Development of a culturally sensitive leadership effectiveness measurement tool for Sri Lanka.

Abstract

With most countries facing an aging population and talent scarcity it is essential that organisations develop and gain maximum results from all available talent irrespective of their gender. Female labour force participation in Sri Lankan is increasing. However, this is not translating to better representation of women at senior management or leadership levels in organisations. The funneling out of females weakens the leadership pipeline of organisations. The survival of an organisation is significantly dependent on its leadership, hence if the leadership weakens then so will the organisation. Therefore, it is important for organisations to detect what are the influencing factors behind the country’s current status quo. There are many definitions of a leadership and effective leadership. Most definitions address the relationship and acceptance between the leader and follower. Researchers have also extensively studied the connection between gender and leadership. However, these studies give diverse views, hence it is an area that still has ambiguity. The research and data available on women in leadership in Sri Lanka is limited. Furthermore, measurement tools available for evaluating leadership effectiveness are also limited and none have been developed specifically for Sri Lanka. In this paper we depict the development of a tool to evaluate leadership effectiveness taking into consideration the cultural perceptions and expectation of the country.