Abstract
This article summarizes the findings from the LEAD research project in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, which suggest both similarities and differences in the perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Participants from the three countries describe effective leaders as people who are visionary, goal-oriented, and results-oriented. Further, the tribe/language, sense of community, and traditions are important cultural dispositions in all the three East African countries. The study can assist managers and academicians to better understand how leadership effectiveness is perceived by East Africans and help managers to better prepare to succeed in their leadership roles.
Highlights
Leadership effectiveness in East Africa is becoming increasingly important, leading to new initiatives and investments in recent years
While leadership in East Africa may generally be described as directive, East Africans recognize the need for supportive styles which can inspire and motivate followers to bring about a positive change
Some theorists suggest that the move toward more supportive leadership styles, with a decreased emphasis on directive leadership, is due to globalization and the move to flatter organizations regardless of cultural context (Jogulu, 2010), which is consistent with the GLOBE project which argued that inspirational and team-oriented attributes are found in effective global leaders (House et al, 2004)
Summary
Leadership effectiveness in East Africa is becoming increasingly important, leading to new initiatives and investments in recent years. In 2014, -President of the United States of America Barack Obama announced the creation of four leadership centers in Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, and South Africa as part of his Young African Leaders Initiative to improve the availability and quality of training programs and professional development opportunities. This paper summarizes the findings from the LEAD research project in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, which suggest both similarities and differences in perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Participants from the three countries describe effective leaders as people who are visionary, goal-oriented, and results-oriented. The tribe/language, sense of community, and traditions are important cultural dispositions in all the three East African countries. The study can assist managers and academicians to better understand how leadership effectiveness is perceived by East Africans and help managers to better prepare to succeed in their leadership roles
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