An Investigation of Leadership Development in South African Municipalities

Global and modern leadership demands that leaders should be agile and have intellectual, psychological and social capital. Adaptive leadership means that modern leaders should move from one style of leadership to the other. The current social, political, economic and ecological (environmental) demands require transformational, ethical and sustainability leadership. It is therefore imperative that, for leaders to meet these demands, they need to be continuously developed. Many leadership development programmes focus broadly on intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. South African municipalities are not immune to these global pressures and seem to be a sphere that is inherently at the face of the wrath of communities who are disgruntled by the spate of leadership lapses and deficit that result into poor service delivery. It is for this reason that this study investigated leadership development in South African municipalities. It looked at the three typically modern and global leadership styles that can also be replicated in the South African context. It employed qualitative research design and used semi-structured interviews to elicit information from senior managers who are responsible for learning and development in municipalities. The study concluded that there is a need for an exclusive Leadership Development Policy or Framework in municipalities and that political, administrative and union leadership should be developed.

Keywords: Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Ethical Leadership, Sustainability Leadership, Leadership Development, Leadership Competencies.