The development and validation of two equivalent organisational leadership scales from an Afrocentric perspective

Orientation: Organisational leadership (OL) is a vital yet complex, context-specific phenomenon, mainly conceptualised and measured from a Western-centric perspective. Research purpose: This study develops and validates a context-specific instrument, the organisational leadership scale (OLS), to measure OL. Motivation for the study: Leadership is often treated as a universal concept, measured by decontextualised Western instruments, overlooking contextual nuances. This study addresses this gap by creating an emic tool for OL assessment. Research approach/design and method: Adopting a positivistic paradigm, this quantitative, cross-sectional research comprises two studies. Study 1 used interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) to identify 32 unidirectional items. Study 2 validated a refined 19-item instrument, testing both unidirectional and multidirectional items, with measurement invariance assessed across private and public sectors. Main findings: Two equivalent OLS versions were developed: a unidimensional model with 19 unidirectional items and a bifactor model with constructive and destructive OL sub-factors (multidirectional items). Wording direction slightly influenced responses, but no measurement invariance was found. Practical/managerial implications: The OLS offers reliable tools for leadership development and coaching, enhancing methodological approaches through multidirectional items and bifactor analysis. Contribution/value-add: This study provides a context-specific, emic instrument for assessing OL, available in two validated versions, advancing leadership research and practice, also globally, for instance, in similar collectivistic cultures.