Inspirational leadership and its relationship to the level of organizational excellence among heads of academic departments in Jordanian universities

Imagine the world of universities not as a collection of dusty libraries and lecture halls, but as a massive, bustling spaceship. Every crew member—the professors, the researchers, the staff—needs to work together to navigate through the asteroid field of modern challenges. But a spaceship doesn't fly itself; it needs a captain. In the world of science, this is where leadership comes in. Specifically, this paper looks at a special kind of captaincy called inspirational leadership. Think of this not as a boss shouting orders from a tower, but as a coach who lights a fire in everyone's belly, making them want to run faster and jump higher just because they believe in the team's mission.

Then there is the concept of organizational excellence. If the spaceship is the university, organizational excellence is the ship's ability to not just survive the journey, but to zip through it smoothly, adapt to sudden storms, and even find new, exciting planets to explore along the way. It's about being flexible, smart, and ready for anything. The big question researchers have been asking is: Does having a captain who can truly inspire the crew actually make the whole ship perform better? This study dives into that exact question, looking at the "captains" (heads of academic departments) in Jordanian universities to see if their style of leadership helps the university fly higher.

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The Study: Checking the Captain's Compass

In this research, the authors, Khaledah Khaled Alkailanee and her team from universities in Jordan, decided to take a close look at how the "captains" of academic departments are steering their ships. They focused on four major public universities in Jordan: the University of Jordan, Yarmouk University, the Hashemite University, and Al al-Bayt University. To get the real story, they didn't just ask the captains; they asked the crew. They surveyed 328 faculty members (the professors and lecturers) during the 2024/2025 academic year, asking them to rate their department heads.

The researchers used a special tool—a questionnaire—to measure two main things. First, they measured Inspirational Leadership, breaking it down into three parts:

1. Self-Confidence: Does the leader believe in themselves and act like a role model?
2. Employee Empowerment: Does the leader give the crew the tools, trust, and freedom to do their best work?
3. Strategic Orientation: Does the leader have a clear map for the future and a plan to handle obstacles?

Second, they measured Organizational Excellence (sometimes called "organizational dexterity" or "ingenuity" in the text). This is the ship's ability to be flexible, use its resources wisely, and adapt to changes in the environment.

What They Found: The Captain's Score

When the team crunched the numbers, they found something interesting. The degree to which department heads were practicing inspirational leadership was average. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't amazing either. The overall score came in at 3.13 on a scale where 5 is the highest possible.

If we look at the specific parts of leadership, here is how they ranked:

• Self-Confidence was the strongest area, with a score of 3.20. The leaders seemed to know their stuff and appeared confident.
• Employee Empowerment came in second with a score of 3.10. Leaders were trying to give their staff some freedom and support.
• Strategic Orientation was third, with a score of 3.09. This area, which involves long-term planning and vision, was the weakest of the three, though still in the "average" range.

Similarly, when they looked at Organizational Excellence, the score was also average, landing at 3.14. The universities were doing okay at adapting and using their resources, but there was room to grow.

The Big Connection: The Magic Link

Here is the most exciting part of the story. The researchers asked: "Is there a link between the captain's inspiration and the ship's speed?" The answer was a resounding yes.

The study found a positive, direct, and statistically significant correlation between inspirational leadership and organizational excellence. In plain English, this means that when a department head was better at being an inspirational leader, the department was also better at being excellent and adaptable. It's like finding that the more a coach cheers on the team and believes in them, the more the team wins games. The data showed strong connections:

• The link between Self-Confidence and excellence was 0.80.
• The link between Employee Empowerment and excellence was 0.77.
• The link between Strategic Orientation and excellence was 0.86.
• The overall link between Inspirational Leadership and Organizational Excellence was 0.88.

These numbers are like a super-strong magnet; they show that these two things move together very closely. The paper suggests that if you want a university department to be more flexible, creative, and successful, you need to invest in leaders who can inspire their teams.

What the Paper Says (and Doesn't Say)

The authors are careful not to claim they have solved every problem in the world of education. They measured what was happening right now in these specific universities. They did not prove that inspirational leadership causes excellence in a magical, guaranteed way, but the strong link suggests they are deeply connected. They also didn't find that gender or job title made a huge difference in how these leaders acted, but they did note that leaders with doctoral degrees sometimes scored differently in other studies (though this specific study focused on the general link).

The paper explicitly rules out the idea that traditional, old-school leadership (just giving orders without inspiration) is enough to keep up with the fast-changing world. The "average" scores suggest that while leaders are trying, they aren't quite hitting the "high" or "very high" marks yet.

The Takeaway: A Call to Action

Based on these findings, the researchers recommend that universities organize training courses and workshops. They want to help department heads get better at being inspirational leaders. Specifically, they suggest training leaders to:

• Make better decisions together with their teams.
• Understand the strengths and weaknesses of their own university environment.
• Create a space where faculty members feel safe to share ideas and take risks.

The paper concludes that by boosting the "inspirational engine" of the leaders, the whole university ship can become more agile, creative, and ready to face whatever challenges the future throws at it. It's a reminder that in the high-stakes game of education, a leader who can truly inspire isn't just a nice-to-have; they are essential for the ship to fly.