Effective leadership within South Africa : a study of the perceptions, experiences and practices of effective leadership within South African organisations.
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Date
2005
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Abstract
The notion of leadership has taxed the minds of philosophers, politicians, the military,
religious thinkers and business for thousands of years. It is recognised that those who have
the ability to influence the hearts, minds and behaviours of people, hold uncommon power
and have the ability to change history. Generations in different parts of the world face
different challenges which demand profound leadership; South Africa is no exception (Meyer
& Boninelli, 2004).
Despite the volume of literature that exists, clarity and understanding of leadership has not
always followed and leadership, as a concept, continues to present major challenges to
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practitioners and researchers. In particular: there are almost as many different definitions of
leadership as there are people who have tried to define it; there are a number of theories that
attempt to explain the nature of leadership; some of these theories achieve this by explaining
leadership in terms of basic events or processes (psychological reductionism); each of the
theories possess a different focus (leadership as a 'property' , leadership as a ' process' or
leadership as a combination of 'property' and 'process' elements); many of the leadership
theories have been developed and tested using specific population samples
(American/European) and, as the requirements of leaders change to meet evolving business
demands, so new concepts and theories emerge thereby creating additional confusion around
which theory offers the best understanding. In addition to the challenges associated with leadership literature, a further challenge relates
to the link between leadership theory, reality and the extent to which the theories adequately
reflect leadership in practice.
The aim of the research study is to address these challenges by: reviewing the leadership
literature available and extracting the patterns that emerge with regards to effective
leadership; determining what effective leadership looks like in a South African context by
examining the perceptions, experiences and practices of effective South African leadership
and investigating the extent to which the theoretical patterns identified reflect effective
leadership practices in South African organisations.
With regards to the findings, a number of patterns emerged from the literature review. In
addition, a number of key leadership themes emerged from the discussions with the sample
group. Themes such as Driving Results, Strategic Thinking, Leading Others and Delivering
through People emerged as key capabilities that define effective leadership within a South
African context.
In reviewing the findings, the perceptions, experiences and practices of South African
leadership appears to support the theoretical patterns identified, thereby suggesting that
American and European leadership literature can be applied and does reflect effective
leadership practices within a South African context. The implications of this include: these
theories can be utilised to identify, develop and implement development interventions aimed
at maximising leadership capability and effective leadership in the US/Europe appears to be
the same as effective leadership in South Africa. In addition, the findings suggest that South African organisations (like their US/European
counterparts) have responded to changes in traditional operating models (as a result of
growing urbanisation; the explosion in information and communication technologies; the
emergence of 'e-commerce' and increasing globalisation and consolidation of businesses)
and the subsequent shift in leadership requirements, by producing leaders who are
demonstrating the same skills, behaviours and capabilities associated with US/European
leadership. The implication of this is that, despite the social, political and economic
conditions that marred the South African landscape pre-1994 (the legacy of apartheid and the
impact of industrial action, sanctions and international isolation), leadership within South
Africa has, over the past 10 years, managed to transcend these environmental factors and
evolve in the same manner as leadership in other parts of the world.
With regard to these findings, it is important, however, to recognise that the size of the
sample (10) and the organisations represented in this study (established corporate
organisations employing over 500 hundred employees) may limit the extent to which the
leadership capabilities identified offer a true reflection of South African leadership. Research
with a larger sample and wider organisation representation (e.g. the small to medium
enterprise sector. start up businesses, entrepreneurial enterprises) would allow a more
comprehensive list of effective leadership skills and behaviours to be identified and thereby
provide a more accurate reflection of South African leadership. In addition, it may lead to the
identification of different leadership capabilities which do not match the patterns to emerge from the literature.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.
Keywords
Theses--Industrial psychology.