Abstract
The aim of this study is to design an insightful leadership model based on organizational excellence in the educational system. The research method is applicable in terms of its purpose, and grounded theory (systematic design) in terms of data type. The statistical population of the study includes 16 heads of departments of the General Directorate of Education in the cities of Alborz province, and the samples were selected as research samples according to the course of theory formation and based on the rule of theoretical saturation. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Coding in three stages of open, axial and selective coding was used to analyze the data. The results of the study are according to the grounded theory method, in which each model includes 6 main components, including causal categories: the factor of recognizing the vision and foresight, the factor of paying attention to improving human resources, the factor of developing participation in affairs, and the factor of quality management and evaluation; intervening conditions: human resource challenges and internal-external organizational challenges; central category: attention to human resources and organizational structure, change management and organizational improvement, and transparency of the organization's vision and strategy. The contexts of this model include: human resources improvement contexts and organizational contexts. The strategies include: systemic and decentralized strategies, human resources empowerment strategies, and evaluative and supervisory strategies. The consequences also include: individual consequences and organizational consequences.
Introduction
At the crack of the new century, when organizations, especially educational institutions, are faced with a global competitive environment, there is always a need for radical changes and work creativity; global competitive forces have forced today's organizations to adopt new work methods after decades of continuing their fixed work methods and procedures, in such a way that organizations do not have work stability and enjoy a kind of relative stability. And in order not to fall behind the competition, most of these organizations have turned their attention to organizational leaders and are trying to create fundamental changes within the organization with particular courage and audacity, because leadership deals with creating change (Gonzales & Yango, 2022) and in other words, the most fundamental factor in creating favorable conditions for achieving educational goals is the administrators of the educational system, managers and leaders (Golafshani & Salehi, 2019). Also, over the past few decades, new approaches to leadership in organizations have emerged, which researchers call neocharismatic theories of leadership and inspirational approaches in the field of leadership. One of these approaches is visionary leadership. This type of leader is someone who, through their speech, thoughts and behaviors, inspires and encourages their followers (Rania, 2021). The main emphasis of visionary leadership is on creating a vision, communicating and transmitting it to followers, and empowering them by the leader to realize and implement this vision (AlAjmi, 2022).
Visionary leaders are people who primarily have the power of foresight and visualization of the future. They have such intelligence that they develop a correct, realistic, and inspiring vision for their organization, considering the economic, political, cultural, and technological aspects of the environment. This vision motivates and encourages people to realize it, and in this regard, the communication and emotional skills of visionary leaders also play an important role (Nancy, 2021). It should be noted that the issue of visionary leadership is debatable at all levels of individual, organizational, and national analysis. At the individual level, every person who envisions an attractive and achievable future for themselves has actually played the role of a visionary leader and created a vision for themselves that they are obligated to pursue in order to realize it. At the organizational level, it is clear that every organization, in order to survive and sustain, must explore the future and forthcoming opportunities and determine its place in the future by designing a coherent plan that is carried out through the vision. This is certainly done through visionary leaders who, by creating these visions, encourage their followers to achieve them (Tahmasbi, 2022). Therefore, the existence of these issues and the need for comprehensive improvement in the educational system prompted the researcher to answer the question, based on the concept of visionary leadership and organizational excellence: what is the appropriate model of visionary leadership based on organizational excellence in the educational system?
Theoretical Framework
Academic Performance
Academic performance refers to the ability of students to answer questions related to a specific subjects predicted for an educational course (Sepehvandi, 2017).
Educational Simulation
Simulation is a version of some real devices or work situations and attempts to represent some behavioral aspects of a physical or abstract system through the behavior of another system (Bruschi et al, 1999). In simulation, by using a simulator in a fictitious situation, the real effects of some possible conditions can be recreated (Nouri, 2015). In fact, simulation software provides the learner with environments most similar to the real one and at the same time are not as costly and risky as facing the real environment. This can be used effectively in education (Swain et al, 2008).
Academic Goal Orientation
Academic goal orientation is one of the approaches that have attracted the attention of theorists and researchers in the field of motivation for achievement as a "cognitive-social" approach in which the concept of goal and goal orientation play a central role (Bejnordi Shligani & Suleiman Pourimran, 2018).
Academic self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is confidence in one's ability to control thoughts, feelings, and activities; and therefore affects the outcome of actions. Self-efficacy expectations affect individuals' actual performance, emotions, behavioral choices, and ultimately the amount of effort expended on an activity (Zamani Amir, 2018)
Mohammadi et al, (2023) studied the evaluation of factors affecting the development of cloud-based accounting education and students' academic performance. This study determines the acceptance of cloud computing methods in accounting courses and its effectiveness in the education process by Iranian university students through using the effect of external variables; namely human factors, economic and technological factors, and cultural and social factors, on the development of cloud accounting education and students' academic performance. The results of the study indicate that human, economic, and cultural factors have a significant positive effect on the development of cloud-based accounting education and students' academic performance.
Penalo (2023) investigated the effect of the pre-explanation-explanatory educational strategy of virtual simulation on nursing students' self-efficacy and virtual simulation performance. The results showed that the effect of the pre-explanation-explanatory educational strategy of virtual simulation on students' self-efficacy and virtual simulation performance is positive and significant.
Research Methodology
The research method is applicable in terms of its purpose, and grounded theory (systematic design) in terms of data type. The statistical population of the study includes 16 heads of departments of the General Directorate of Education in the cities of Alborz province, and the samples were selected as the research sample according to the course of theory formation and based on the theoretical saturation rule. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data.
Research findings
To analyze the data, coding was used in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding. The results of the study are according to the grounded theory method, in which each model includes 6 main components, including causal categories: the factor of recognizing the vision and foresight, the factor of paying attention to improving human resources, the factor of developing participation in affairs, and the factor of quality management and evaluation; intervening conditions: human resource challenges and internal-external organizational challenges; central category: attention to human resources and organizational structure, change management and organizational improvement, and transparency of the organization's vision and strategy. The contexts of this model include: human resources improvement contexts and organizational contexts. The strategies include: systemic and decentralized strategies, human resources empowerment strategies, and evaluative and supervisory strategies. The consequences also include: individual consequences and organizational consequences.
Conclusion
The present study was conducted with the aim of designing a visionary leadership model based on organizational excellence in the educational system. The results of this study are consistent with the results of Sabirah et al, (2023), Taghvaei et al, (2023), Ahmadi Keshtali et al, (2022), Kim et al, (2022), Pribudhianaa et al, (2020), Abbasian Esfarjani et al, (2020), Mascareño et al, (2020), Kurniadi et al, (2020), and Azadfarzin (2020). Abbasian Esfarjani et al, (2020) showed that visionary leadership, with an emphasis on personality, value, motivational, and behavioral characteristics can affect the performance of high school principals, and it is necessary to be careful in selecting middle and senior education managers and to select people for these positions who have the characteristics and skills of insightful leadership, including self-leadership, effective human relations, trustworthiness, and motivation.
Based on the results of this study, the following suggestions were made:
It is suggested that insightful leaders empower employees to transform ideas into action and tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge.
It is suggested that leaders create an atmosphere of trust in the organization to create conditions for promoting ideas.