“Sternberg’s transformationally gifted individuals do not seek change for its own sake, or change that would benefit themselves, but rather aim to enact changes for the betterment of society.
As with transformational leadership, this form of giftedness is characterized by altruism, not self-interest.
For Sternberg, transformational giftedness refers to the employment of gifts to effect positive changes. These changes include a range of domains from micro to macro systems.
Transformational giftedness is not about inborn or developed “gifts,” per se, but about how those gifts are utilized to make the world a better place by seeking a common good at some level, whether within the family, with the state, within the nation, or within the world.
The transformationally gifted individual literally seeks transformation—to use their gifts to effect some change—in how people hear music, or how they see art, or how they perceive the role of government, or in how they view or benefit from the legal system, in how they benefit from scientific findings, or whatever (Sternberg, 2020, pp. 233–234 in Mendaglio, Seng Journal, vol.2)”.