**5. Conventional approaches to leadership in welfare organisations**

In order to fully understand the broader context of integrated leadership in a welfare organisation, it is important to first begin by understanding the conventional approaches to leadership from which the integrated approach to leadership develops. The two categories of leadership theories are those that are oriented towards a leader and those that are oriented towards the relationship that a leader has with her/his subordinates [5]. These theories are briefly explained below:

#### **5.1 Leader-oriented theories**

Theories that are oriented to a leader assumes that leadership is a personal quality possessed by certain people and that not everyone can be a leader [5]. Some of these qualities emanate from their behaviours while others they are simply born with. The following section will focus on the leader-oriented theories of leadership.

#### *5.1.1 Trait theories*

Trait theory are based on the view that leaders possess traits that are unique to leaders and that non-leaders do not have such traits [5]. In other words, leaders are born with certain traits that enable them to be developed into becoming leaders [5–7]. Features that distinguishes leaders as proclaimed by the train theories are personal character of a leader, drive; motivation; consistency and integrity; fairness; patience; courage; determination and perseverance; self-confidence; emotional intelligence; innovative thinking; ability to instil entrepreneurship in an organisation; rational decision making;

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self-management and knowledge of organisation attractiveness [6, 7]. Although a 1948 study by Stogdill concluded that a person does not become a leader by virtue of possessing certain traits, the trait theory remains relevant and influential in leadership [5] and may even be relevant in certain circumstances of welfare organisations.

Leading a welfare organisation aiming to support people living with HIV might for instance require a leader who possess certain traits such as drive, patience and courage for managing a hospice that deals with people with chronic conditions such as AIDS and the inherent challenges associated with such chronic conditions. It may even be crucial for such an organisation to have a leader with full knowledge of the organisation in terms of its strengths and weaknesses so that she/he can make informed and rational decision making. Due to funding related challenges for some of these organisations, a leader should have some kind of strategies for raising funds and therefore possess some competencies in instilling entrepreneurship in this organisation. In summary, a trait theory can also be a crucial theory through which leaders in a welfare organisation are influenced.

#### *5.1.2 Style and behaviour approaches*

Central to the behaviour approaches to leadership is the view that leaders are not born, they are rather developed [6]. Among the behaviour theories are Theory X and Theory Y; autocratic, democratic and laissez faire leadership style, initiating structure versus consideration theory, production-oriented leaders versus employee-oriented leaders and in some instances, may even be a combination of both [5]. In terms of *Theory X*, an average employee or subordinate is fundamentally lazy and will avoid work at all costs. These kinds of workers will then prompt leaders to closely monitor them consistently [3]. A leader who is influenced by Theory X tend to use the rewards and punishments and create compliance rules and procedure in order to get the subordinates to perform [8].

Contrary to Theory X, *Theory Y* assumes that an average employee is ambitious, self-motivated and exercise self-control [3]. For leaders who are inspired by this theory, they consider work to be natural for all human beings and therefore employees would then naturally execute their responsibilities as required [8]. Whereas Theory X adopts a more rigid approach to leading an organisation, Theory Y is more flexible, and a leader have more trust in her/his employees' competencies and abilities [3].

It is generally difficult to draw a line between them in practice and leaders tend to fluctuate between them [8]. Whether both of these theories find relevance in a welfare organisation is subject to the unique contextual features or circumstances presented to a leader at the time and I would argue that this theory does find relevance in welfare organisations. In other words, some instances or even types of organisations, may require a leader to adopt a more rigid Theory X approach while others she/he may consider the Theory Y approach. A leader may for instance in cases where an organisation such as a hospice is presented with a complex crisis case requiring an urgent intervention to save a life, adopt the Theory X approach by prescribing the procedures to follow or by even closely monitoring her/his subordinates as they intervene in such cases. The same approach could be applied in a child welfare organisation when cases such as sexual child abuse are presented which requires social workers to report to police within the prescribed time frames and to ensure medical attention is provided to such a child. In such instances, Theory X might be a relevant approach to adopt. Contrary to the above scenario, cases may be presented before an organisation through which a leader may entrust the competencies and decisionmaking by subordinates, thus adopting the Theory Y approach to leading. This may be your ordinary domestic violence cases that require couple counselling or mediation by third parties as well as your normal foster placement and adoption cases,

In *autocratic leadership,* the leader makes all decisions and employee, merely follow without saying much in decision making [6]. Although research evidence suggests that authoritarian leadership is destructive, undesirable and ineffective, some researchers suggest that this approach may be conducive for employee responses and therefore exert positive effect on such employees [9]. A subordinate centred approach study undertaken among the Chinese organisations to explore the psychosocial process linking authoritarian leadership to employee and the situational factors that may affect the process revealed that authoritarian leadership may also motivate employees to enhance their performance [9]. In arguing for authoritarian leadership Wan and Guan consider it (1) to be effective since it allows leaders to set up specific and unambiguous goals to subordinates; (2) to enhance a sense of identity among subordinates as group members which in turn increases their level of performance; and (3) setting high performance standard expectations for subordinates. Although some authors critique this kind of approach, it does find relevance for adoption in a welfare organisation, which like any other organisation, would benefit from very clear and specific goals for the subordinates and to develop a sense of collective identity within such an organisation.

Just like your theory X and Theory Y, autocratic leadership approach may also find application relevance in a welfare organisation. In view of the fact that welfare organisations function within the broader societal context characterised by various factors such as specific legal prescripts, leaders often find themselves having to adopt an autocratic style in order to ensure that compliance with such prescripts is precisely done by setting very clear and specific procedures to be followed. Some of these practices may have been witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic for instance wherein several countries imposed some regulations for companies and organisations on how to better manage Covid-19 which led to some kind of top-down approach to leadership.

With *democratic leadership,* a leader adopts a participatory approach towards leadership by involving subordinates in her/his decision making [6]. Employees who serve under leaders who are influenced by democratic leadership approach tend to display high degree of satisfaction and are motivated to be creative and to work with enthusiasm and energy. Their performance is not influenced by the presence or absence of a leader [7]. What is central to democratic approach to leadership is that human beings possess the capacity to be intelligent, to self-control and be conscience in making decisions and it is this inherent capacity that makes discussions and continuous participation to be free. The approach is that every person should be listened to since they are capable of sharing ideas that can contribute towards resolving organisational problems [10]. This theory makes sense for welfare organisations which are aimed at addressing complex challenges triggered by dynamic human relations and which normally comprise of various employees and client systems with different talents, skills and experiences and therefore likely to contribute to resolving some of these complex issues.

The word *laissez faire* is a French term which literally means to 'let do' [11]. In organisational terms it basically means to let the process take its course without interference. In terms of the laissez faire approach to leadership, leaders allow subordinates to make all decisions often without any follow-up, with the leader taking no active role besides assuming leadership position [6, 7]. This type of leadership approach is also referred to as "the hands-off, let things-ride" approach or a

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"zero leadership" [12, 13]. Although Laissez faire leaders are considered to be passive and avoid responsibility, it can be an effective leadership style for organisations where subordinates are highly skilled and motivated though not suitable for employees who lack the necessary skills and knowledge [14]. The non-involvement of a laissez faire leader does not necessarily mean she/he is not active because non-involvement is in this context similar to an empowering leadership [14]. A Pakistanian study aiming to empirically investigate the impact of authoritative and laissez faire leadership approaches on employee thriving (the employee's capacity to vigorously prosper, grow, flourish and develop in the workplace) has revealed that laissez faire and authoritative readership approaches contribute to employee thriving [14].

Within the welfare organisational context, a submission can be made for the relevance of laissez faire approach to leadership. In these types of organisation, one finds a diversity of employees with different talents and experiences. Some may have served the organisation long enough to know all the tools of trade while others may have just joined fresh from universities and colleges. An effective leader might in this instance, adopt laissez faire approach among those who are well vested with the organisation, while applying other appropriate conventional methods such as the autocratic, among those who are fresh from a college or university training. Of course, one might argue that as much there may be a category of the so called experienced who may benefit from the laissez faire as well as the new ones who may need closer monitoring, a blanket approach which involves a blind application of these approaches may not be a good idea. A leader might find it beneficial to further asses even within these categories as to whether a particular approach will be suitable. In a nutshell, the laissez faire should be applied with caution by considering all relevant factors within the organisation as well as among the subordinates.

With *initiating structure versus consideration theory*, leaders define their structures, their role and the roles that are played by employees for the purpose of attaining the overall goals of the organisation [6]. Whereas initiating structure refers to the extent to which a leader defines and facilitates group interactions towards the attainment of set goals, consideration means the degree to which a leader shows concern and respect for subordinates by considering their welfare and expressing appreciation and support [15].

Initiating structure may particularly be appropriate in situations where a leader wishes to address a presenting problem by assigning it a responsibility to address it to a particular team or group of subordinates. This is also a normal practice for welfare organisations wherein for example, a team can be assigned a responsibility to investigate a case of child neglect. With consideration, the leader tends to value the wellbeing of subordinates and is more inclined to encouraging them through support and appreciation of their work. You may have also come across this kind of practice among some welfare organisations wherein structures such as the employee wellness are in place while systems such as performance management systems are in place to encourage employees' performance by recognising their contribution and rewarding them accordingly. Leaders who are influenced by consideration theories are employee oriented as opposed to production or service oriented. Whereas service-oriented leaders are those who are inclined to the task and dimensions of work, employeesoriented leaders are more inclined to focus on interpersonal relationships [6].

#### *5.1.3 Contingency theories*

Contingency theories were championed by Fiedler, whose view is that leadership style appropriate to a given situation is determined by behaviours that emerge from

such situtation [5]. According to this approach, there is no single approach to best respond to all situations and therefore a solution to respond to a presenting situation is determined by internal or external dimensions of the environment [7, 10]. The view is that the style of leadership should be aligned to the maturity or subordinates [7]. In other words, as subordinates grow and develop or advance in their competencies, leaders should also grow and advance in order to merge the needs and dimensions of the subordinates.

Contingency theories can address the societal developments and by demanding from a leader to also acclimatise to such developments. Earlier on we had an example of cyber bullying as one of the issues addressed by a welfare organisations. With some developments in the internet space, cyberbullying might also advance and require a leader to adopt the contingency theory in guiding the organisation to adapt to these developments. There may be certain instance in which a leader can pull out her/his authoritarian style by giving an instruction particularly in crisis situation where negotiating or accommodating subordinates' inputs will waste time. There may equally be instances wherein the presenting problem may require a leader to not only invite opinions of the subordinates, but also involve the active participation of the clients themselves. In a nutshell, circumstances under which a leader exercises leadership will determine the approach that a leader is to adopt [16].

#### *5.1.4 Leader's virtues*

The leaders' virtue is inextricably linked to character because good leadership character is built through the practice of virtues [17]. The leader's virtues hold the view that a leader has to possess certain features such as being authentic, being ethical, being responsible, being able to handle crisis and overcome them and to demonstrate adaptability, apply creativity in difficult situations [5]. These features are essential for any typical welfare organisation. Any welfare organisation will benefit from upholding high ethical standards and a sense of responsibility while at the same time adapting to societal developments when working with vulnerable groups such as victims of bullying, persons with disabilities, the older adults and others.

Although some welfare organisations such as the doctors without borders and gift-of-the-givers for instance specialises in responding to crisis situations, from timeto-time, there are crises situations in ordinary welfare organisations, that requires a leader to guide the organisation in swiftly responding to them. An example would be a case of child physical abuse presented to a child welfare organisation, which requires a leader to swiftly guide the organisation to manage such a crisis. It may also happen from within the organisation itself that certain subordinates who specialises in the presenting issues are not readily available to respond and in such situations a virtues leader should accordingly guide the organisation on how to respond.

A welfare organisation may benefit from a leader who introduces some level of creativity or innovations such as creating an impact out of limited resources particularly given the underfunding-related challenges faced by most of these organisations. The term authentic in the context of leadership means the genuine fundamental elements of a positive leadership [18]. An authentic leader provides moral compass by counteracting unethical management, promoting social responsibility and ensuring the wellbeing and development of employees [18]. Subordinates can also feel more comfortable in an organisation which is led by an authentic leader since they will be in a position to fully understand her/his position regarding what is required for realising the organisational objectives and be afforded an opportunity for growth and

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development. They will also work under assurance that they are respected and being taken care of and that in cases where they have difficulties they are guaranteed of a support from their leader. An authentic leader is that leader whom you find at funerals of employees or their loved ones, delivering messages of condolences on behalf of the organisation.

Undoubtedly, welfare organisations require subordinates who are fully informed about all presenting issues to which the organisation is expected to respond and to continuously receive training on how to better respond to such issues. An organisation may for instance be required to adapt to technological development in order to ensure that employees with visual disabilities are also able to make use of technology. In such instances a leader may pull out her/his creativity and innovation virtues approach to leadership by exposing subordinates to the necessary training which is aimed at enabling them to accurately and from a technological point of view, respond to the presenting issues. To sum up, a virtues leader does find relevance of application in welfare organisation.

#### *5.1.5 Women leadership theories*

The need to prioritise women in leadership is triggered by the gender discrimination and gender inequality across many sectors of our society, particularly in leadership positions [19]. Proponents of the women leadership theories believe that men and women should understand barriers that prejudice women from assuming leadership roles and free women to assume these roles as opposed to how they are perceived [5]. This means that leaders should enable the working environment to be effective and efficient for women to also occupy leadership positions. Women's effectiveness in leadership positions is determined by their attitudes and acceptance of their leadership style in a particular context [5].

Organisations that are more tolerant and open to women's contribution in leadership can result in prosperity in their duties as leaders. By virtue of their primary aim being the promotion of social justice to vulnerable and marginalised sections of populations of whom most are women, all welfare organisations should somehow consider promoting women into leadership positions, by adopting the women in leadership theories. Women leaders may even be in a better position to steer these organisations towards a desired direction in their quest to respond to the presenting issues because they may have lived through such presenting issues themselves and may know better on how to respond to them. An organisation which seeks to respond to gender-based violence for instance may benefit from a women leader, particularly one who has lived through such experiences because she/he can lead by also drawing from her/his own experiences.

#### **5.2 Relationship oriented leaderships**

Relationship oriented leadership seeks to address job satisfaction, motivation and work-life balance among the employees [20]. The objective of leaders who adopt relationship-oriented approach to leadership is to promote support, motivation and develop or grow their employees. Although their interests are on achieving the organisational mission and objectives, they do so by prioritising support, motivation and development of employees. Under this type of leadership, one finds transformational leadership approach, power-influence leadership approach, servant leadership, leader-member exchange leadership, shared leadership, diversity, multicultural

leadership and team leadership. These approaches are introduced below, with the central argument for their incorporation into welfare organisation as part of the integrated leadership approach.

#### *5.2.1 Transformational leadership*

Transformational leadership is better known as visionary or charismatic leadership and it is future oriented and involves risk taking [2]. One of the central features of transformational leadership is the leader's ability to significantly transform both subordinates and organisations, using three main features: being visionary, the ability to identify core values and guiding people by giving purpose and using integrity [5, 6]. A transformational leader is a leader who leads subordinates by being creative in inspiring them to try more than their abilities by inventing innovative ideas [21]. Transformation leadership is realised when leaders and their followers motivate each other for the higher motivation and morality. Subordinates are motivated to do more than what is stated in the contract by focusing on their higher-level needs [21].

A question to be posed here is whether this type of leadership find relevance in a welfare organisation. Clearly any welfare organisation has a vision, mission, objectives and values upon which it is founded. One would somehow expect a leader of this organisation to be fully acquainted with the values and objectives and to develop some kind of vision regarding where the organisation is to be taken. If she/he is to attain the organisational objectives, such a leader will have to influence the *subordinate*s to somehow share her/his vision so that their activities are also geared towards such a vision. Such a leader will also have to know each of her/his subordinates' needs, values and beliefs so that she/he can motivate and inspire them towards achieving the organisational objective based on such needs, values and beliefs. She/he must make an employment setting an attractive centre for employees who will then develop a stronger sense of belonging to an extent that they do not consider performing their duties to be part of their employment contract, rather some kind of a "calling" as we normally hear.

A welfare organisation will undoubtedly benefit from this type of a leader especially because they deal with clients who are not contributing any income to these organisations because of the poor backgrounds from which they come and also do not have much of a revenue to really satisfy the employees. A welfare organisation will benefit from motivating employees to passionately go all out in assisting these client systems. Some of these organisations function purely on personnel who volunteer their services and continuous motivation may be critical for their survival. An argument can therefore be put forward that welfare organisations cannot necessarily function without a leader who is inspired and influenced by the transformative leadership approach.

#### *5.2.2 Power-influence leadership approach*

Power is the ability to exert an influence on others. Great leaders possess a clear vision to achieve their envisaged large-scale ideas as well as personal power to enact such ideas. They make use of power to attain the organisational goals [22]. According to the power-influence leadership approach, a leader needs to adopt a pragmatic behaviour in order for an organisation to succeed. A leader who leads from a powerinfluence approach to leadership can develop sufficient resources of power and influence in order to secure their needed support from subordinates, peers and superiors [5]. One of the proponents of this approach Pfeffer, argues that leader should refrain

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from looking at the world as just and fair, and instead begin to actively develop the skills necessary to acquire and use power.

The manifestation of power in organisational leadership can take a form of legitimate power; reward power; coercive power; expert power and referent power. A legitimate power is a form of power through which a leader influences subordinates' behaviours by virtue of the position that she/he holds in an organisation. It derives from the position of authority from within the organisation. If subordinates consider the power used as legitimate, they would normally comply [22]. An instruction from a manager to a subordinate to attend an urgent case by removing a child from an environment which is considered abusive to a place of safety will for instance be considered the exercise of legitimate power and such a subordinate is likely to conform to such an instruction. A reward power manifest when a leader influence subordinates by providing them with rewards through things like pay increase or bonuses, promotions, favourable work assignments, more responsibility, new equipment, praise and recognition [22].

Regarding coercive power, a leader influences the subordinates by punishing them or creating a perceived threat of punishment. In organisational context, this form of force is used through things like reprimands, undesirable work assignments, withholding key information, demotion, suspension or even dismissal [22]. For expert power to manifest, a leader make use of her/his recognised knowledge, skills or abilities to influence subordinates into executing assigned responsibilities. Experts such as physicians, computer specialists, tax consultants, economists and others are considered knowledgeable and therefore have the capacity to exert power by virtue of their expertise [22].

Finally, referent power involves a leader's ability to influence her/his subordinates because she/he is liked, admired and respected by these subordinates. It may even be inspired by the subordinates 'desire to be like such a leader. In other words, a subordinate who may be inspired by a leader and maybe considers such a leader to be a role model is likely to execute assigned responsibilities allocated by this leader meticulously. Just like I did with all forms of leadership, the critical question to be posed is whether power-influence leadership is relevant for adoption in leading welfare organisations and in such instance I would argue that yes, it is important to consider this type of leadership in some instances of the welfare organisations and I will explain why. Firstly, the legitimate power is normally a reality in all organisations. It may even happen without the conscious knowledge of both a leader and the subordinates because by their nature, leaders are considered to possess authority and their instructions or requests are always honoured. Of course, that will depend on whether such an instruction is done within the context of the values and objectives of the organisation.

Secondly, power-influence theory finds application in welfare organisation though the reward power wherein some leaders in welfare organisations have through systems such as the performance management system, put measures for recognising positive performance through promotions which include reward by increasing the salary notch. In some instances, reward power is applied by offering an employee who executed a duty expeditiously a day-off or an equivalent kind of reward. Some elements of expert power may also have been observed particularly from leaders who specialises in specific programmes such as professors managing certain portfolios within the welfare organisations, whose instructions are often highly regarded by virtue of their expertise status.

The relevance of power-influence theory can also be supported by referent power by virtue of them merely liking such a leader either because they are inspired by such a leader as a mentor or merely out of respect. This practice is also relevant in welfare organisations wherein several employees, especially those who are newly graduated develop some kind of admiration and draw inspiration from seniors within the organisations. The power-influence leadership approach is therefore suitable approach for welfare organisations, depending on the specific circumstances at a particular time.

#### *5.2.3 Servant leadership*

Servant leadership is at the very heart of most welfare organisations. The meaning of a servant leader emanates from the overall purpose of this kind of a leader which is to serve as opposed to lead. A servant leader's approach is that of a selfless leader. She/he leads by listening and supporting with the ultimate aim of building community [5]. The selflessness of a leader is one of the central values of a welfare organisation, which are mostly the so called non-profit organisation (NPOs). Here the passion towards nation or community building is the main driver as opposed to generating profits or any form of benefits for the organisation. Servant leaders are driven by the natural desire to serve first as opposed to your ordinary leaders whose first desire is to lead [23].

Whether a servant leadership can be an appropriate leadership approach for a welfare organisation should be considered in the context of the overall aim of these organisations which is mostly to assist people who are for whatever reason, unable to assist themselves. Factors such as the non-profit making nature of these organisations as well as their composition of staff who are sometimes volunteers should also be considered in determining whether servant leadership can be relevant. One can argue that a leader who leads these kind of organisations will also have to possess selfless values such as doing it for the goodwill of the community because their very purpose of existence is such goodwill. Her/his expectation of a payment should be superseded by the overall need to serve and contribute to society. This makes the servant leadership approach to be the relevant approach for welfare organisations along with the preceding forms of leadership.

#### *5.2.4 Leader-member exchange theory*

The leader-member exchange theory is a process approach because it focuses on the importance of the dynamic relationship between a leader and subordinates during the process of organisational existence. In the leader-member exchange theory, both the leader and subordinates are active participants [24]. The six dimensions of leadermember exchange theory are trust, liking, latitude, attention, support and loyalty [24]. In other words, there has to be some level of mutual trust between the leader and her/ his subordinates and they must both like the activities that make them to interact with one another. The nature of their exchange should be voluntary and not be restrained by some kind of rules or procedures while both of their full attention and loyalty to this exchange or relationship is important and where necessary mutual support be provided.

In terms of the leader-member exchange theory, the relationship that leaders have with their *subordinate*s is critical to the success of their organisation. It is believed that if leaders and *subordinate*s develop effective relationships which in turn lead to progressive mutual influence [5]. Ideally in any organisation, leaders will from time to time engage their *subordinate*s either for the latter to be briefed on the latter's operations or for the former to guide the latter on other better ways for improving organisational practices in order to ultimately realise the vision. For welfare organisations, the leader-member exchange is particularly important because leaders need

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to continuously redefine their organisational visions in light of the societal developments and then in turn update and support *subordinate*s regarding such redefined visions. S*ubordinate*s themselves may also engage the leader on a particular issue such as briefing on how a reported case was managed or on presenting plans for intervening on a presenting issue. The nature of work dynamics also shapes this leaderexchange theory like for example in situations where a subordinate lost a loved one and as a result become emotionally overwhelmed to an extent that she/he is unable to optimally execute her/his responsibilities. In such instance a leader may step in by either directly render some psychological intervention services or by referring such a subordinate for such services. The same can happen with a leader whom a subordinate can step in to see how she/he can support in situations of distress.

#### *5.2.5 Shared leadership*

A shared leadership is a type of leadership emanating from the members of a team as opposed to the appointed leader. It often involves the active involvement of the team members in the process of leadership and their fulfilment of leadership functions [25]. The shared leadership approach holds the view that leadership should be based on team work [5]. In other words, a leader who is influenced by shared leadership approach will promote a collective leadership among her/his subordinates.

A question which is to be posed in the context of this chapter is whether this type of leadership will really be necessary for a welfare organisation. I would argue that yes, it is because all activities are undertaken within the organisation should ultimately build up to its overall vision. Shared leaderships will ensure that members share this vision and values so that their efforts become well-coordinated towards an envisaged vision. It will ensure that subordinates and leaders have a very clear understanding of the vision and how it is to be realised.

#### *5.2.6 Diversity and multicultural leadership*

Diversity and multicultural leadership involve an approach to leadership wherein a leader adopts a multicultural competency such as cultural intelligence, cross-cultural communication skills, cross-cultural management of ethical issues, global mindset, and cosmopolitanism or curiosity about other different countries and cultures in order to effectively function in diverse cultural contexts [5].

Diverse and multicultural orientations among the employees or subordinates is common in organisations and a leader should clearly strive to accommodate them. She/he should accommodate them by recognising the diversity of each subordinate and achieve unity of common values and directions without necessarily causing any destruction to the uniqueness of each subordinate [26]. Such a leader will also have to be mindful of the diverse society from which the client systems come and ensure that they are also accommodated by providing the necessary accommodating leadership to her/his organisation. This kind of approach is even more important for our modern societies because cross-border interactions have become common as a result of digital revolution and the expansion of cross-border or international organisations. All of these opened space for diversity of multicultural practices which all need to be accommodated within these modern society. Some countries such as South Africa, the US and others are by their very nature culturally diverse and therefore necessitates organisations that are located or operating either physically or online in these areas to adopt this kind of approach.
