ABSTRACT
We explore inclusive leadership from the perspective of effective leadership in the framework of the Leadership Effectiveness in Africa and in the African Diaspora (LEAD). This chapter starts with an introduction to effective leadership, where inclusive leadership and its two underlying concepts—diversity and inclusivity—are explained. This is followed by an empirical literature review on leadership theories and empirical studies that have important implications for effective leadership, especially inclusive leadership. We then synthesize the literature and tease out directions for practice and future research followed by a conclusion. We particularly identify leader motivations and cultural dispositions in the African and its diaspora contexts, which have important implications for the development of inclusive leadership and which call for further empirical investigation. Leaders are motivated by respect from followers, working with people and community development projects, and culture is described as being “accommodative”, “modesty”, “tribe or ethnicity” and “belief in God”. Given the importance of inclusive leadership in leadership effectiveness, it is suggested that future research be conducted on the relationship between culture, motivation and inclusive leadership to produce findings that can be used to improve predictive efficacy of motivational and cultural dispositions on inclusive leadership.
