This paper examines how sentiments shape perceptions and practices of leadership in 20 local community councils in four African nations: Cameroon, Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Theorizing emerged from data derived through interviewing, observation and historical culture analysis. Applying psychoanalytical discursive approaches and exploring through narrative encounter, microstoria and interpretation, findings indicate that sentiments is central to the conceptualization and practice of leadership in context. This makes reciprocity, respect, resilience, and representation essential for effective leadership. The sentiments perspective to leadership poses a challenge to the dominant focus on leader traits, behavior, and leader-follower dialogic dominant in mainstream accounts of leadership. The paper adds impetus to the new discourse on sentiments in leadership in cross-cultural leadership studies and locates avenues for future research.
AlipourA (2021) What matters for the future? Comparing Globe's future orientation with Hofstede's long-term orientation. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management28(4): 734–759.
5.
AlvessonMKärremanD (2000) Taking the linguistic turn in organizational research: challenges, responses, consequences. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science36(2): 136–158.
6.
AlvessonMSköldbergK (2017) Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research. Sage.
7.
AmahOE (2019) African leadership process in the development of globalisation. In: Globalisation and Leadership in Africa. Cham: Palgrave Pivot, 55–74.
8.
Amankwah-AmoahJHinsonRE (2019) Contextual influences on new technology ventures: a study of domestic firms in Ghana. Technological Forecasting and Social Change143: 289–296.
9.
AntonakisJHouseRJ (2014) Instrumental leadership: measurement and extension of transformational–transactional leadership theory. The Leadership Quarterly25(4): 746–771.
10.
BalogunJBartunekJMDoB (2015) Senior managers’ sensemaking and responses to strategic change. Organization Science26(4): 960–979.
11.
BassBM (1985) Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press.
12.
BassBMRiggioRE (2006) Transformational Leadership. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
13.
BathurstRCainT (2013) Embodied leadership: the aesthetics of gesture. Leadership9: 358–377.
14.
BojeDM (2001) Narrative methods for organizational and communication research.
15.
BourdieuP (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16.
BourdieuP (1986) “The forms of capital.” In: RichardsonJG (ed) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood Press.
17.
BourdieuP (1993) The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Polity.
18.
BoussebaaM (2024) Unsettling West-centrism in the study of professional service firms. Human Relations77(1): 29–52.
19.
BraunVClarkeV (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology3(2): 77–101.
20.
BraunVClarkeVHayfieldN, et al. (2019) Thematic analysis. In: Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences, 843–860.
21.
BrocknerJ (2006) Why it’s so hard to be fair. Harvard business review84(3): 122–129.
22.
BurnsJM (1978) Leadership. New York Harper & Row.
23.
CashTNOppenheimerDM (2024) Assessing metacognitive knowledge in subjective decisions: the knowledge of weights paradigm. Thinking & Reasoning: 1–43.
24.
ChiaRHoltR (2006) Strategy as practical coping: a Heideggerian perspective. Organization Studies27(5): 635–655.
25.
CiullaJB (2014) Ethics, the Heart of Leadership. ABC-CLIO.
26.
CollinsonDL (2020) Only connect!’: exploring the critical dialectical turn in leadership studies. Organization Theory1(2): 1–2.
27.
CorbinJStraussA (2014) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Sage publications.
28.
CornelissenJPOswickCThøger ChristensenL, et al. (2008) Metaphor in organizational research: context, modalities and implications for research introduction. Organization Studies29(1): 7–22.
29.
CoteMNightingaleAJ (2011) Resilience thinking meets social theory. Progress in Human Geography36(4): 475–489.
30.
CreswellJW (2013) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. London: Sage Publications.
31.
CrothersCOwusu-SarbongCNtsebezaL, et al. (2003) Grassroots Governance? Chiefs in Africa and the Afro-Caribbean (No. 1). University of Calgary Press.
32.
CunhaMPEFortesAGomesE, et al. (2019) Ambidextrous leadership, paradox and contingency: evidence from Angola. International Journal of Human Resource Management30(4): 702–727.
33.
CunliffeAL (2008) Orientations to social constructionism: relationally responsive social constructionism and its implications for knowledge and learning. Management Learning39(2): 123–139.
34.
CunliffeALEriksenM (2011) Relational leadership. Human Relations64(11): 1425–1449.
35.
De CerteauM (1984) Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
36.
De MonticelliR (2020) Values, norms, justification and the appropriateness of emotions. In: SzantoTLandweerH (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Phenomenology of Emotion. Oxon: Routledge, 275–287.
37.
DenzinNKLincolnYS (2005) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications Ltd.
38.
DeonnaJTeroniF (2012) The Emotions: A Philosophical Introduction. Routledge.
39.
DohJRodriguesSSaka-HelmhoutA, et al. (2017) International business responses to institutional voids. Journal of International Business Studies48: 293–307.
40.
DoornN (2017) Resilience indicators: opportunities for including distributive justice concerns in disaster management. Journal of Risk Research20(6): 711–731.
41.
EtichaGTBrunningeOKassa TessemaW (2024) Strategy research in an African context: a systematic literature review. Africa Journal of Management10(3): 316–350.
42.
EyongJE (2017) Indigenous african leadership: key differences from anglo-centric thinking and writings. Leadership13(2): 133–153.
43.
EyongJE (2019) Leadership for high performance in local councils in Cameroon and Nigeria: examining deviant and concordant practices to the philosophy of Ubuntu. Africa Journal of Management5(2): 138–161.
44.
EyongJE (2024) Theorizing collective leadership: lessons from Ekpe, an indigenous African institution. Africa Journal of Management10: 434–463.
FaircloughN (2011) Semiotic aspects of social transformation and learning. In: An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education. Abingdon: Routledge, 119–127.
47.
FinkelsteinSWhiteheadJCampbellA (2009) How emotional tagging can push leaders to make bad decisions. Ivey Business Journal73(1): 4–15.
48.
FischerTDietzJAntonakisJ (2024) A fatal flaw: positive leadership style research creates causal illusions. The Leadership Quarterly35: 101771.
49.
FisherKReiserRC (2014) Embodied leadership: moving from leader competencies to leaderful practice. Leadership11: 281–299.
50.
FolkeC (2006) Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses. Global Environmental Change16(3): 253–267.
51.
FordJ (2010) Studying leadership critically: a psychosocial lens on leadership identities. Leadership6(1): 47–65.
52.
FordJLearmonthMHardingN (2008) Leadership as Identity, Constructions and Deconstruction. Palgrave Macmillan.
53.
FordJHardingNHGilmoreS, et al. (2017) Becoming the leader: leadership as material presence. Organization Studies38(11): 1553–1571.
54.
FordJHardingNGilmoreS (2023) Re/searching leadership: a critique in two agonies and nine fits. Human Relations76(6): 809–832.
55.
GiddensA (1972) Four myths in the history of social thought. Economy and Society1(4): 357–385.
56.
GoldieP (2000) The Emotions: A Philosophical Exploration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
57.
GoldieP (2002) Emotions, feelings and intentionality. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences1(3): 235–254.
58.
GolemanDP (1995) Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ for character, health and lifelong achievement. New York: Bantam Books.
59.
GolemanDChernissC (2000) Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. Ellinika Grammata, Vol. 13.
60.
GoslingJMintzbergH (2003) ‘The Five Minds of a Manager’. Harvard Business Review, 54–63.
61.
GrintK (2005) Problems, problems, problems: the social construction of ‘leadership. Human Relations58(11): 1467–1494.
62.
GronnP (2015) The view from inside leadership configurations. Human Relations68(4): 545–560.
63.
HallS (2018) Essential Essays, Volume 1: Foundations of Cultural Studies. Duke University Press.
64.
HallETMildredR (1990) Hall. In: Understanding Cultural Differences, 13–17.
65.
HaslamSAReicherSD (2016) Rethinking the psychology of leadership: from personal identity to social identity. Dædalus145(3): 21–34.
66.
HodgkinsonGPWrightG (2002) Confronting strategic inertia in a top management team: learning from failure. Organization Studies23(6): 949–977.
67.
HofstedeG (1980a) Culture and organizations. International Studies of Management & Organization10: 15–41.
68.
HofstedeG (2003) Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations. Behaviour Research and Therapy41: 861–862.
69.
HowardA (2015) Humanise: Why Human-Centred Leadership Is the Key to the 21st Century. John Wiley & Sons.
JacksonT (2004) Management and Change in Africa. London: Routledge, 1–48.
72.
JacksonT (2020) The legacy of geert Hofstede. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management20(1): 3–6.
73.
JacksonT (2022) Should we measure cultural intelligence?International Journal of Cross Cultural Management22(2): 209–212.
74.
JacksonT (2023) Migration: Re-writing the narrative. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management23(2): 241–246.
75.
JarrettMVinceR (2024) Mitigating anxiety: the role of strategic leadership groups during radical organisational change. Human Relations77(8): 1178–1208.
76.
Kets de VriesMFSextonJCEllenBPIII (2016) Destructive and transformational leadership in Africa. Africa Journal of Management2(2): 166–187.
KolnaiA (2007) Disgust, hatred, pride. On the phenomenology of hostile feelings. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
79.
KuadaJ (2010) Culture and leadership in Africa: a conceptual model and research agenda. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies1: 9–24.
80.
LadkinD (2013) From perception to flesh: a phenomenological account of the felt experience of leadership. Leadership9: 320–334.
81.
LiedongTA (2022) The liability of tribe in corporate political activity: ethical implications for political contestability. Journal of Business Ethics181(3): 623–644.
82.
LiuFMaitlisS (2014) Emotional dynamics and strategizing processes: a study of strategic conversations in top team meetings. Journal of Management Studies51(2): 202–234.
83.
LubbadehT (2020) Emotional intelligence and leadership–the dark and bright sides. Modern Management Review25(27): 39–50.
84.
MacLureM (2013) Classification or wonder? Coding as an analytic practice in qualitative research. Deleuze and research methodologies: 164–183.
85.
Mang’unyiEGovenderK (2019) Exploring the development strategies of rural small, medium and micro enterprises. Central European Management Journal27(4): 95–123.
86.
MetzT (2018) An African theory of good leadership. African Journal of Business Ethics12(2): 36–52.
87.
MilesMBHubermanAM (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. Sage.
88.
MoonJ (2022) Foundations of Quality Risk Management. Quality Press.
89.
MoranP (2005) Structural vs. relational embeddedness: social capital and managerial performance. Strategic Management Journal26(12): 1129–1151.
90.
NeubertD (2019) Inequality, Socio-Cultural Differentiation and Social Structures in Africa: Beyond Class. Springer.
91.
NewlandsG (2022) Anthropotropism: searching for recognition in the Scandinavian gig economy. Sociology56(5): 821–838.
92.
NkomoSM (2006) Images of ‘African Leadership and Management’in Organization Studies: Tensions, Contradictions and Revisions. Inaugural Lecture presented in the University of South Africa, Pretoria.
93.
NkomoSM (2011) A postcolonial and anti-colonial reading of ‘African’leadership and management in organization studies: tensions, contradictions and possibilities. Organization18(3): 365–386.
94.
Owusu-SarpongC (2003) Setting the Ghanaian context of rural local government: traditional authority values. In: RyDIReddyPS (eds) Grassroots Governance? Chiefs in Africa and the Afro-Caribbean. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary Press, 31–68.
95.
PattonMQ (2001) Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. London: Sage.
96.
PellegriniEKScanduraTA (2008) Paternalistic leadership: a review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management34(3): 566–593.
97.
PhillipsNLawrenceTBHardyC (2004) Discourse and institutions. The Academy of management review, 29(4), 635–652.
98.
PrinceL (2005) Eating the menu rather than the dinner: tao and leadership. Leadership1(1): 105–126.
99.
PutnamL (2015) Unpacking the dialectic: alternative views on the discourse-materiality relationship. Journal of Management Studies52: 706–716.
100.
ReicherSDVan BavelJJHaslamSA (2020) Debate around leadership in the Stanford Prison Experiment: Reply to Zimbardo and Haney (2020) and Chan et al. (2020).
101.
RobertJHouseRJHangesPJJavidanMDorfmanPWGuptaV (2004) Culture, Leadership, and Organizations. The Globe Study of 62 Societies. United Kingdom: Sage Publications.
102.
RopoASauerE (2008) Dances of leadership: bridging theory and practice through an aesthetic approach. Journal of Management and Organization14(5): 560–572.
103.
RundellM (2007) Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Oxford: Macmillan.
104.
SamimiMCortesAFAndersonMH, et al. (2022) What is strategic leadership? Developing a framework for future research. The Leadership Quarterly33(3): 101353.
SinclairA (2013) A material dean. Leadership9: 436–443.
107.
SpillerCMaunganui WolfgrammRHenryE, et al. (2020) Paradigm warriors: advancing a radical ecosystems view of collective leadership from an Indigenous Māori perspective. Human Relations73(4): 516–543.
108.
SternbergRJSternbergK (2008) The nature of hate. New York: Cambridge University Press.
109.
StraussALCorbinJ (2008) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
110.
SveibyKE (2011) Collective leadership with power symmetry: lessons from Aboriginal prehistory. Leadership7(4): 385–414.
111.
SzantoT (2020) In hate we trust: the collectivization and habitualization of hatred. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences19(3): 453–480.
112.
UbinkJ (2016) Traditional authorities in Africa. In: Resurgence in an Era of Democratisation. Leiden University Press.
113.
UmehCCNWallaceJ (2024) A Bourdieusian exploration of ethnic inequalities at work: the case of the Nigerian banking sector. Work, Employment and Society38(4): 885–910.
114.
Van DickRLemoineJESteffensNK, et al. (2018) Identity leadership going global: validation of the identity leadership inventory across 20 countries. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology91(4): 697–728.
115.
Van MaanenJ (1988) Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. University of Chicago Press.
116.
Vendrell FerranÍ (2022) Emotions and sentiments: two distinct forms of affective intentionality. Phenomenology and Mind23: 20–34.
117.
VinceRBroussineM (1996) Paradox, defense and attachment: accessing and working with emotions and relations underlying organizational change. Organization Studies17(1): 1–21.
118.
WeickKE (1979) The Social Psychology of Organizing. 2nd edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
