Exploration of how ethical leadership is understood in the Zimbabwe non-governmental organizations sector

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how ethical leadership is understood in the Zimbabwe NGOs sector among the eight selected NGO leaders and three key informants who participated in the research. A qualitative methodology was employed and detailed interviews were conducted with the study participants to collect the required data. Accordingly, the research design is a multiple case study taking a cross-sectional form. Data collection involves semi-structured interviews focused on exploring the study participants’ views on ethical leadership based on their expertise and lived experiences working in or with the NGOs within the Zimbabwe context. Data analysis used thematic analysis based on the themes identified in the literature. The major finding was that ethical leadership comprises ethical values, moral competence and good conduct in society with the objective to respond to societal needs and problems for the common good. From the findings, it is concluded that ethical leadership might appear easy to understand conceptually but clearly difficult to practise consistently due to a number of contextual factors that include personal values and prevailing economic situation.

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