Analysis of the Gentleman Figure in Kutadgu Bilig in Terms of Authentic Leadership Approach

Abstract

Recently, many concepts that have no equivalent in our culture and mind world, which reflects especially Western mindsets, have entered into the management and organization literature. Many of these concepts have no equivalent in the factual world, nor do we have any equivalent in our world of mind and in our universe imagination. Scientific studies that are thought to be produced with these concepts, which are empty and only meaningless rhetoric, do not actually contribute to scientific processes and cause waste of labor, time and mind. The main purpose of this study is to draw attention to such concepts and studies which consist of an empty intellectual effort and fad. In this study, it is aimed to analyze gentleman figure in Kutadgu Bilig compared to authentic leadership from modern leadership approaches. Another aim of the research is to reveal the importance of thinking based on our own culture roots in scientific processes and the mental difference between the two insights by making a comparison between the meaning content of the gentleman concept originating from our own cultural roots and the leader concept produced by Western ideas. In the study, the question what is the potential of an authentic leadership approach to explain the figure of gentleman in Kutadgu Bilig has been tried to be answered. Document analysis and descriptive analysis techniques have been used in the study. In order to answer the research questions and to select the conditions that meet certain criteria, the criterion sampling strategy was used. The sample of this research is lines of expressions of the gentleman in Kutadgu Bilig and the name gentleman. Directly drawn from these lines, the gentleman figure has been analyzed in terms of components of authentic leadership. In Kutadgu Bilig, while performing a comparative analysis of the figure of the bey in terms of authentic leadership approach, particular attention was paid not to justify the ways of thinking of the West stemming from its original conditions with any concept from our own culture. In this study, instead of finding a response from us to any concept in the West by avoiding such an approach, the conceptual framework in ours meets the concepts which are considered as contemporary; therefore, it is assumed that thinking with the concepts reflecting the cultural and mental functioning of our society will be a more correct approach. According to the findings of the research, the qualities of the gentleman (being noble, intelligent, knowledgeable, fair, accurate, courageous, patient, forgiving, honest, cautious, cautious, vigilant, generous, political owner, good-natured and godliness) largely coincide with the components of the authentic leadership. This situation has shown that the figure of the gentleman is equipped with more qualifications than those expressed in the leadership approaches.