Organizational Behaviour Studies Quarterly

Organizational Behaviour Studies Quarterly

Designing a Multi-Level Model of Transformational Leadership Competencies: A Thematic Analysis of the Lived Experience of Rear Admiral Sayyari's Colleagues

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Nasser Asgari
Prof., Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, Shahid Sattari Aeronautical University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/obs.2026.2080557.3653
Abstract
In today's complex, dynamic, and technology-driven environments, transformational leadership serves as a key driver for the success, sustainable productivity, and continuous excellence of leading organizations. Effectively fulfilling the roles and functions of this type of leadership requires possessing specific competencies. Identifying these competencies is essential for developing such leaders. Accordingly, this research aims to identify and classify the leadership competencies of Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as a prominent transformational leader during his command of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Navy. This study is applied, interpretive, and inductive, conducted using a qualitative approach. Participants consisted of experts who had direct, sustained, and long-term professional interactions with him during his command. Sampling was purposeful and judgmental, aiming for diversity in composition, and data collection continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. To assess the reliability of the findings, an intra-subject agreement method involving two coders was employed. To ensure the accuracy of the categorizations, feedback from experts was sought and necessary modifications were applied. The findings revealed that the model representing Rear Admiral Sayyari's transformational leadership competencies comprises 10 overarching themes, classified into five hierarchical layers. Lower layers have an intrinsic and foundational nature, while higher layers manifest more tangible, external, and behavioral expressions and are influenced by the competencies in the subordinate lower layers. The competency layers are: Belief-based (Spirituality-Oriented) and Ethical Competencies, Individual (Excellence) and Personality Competencies, Emotional (Emotional Intelligence) and Social (Communicative) Competencies, Knowledge-based and Perspective (Cognitive) Competencies, and Executive and Transformational Competencies. Effectively fulfilling the roles and functions of transformational leadership requires managers to possess diverse and numerous competencies that also align with the organizational and socio-cultural context of the target society. The present study has identified and conceptualized a relatively comprehensive set of competencies of the prominent transformational leader within the domain of the country's governmental organizations. These results can contribute to advancing the existing indigenous knowledge on transformational leadership in the country and can be utilized as a foundation and guide for localizing transformational leadership competency development programs.
Keywords
Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Transformational Leadership Competencies
Thematic Analysis
Rear Admiral Sayyari.
Subjects
منابع
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