Lebanese cherishing a transformational educational leader

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find out if the characteristics, traits and leadership style of an effective university leader in Lebanon match those of a transformational one. Moreover, it is intended to shed light on the possible transferability of the transformational leadership’s success to the Middle-Eastern society where norms and values differ significantly from the North-American context where research extensively supported its positive effect.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with eight faculty and two staff members chosen based on the purposiveness sampling technique. The researcher tape-recorded the interviews, then transcribed and coded the data before analyzing it.

Findings

Results revealed that the director demonstrated to a great extent all the characteristics that define a transformational leader, except when it comes to nepotism and to the lower level employees who are not usually invited to share in the decision-making process. He was able to successfully challenge the process, inspire and motivate all the campus’s employees. However, in order to generalize and conclude that the whole Lebanese higher educational setting encompasses and cherishes the transformational leadership style, additional research is to be undertaken.

Originality/value

Although Lebanon has long been a pioneer in the education field in the Middle-East, however, not enough studies are found on the various leadership styles exhibited by Lebanese university leaders, and here lies this research’s value.

Citation

Mattar, D.M. (2016), "Lebanese cherishing a transformational educational leader", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 1045-1071. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-06-2015-0085