The leadership enigma: toward a model of organizational optimism

Abstract

Abstract While many, with good reason, have come to view the demoralizing side of modern public bureaucracies with skepticism, many have gone so far as to use these as a basis for developing cynical conceptions of organizational behavior. This article takes exception to such extreme views. Here, using the role of the organizational leader as a focal point, a more optismistic perspective is identified. From this perspective, the authors apprehend significant differences in the performance of public organizations. The authors make their case for the efficacy of this, which they call the transformational leadership perspective, and explain how, much more so than sceptical perspectives, transformational leadership prepares public organizations for the challenges they must face in the upcoming millenium.