadership theory, James MacGregor Burns’ 1978 book: Leadership, where Burns distinguishes between transactional leadership and transformational leadership. Transactional leadership is concerned with tit-for-tat whereas, transformational leadership is considered intellectual: where being an intellectual is being “a person concerned critically with values, purposes, ends that transcend immediate practical needs”. Furthermore to be engaged in transforming leadership one goes beyond the transactional mindset; beyond the skill set of dealing solely with “analytical ideas and data alone”, which makes that person a theorist; beyond being a moralist who works “only with normative ideas”; to being a “person who deals with both and unties them through disciplined imagination [and is thus] an intellectual” (p. 141).
We now begin to see the connection of the values we hold in our mind’s eye with whether leadership is a static or dynamic model.
Some Definitions:
Values: The principles, ideas, beliefs and coherent ways of behaving that bring meaning to our lives.
R. Daniel Israel, 1995
Leadership: Leadership is an influence relationship between collaborators who intend real changes that reflect mutual purposes.
Joseph C. Rost, 1989
