In contemporary organizations, transformation is a constant rather than an exception. This raises the question of how leadership can sustain change without reducing conflict and resistance to dysfunctions, but instead considering them as occasions to reveal systemic development potential. Building on transformational leadership theory (Bass & Riggio, 2008) and integrating systemic-constructivist insights (Harré & van Langenhove, 1999; Ugazio, 2013, 2018), the doctoral research project "Leadership and Organizational Change: The Transformational Leadership and Its Semantics" explores leadership as a semantic and dialogical phenomenon.


The guiding research question is: How do semantic polarities in organizational contexts influence transformational leadership, and can we conceptualize a form of "semantic leadership"?


Adopting a critical realist epistemology (Bhaskar, 2008) with systemic-constructivist orientation, the study employs a mixed-methods design. Quantitative measures explore associations between interpersonal functioning styles, leadership perceptions and leader-member exchange, while qualitative methods—such as semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and narrative/projective techniques—allow an in-depth analysis of how meanings and positions are negotiated in organizational contexts. Data collection is ongoing, and first results are expected in spring 2026.


Anticipated findings concern the emergence of semantic leadership as an organizational imagination device. Rather than aiming for static alignment, semantic leadership fosters semantic mutual understanding between leaders and followers, and across the wider organization. This mutual understanding is expected to foster transformational leadership behaviors and enhance the quality of leader-member exchange, psychological safety, and well-being at work, while supporting the reconfiguration of practices and roles in sustainable ways.


In line with the ICAP framework, this work-in-progress contribution highlights how Work and Organizational Psychology can enhance its impact by rethinking epistemological categories and bridging research and practice. Semantic leadership could suggest new ways to mobilize organizations through transformations that are not idealized but "good enough" (Winnicott, 1965): realistic, responsible, and embedded in the contradictions of organizational life.