Leadership and Communication Styles Expected From Political Leaders: A Research on Generation Y

This research seeks to find out the leadership and communication styles expected from political leaders by generation Y, consisting of people born between the years 1980 and 1999 and who is expected to play a significant role in the creation of Turkey’s future. As part of the study, a questionnaire has been administered to a total of 1220 students from Süleyman Demirel University, Akdeniz University and Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. In the questionnaire, the subjects have been asked to rate 30 statements concerning leadership styles and 16 statements related to communication styles in the light of their point of view on how a leader must be like. It has been found out through the analysis that the subjects prefer leaders who own a charismatic leadership style and who uses low context communication. It has also been shown that although subjects think that they have a leadership potential, they do not intend to assume a role in politics under the existing circumstances. For the subjects, Ataturk is the ultimate example of a political leader. In addition, it is striking that there are no women political leaders among the top six. It is believed that the findings obtained will be useful for not only political leaders and parties but also for academicians who study on politics, communication and leadership.It is also expected that identifying shortcomings in conventional style of politics through the determination of what young people think about it will positively contribute to the development of politics and the country itself.