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Whereas leadership has existed on the continent of Africa as long as African peoples therein, the study of the same is limited in scope, depth and availability. Even as African scholars decry this dearth of available literature, they are at the same time actively involved in remedying the situation. In this chapter, the author attempts to answer a couple of questions: what is African about African Leadership? How can we engage in radical scholarship of African leadership? The author concludes with an invitation to readers of the edited volume to answer those two questions for themselves, as well as allow the chapters to help them rethink their own position and practices, arguing that leadership scholarship is always about both theory building and enhanced practice.

The purpose of this paper is to present the diversity and equality perspectives from the national context of India and introduce a special issue about equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in India.

This special issue consists of six articles on current EDI issues in India. The first three of the contributions are focused on descriptions of diversity challenges and policies regarding caste and disabilities, while the remaining three papers address gender diversity.

In addition to providing an overview of this issue's articles, this paper highlights developments and current themes in India's country-specific equality and diversity scholarship. Drawing on the special issue's six papers, the authors show the relevance of Western theories while also pointing to the need for reformulation of others in the context of India.

The authors conclude with a call to further explore diversity in India and to develop locally relevant, culture-sensitive theoretical frameworks. Religious and economic diversity should receive more attention in future diversity management scholarship in the Indian context.

How does India experience equality and diversity concepts? How are India's approaches similar or different from those experienced in other countries? How do theoretical frameworks originated in the West apply in India? Are new, locally grounded frameworks needed to better capture the developments at play? These questions are addressed by the contributions to this special issue.

The purpose of this paper is to further restore diversity and equality to its national contexts by presenting new and so far less visible perspectives from under-researched countries.

This special issue consists of five articles representing four countries and one country-cluster: Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Korea and the English-speaking Caribbean. Three of the contributions are focused on gender diversity, while the remaining two are more general descriptions of diversity challenges and policies in the respective countries (namely, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the English-speaking Caribbean).

In addition to providing an overview of this issue’s articles, this paper highlights developments and current themes in country-specific equality and diversity scholarship. In particular, drawing on the special issue’s five papers, and building on the main threads that weave the special issue together, the authors show both the relevance of (some) western theories while also pointing to the need for reformulation of others.

The authors conclude with a call to further explore under-researched contexts and especially to develop locally relevant, culture-sensitive theoretical frameworks.

How do smaller and less developed countries experience equality and diversity concepts? How are their approaches different from those experienced in already researched countries, or, on the contrary, what commonalities can be found found among them? How do theoretical frameworks originated in the West apply (or not) in these less studied countries? Are new, locally grounded frameworks needed to better capture the developments at play? Such are questions addressed by the contributions to this special issue.

The purpose of this paper is to explicate spiritual leadership lessons of beneficence, courage, hope and ubuntu/humanness that are derived from the experiences of women leaders in Kenya. The paper seeks to connect African data with existing literature on spiritual leadership, to demonstrate where African spiritual leadership is similar to, or different from, western conceptualizations of spiritual leadership.

The study from which this paper is derived employed qualitative methods, specifically interviews with supplemental archival data and observations. Four major themes are explored: beneficence, courage, hope/forbearance and ubuntu/humanness as emerging from the women's leadership stories. These four themes are compared and contrasted against existing literature on spiritual leadership.

It is found that beneficence, courage, and hope are comparable to existing western conceptualizations, whereas ubuntu is unique to the African context.

The paper and the larger study were derived from interviews with 16 participants; as such, generalization was not a goal. The paper provides a deeper understanding of spiritual leadership as enacted by African women, with implications for the need for increased research on non‐western, non‐white perspectives on the phenomenon.

Readers may relate to the women's stories and be both informed and inspired towards their own social justice leadership.

Whereas the paper is derived from field research conducted in 2005 and published variously in other sources as cited, this paper takes an original perspective in comparing and contrasting African and western understandings of spiritual leadership, and expanding the understanding of the same in a novel way not done in previous publications.

In the sub-region even though most entrepreneurial activities are borne out of necessity, such as need for employment, there are some entrepreneurs, particularly women who are opportunity-driven, who are pulled to start businesses due to the positives associated with the entrepreneurial journey. Opportunity-driven entrepreneurs start their businesses with an aim to fulfill a dream, realize a passion, or gain some independence and experience their autonomy. They are growth-oriented and develop creative ways to solve problems and effectively deal with challenges they face in their firms and satisfy the needs of their clients. Some female entrepreneurs in Ghana use innovative ways such as growth-oriented training, innovative recruitment, and selection practices. Innovation training practices, for instance reflect the personal values of the entrepreneur thus making innovation within the small and medium enterprises to be vision-led rather than market-led. Entrepreneurs who are innovative and growth-oriented provided proactive training and made use of technology to provide leadership and to better equip their employees.

This chapter explores the leadership role of Catholic Sisters in Africa and the changing understanding of their role in the larger society. The study draws on field research examining the impact of a leadership training program for women leaders of Catholic Sisters in East Africa. The chapter notes how the Sisters readily identified with how leadership among local women functions in a group-based and situational manner, rather than alone or in terms of clear hierarchical protocols more typical of men.

The program encouraged the women religious to become more active in the public sector to advocate for policies related to their experience of providing services to the people to have a multiplier effect. Some were initially not too open to the idea of their Sisters engaging with politicians.

However, after completing the training program many congregational leaders came to understand the importance of encouraging their more articulate members to become proactive in promoting public policies in the areas of basic education, health, and social development.

Along this line, Major Superiors of women's congregations quickly recognized that the UN-declared Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) not only describe much of the work that their Sisters have been doing for years but also the need to prod their governments to make good on their commitments to realize them. These opened the door both for advocacy and eventual partnerships in the service of the common good of their people.

Leading change oftentimes comes down to creating the conditions to shift the status quo of an organization, community, or nation. In the case of the pan-African movement, this is about a shift of the status quo continentally. We look back and learn how these changes took place, we study the impacts, the moves that allowed people to emerge differently, to lead effective change. The outcomes of leading this effective change often point to a shift in the status quo. That shift in how people organize and led change gets written in history books. In this scenario, we have the unique opportunity to examine these cases as emergent, hearing firsthand accounts of those individuals, people, organizations, and communities that are shaping the movements. This is that account of how leadership is conceptualized, redefined, and practiced by emerging actors across the continent today.

“Action without thought is empty; thought without action is blind” (Kwame Nkrumah). Nkrumah's sentiments describe a practice of leadership that is intentional and disrupts arbitrary borders and dividers to build a strong pan-African movement. Emerging actors today are leading change on the African continent by shaping a new vision and framework for African leadership. By understanding their stories, we deepen understanding of this framework.

In this chapter, we will share the stories of three individuals (chapter co-authors) who are exercising leadership at the intersections of grassroots organizing and political engagement, and in doing so, who are seeking to shift the status quo. Each practice-based account offers insight and firsthand accounting of how a rising generation is redefining leadership at local, regional, and transnational levels.