Advancing the democratization of work: A new intellectual history of transformational leadership theory

Amidst growing demands for more democratic forms of organizing, we argue that better understanding the origins of transformational leadership theory offers a way forward. Transformational leadership theory, originally developed by American political scientist James MacGregor Burns in the late 1970s, is the best-known and most influential leadership theory in management studies. Transformational leaders are visionaries who engage with followers’ higher-level needs and inspire them to deliver extraordinary outcomes for their organizations. Democracy was at the core of Burns’ conception of transformational leadership: voters selected their leaders and voted them out if they failed to deliver on their visions. However, this was overlooked by those who introduced the theory to management studies. Using intellectual history, we contrast the conventional representation of transformational leadership theory in business with Burns’ original conception. We explore how and why the democratic foundation of the theory was lost, why this matters, and what can be done to recover it.