NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, no. 135, Fall 2011 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/ss.403 Student affairs professionals should value the ideals of transformational leadership, but they need to navigate the realities of institutional power structures, if they want to maintain their political viability and improve organizational integrity. 5 Transformational Leadership, Integrity, and Power Laura M. Harrison Transformational leadership enjoys widespread appeal among student affairs professionals. National Association of Student Personnel Adminis- trators (NASPA) and American College Personnel Association (ACPA) con- ferences frequently feature speakers who promote transformational leadership’s two primary tenets: (1) change is the central purpose of leader- ship, and (2) leadership transcends one’s position in an organizational hier- archy. In this chapter, I describe these tenets and analyze their usefulness. I conclude that they are questionable guideposts for many administrators. At the end of the chapter, I offer strategies for dealing with the realities of institutional power. The Transformational Leadership Dichotomy The word transformational suggests the first tenet of this theory, namely, that affecting change is the central work of leadership. The idea of manage- ment serves as a contrast. Astin and Astin (2000) argued that: Leadership is a process that is ultimately concerned with fostering change. In contrast to the notion of “management,” which suggests preservation or main- tenance, “leadership” implies a process where there is movement—from wher- ever we are now to some future place or condition that is different” (p. 8). Astin and Astin’s (2000) distinction between leadership and manage- ment mirrors a transformational-transactional leadership dichotomy. The 45