In Administration, leadership is linked to the interest in productive efficiency, assuming the capacity of leaders and subordinates to achieve organizational outcomes. However, leadership is an issue broader than what this conception can suppose. Understanding that this is the perspective adopted in the seminal text by Burns (1978) on transformational leadership, we propose in this study to revisit this work, in order to oppose its main arguments in relation to those made by transformational leadership authors in the field of Administration. To do this, we adopted the socio-historical analysis, as proposed by Stefani and Vizeu (2011), the first step of in-depth hermeneutics (THOMPSON, 2000), a method that aims to avoid the mistake of free interpretation of a work that is contextually situated. Thus, we conclude that the key point of transformational leadership, according to Burns, is the moral development issue and detachment in the utilitarian relationship between leader and subordinates. These two points are stressed throughout the text by means of the examples provided by the author, almost always related to the context of leadership in the political domain and that regarding social movements, where the ethical and moral issue is taken on a societal dimension.
Transformational leadership; In-depth hermeneutics; Contextualization; James MacGregor Burns.