Exploring Leadership Communication in the United Arab Emirates: Issues of Culture and Gender

Abstract

This study aims to identify what makes a successful leader in the UAE within the paradigms of leadership styles and leadership communication. In order to do this, we explore, and potentially challenge , a number of the existing leadership stereotypes that are germane to the region, along with the stereotypical discourse strategies that have been associated with the ways in which men and women enact leadership. We wanted to find out if Emirati nationals would prefer the type of discursive leadership that has been associated with women leaders , that is transformational leadership and collaborative communication, or if they would prefer the discursive leadership that has been stereotypically associated with men in equivalent positions, that is laissez-faire, transactional or paternalistic leadership styles , together with the use of a direct and competitive style of communication. Our findings show that a Western understanding of leadership may be too strictly delineated to account for leadership styles in the Gulf, and also that leaders in the region may effectively draw on a combined set of communication strategies that have been stereotypically attributed elsewhere to male and female leaders.