Leadership in Turkish Culture in the Context of Proverbs

Abstract

As a result of the changes and developments experienced with globalization, the interaction of individuals with different cultural characteristics between countries has begun to gain importance. Integration and orientation of employees with different cultural values around a single goal, adopting a leadership type suitable for the cultural characteristics of organizations has gained importance in terms of organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The problem of how to manage organizations that include individuals with these differences has led to focus on culture, cultural differences and leadership types. The aim of the study, which examines leadership in Turkish culture in the context of proverbs, which is one of the main elements of cultural heritage, is to evaluate leadership characteristics in Turkish culture in the context of proverbs. The study was designed as a qualitative research and the document analysis method, which allows the analysis of written materials containing information about the phenomenon or facts in the target of the research, was used. The Dictionary of Proverbs published by Aksoy (2007) was used in the study. 2667 proverbs in this dictionary were examined and the data were analyzed with content analysis. As a result of the analysis, within the scope of traditional leadership; autocratic leadership, democratic-participatory leadership, full freedom leadership types and characteristics as well as contemporary leadership approaches; network leadership, exhilarating leadership, distributive leadership, transformational leadership, critical leadership, intellectual leadership, transactional leadership, entrepreneurial leadership, servant leadership, charismatic leadership, quantum leadership, cultural leadership, instructional leadership, teacher leadership, paternalistic leadership, visionary leadership types and characteristics has been reached. The results of the research show that in the context of proverbs, transformational and autocratic leadership types are emphasized the most in Turkish culture, followed by democratic-participatory leadership, transactional leadership and distributed leadership, respectively. Another prominent finding in the research is that the feature “Leader takes decisions on his own and informs his subordinates of his decisions” of autocratic leadership, the feature “Team spirit and participation in decisions are at the forefront” of transformational leadership; the feature “Employee expertise is given importance.” of distributor leadership; the feature “The leader knows how to deal with uncertainty.” Of quantum leadership; the feature “There is a clearing relationship between the leader and the follower (purpose-reward; pressure-punishment) of interactionist leadership; the feature “Collaborates with team members.” of refreshing leadership is one of the most emphasized leadership characteristics in proverbs. When all these characteristics are considered in the research; it has been concluded that autocratic-leaning, cooperation is at the forefront, leadership characteristics such as coping with uncertainties, understanding of the system based on reward and punishment, team spirit building are given more space in the proverbs. Based on the research findings, it may be recommended that the cultural characteristics of the organizations should be identified and the appropriate type of leadership should be included in order for the organizations to achieve their established objectives. It is thought that the study of different oral and written cultural elements of the studies that will address the relationship between leadership and culture from different perspectives can contribute to the field. In addition, by examining proverbs within the scope of different types and characteristics of leadership, comparative research can be carried out in which emphasis on leadership characteristics will be examined in proverbs of different languages and cultures.