An exploration of the influence of ethnicity on followers' perceptions of effective leadership

Abstract

Despite a great deal of interest in leadership as a field of study, little research has been conducted on what followers want from their leaders. Furthermore, the relationship between follower ethnicity and their view on leadership has been largely neglected. This study therefore sought to investigate how followers perceive effective leadership and, therefore, what they expect from good leaders. The study also sought to investigate what influence, if any, a follower’s ethnicity has on their understanding of effective leadership. The study adopted a qualitative, phenomenological methodological approach to address the research purposes. Semi structured interviews were conducted with a sample of seven black South African undergraduate students in Gauteng. This sample was selected to avoid including individuals who may have had formal exposure to leadership theory or significant experience as leaders in organizations. The discussions were recorded and transcribed, before being captured in Atlas.ti. Thematic coding was carried out to analyse the data. The findings of the study showed that respondents valued follower-centric leadership, with a particular emphasis on leaders listening to followers. Other good leadership behaviours highlighted by respondents included communication and values. Respondents indicated that their views on leadership were influenced by their cultures. It was not possible to isolate the influence of a specific ethnic identity on perceptions of leadership because respondents were able to identify with more than one ethnic identity, referred to as biculturalism. Biculturalism tended to occur as a result of a respondent having parents from different ethnicities, growing up in a multi-ethnic township or exposure through multicultural institutions such as schools and churches.