Perception of leadership and an examination on generation Z

It is a generally accepted reality that the changes and transformations that occur in the life of society lay the groundwork for new ways of thinking, value judgments and expectations. The common convictions that these developments shaped with a kind of unity of fate among people in certain periods are explained by the concept of generation. Different generations emerge as the nature and consequences of events change. Today the youngest of these generations and the least known in terms of their expectations and value judgments is the Z generation which represents the individuals born in 2000. This generation whose oldest individual is 23 years old as of 2023, has just completed their education life and have gotten into the business. It is thought that understanding the leadership perceptions of the Z generation who will gain the majority of the business life in the near future and making appropriate innovations will contribute to the successful management of organizations. In this thesis it is aimed to determine the perceptions of Z generation employees about leadership. The sample group of the study which is structured with the phenomenological design of the qualitative research method consists of 11 white-collar Z generation working individuals 4 women and 7 men. The research data were collected by one-on-one interview method over a semi-structured interview form with 5 main questions and explanatory probe questions. As a result of the interviews with the participants a data set of approximately 60 pages was obtained by recording 475 minutes of audio and translating them into writing. The data transferred to the computer were analyzed by using descriptive analysis and content analysis methods together through the qualitative data analysis program called MAXQDA 2022. The identified codes were first categorized and then classified under 5 themes determined through the research questions. According to these results; ıt has been concluded that the leadership style that the working participants of the Z generation do not adopt is autocratic (authoritarian) leadership, while the leadership behavior adopted by the participants is democratic leadership and leadership styles that allow full freedom and it is recommended that organizations take steps in this direction. Also the leadership behaviors experienced by the participants in their field of study, leadership definitions and other findings about whether being a member of the Z generation affects their understanding of leadership and suggestions for future studies are presented.