Theorizing collective leadership: Lessons from Ekpe, an indigenous African institution

Abstract

Significant academic effort has been expended in researching leadership. The essence has been to emphasize individualism, linearity, heroism, hierarchy, teleological thinking, and economic calculus – even when theorizing collective leadership. Yet, little is known about leadership in subaltern cultures in the global south. This study discursively explores collective leadership as practiced within a masculine indigenous African council-type governance institution known as Mgbe or Ekpe, in communities within the coastal regions of Cameroon and Nigeria. Data were generated from 20 in-depth interviews with elders of Ekpe institution, onsite observation in 42 communities, and visual interpretation of recorded imagery. Findings unveil a multi-leader construct and practice of leadership founded on communitarianism, egalitarianism, humility, and pursuit of social equilibrium. Data also reveal a process of collectiveness enacted through the becoming, being and embodying processes of member embeddedness. Collectiveness emerged as a multi-leader process of fluid role substitution and power-sharing. The study proposes a multi-leader framework to actualize collective leadership. This approach challenges the seeming inevitability of a dominant or focal leader as theorized in extant collective leadership scholarship. It further introduces recognition theory in leadership studies and identifies directions for future research.