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Ubuntu – “I Am Because We Are”

Servant Leadership in South Africa

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Abstract

While most servant leadership research originates in North America and China, the concept is gaining attention in practice and academia in South Africa, resonating with the humaneness and communality that is the African concept of ubuntu. This chapter first provides an overview of servant leadership scholarship in South Africa and then shares results of three servant leadership workshop exercises conducted with diverse South African professionals. The results confirmed most dimensions of existing servant leadership models but also included the concept of ubuntu, a worldview based in dignity and connectedness, rooted in African philosophy, causing us to reflect abductively and speculate on the possible unique nature of ubuntu’s inclusion in servant leadership in South Africa. Third, we unpack what is meant by ubuntu, examining how it has been brought into management practices in South African organizations, and then explore the relationship between ubuntu and servant leadership. We conclude with implications for research and management practices in South Africa and beyond.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Resource Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Kim E. Dowdeswell & Jenny M. Hoobler

  2. Nova School of Business and Economics, Lisbon, Portugal

    Jenny M. Hoobler

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  1. Kim E. Dowdeswell
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Correspondence to Kim E. Dowdeswell .

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  1. Robertson School of Government, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA, USA

    Gary E. Roberts

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Dowdeswell, K.E., Hoobler, J.M. (2023). Ubuntu – “I Am Because We Are”. In: Roberts, G.E. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Servant Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01323-2_57

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