The Transformational Leader

This chapter provides the reader with background and discussion regarding the transformational leadership model developed by James MacGregor Burns in 1978. The theory was further refined by Bernard Bass through the 1980s and 1990s and has become a hallmark for leaders who wish to embrace change and improve their organization's performance. Collaboration, empathy, trust, and a genuine concern for all employees or followers in the organization are vital to the success of the transformational leader. A comparison of the theory of instructional leadership to transformational leadership provides the reader with an understanding of the differences between these leadership models. Discussion shifts to focus on how trauma negatively affects employees and organizations and how the elements and practices of transformational leadership can work to bring healing and wholeness to school communities and weather the potentially negative effects that change has on a learning community.