Views on Leadership Preferences: An Analysis Across Generations and National Cultures

This thesis focuses on Implicit Leadership Theory (ILT), which concerns people’s beliefs and assumptions about ideal leaders. Understanding people’s leadership preferences is thought to be crucial in understanding positive outcomes (Epitropaki and Martin, 2005; Subramaniam, Othman, and Sambasivan, 2010; Epitropaki et al., 2013; Junker and van Dick, 2014; Sharifirad, 2021). Studies have shown that ILTs can vary based on several factors. Two of the most important of these factors are generations (Salahuddin, 2010; Driscoll, 2018) and national cultures (House et al., 2004; Paris et al., 2009). Thus, my principal concern is to explore the influences of generational and national culture differences on leadership preferences. My research is exploratory, so data were obtained from in-depth interviews with 68 individuals, split almost equally between Turkey and the UK. My findings allow me to contribute to the literature in several ways. First and foremost, my research contributes to ILT by investigating its relationship with generational and national culture differences. I found more similarities across generations in leadership preferences than differences, so this study supports and extends research showing little to no generational influences on the leadership preferences of people. Thus, my study contributes to the literature that challenges the idea that ILTs vary significantly according to generations. My research also suggests that generations are essentially a social construct rather than a material ‘reality’, functioning as a sensemaking tool that simplifies people’s ability to judge social situations quickly and efficiently. Hence, this study not only challenges the literature that refers to the role of generational differences in ILTs but also offers alternative explanations for the generations research, debunking the widely held assumptions about generations and generational differences. I found strong similarities in leadership preferences between Turkey and the UK. This challenges the relationships between national cultures and ILTs. To explore this further, I introduced the concept of ‘cultural sensemaking’ as an alternative way to analyse cultures. I also highlighted the notion of cultural change that disrupts the assumption of cultural stability. These findings, therefore, not only question the literature that points to the impact of national cultures on ILTs but also open doors for new understandings in the field. I presented three practical conclusions from my study. Firstly, the attributed behaviours and characteristics I developed from my data can be utilised in leadership development programmes, as similar leaders are desirable across generations and national cultures. Secondly, my research raises doubts about recommendations tailoring leadership styles to generations. Thirdly, my findings challenge the notion of generational differences —more of a belief than a reality. This calls for leaders to consider the importance of communication and sensegiving strategies to overcome potential misunderstandings arising from such belief.