Abstract
The world of work today seems characterised by a rich heterogeneity and diversity, that is, people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, and personalities who are expected to work as one. One of the challenges facing the South African public service consists in harnessing and transforming the diversity of its workforce into a competitive advantage for the benefit of all South Africans. There is thus a need to foster a spirit of connectedness and inclusivity to realise an environment that is conducive to the promotion of efficiencies and improved production of goods and services. Fostering connectedness and inclusivity in a diverse setting constitutes one of the key functions of leadership and, by way of implication, an enabler of organisational success. Hence, the choice of a leadership style can make or break an organisation. The leadership style utilised should be carefully selected based on its capacity to harness the differences stemming from diversity for the benefit and success of the organisation. Utilising a phenomenological approach, this research explored the role of leadership style in promoting connectedness and inclusivity in a diverse setting. Three (3) South African national government departments participated in focus group discussions, with each department forming a focus group of senior managers. An interview guide was used by the researcher to guide the interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, analysed and arranged into themes. Seven (7) themes that emerged are connectedness, inclusivity & diversity, democratic leadership style, autocratic leadership style, laissez-faire leadership style, transactional leadership style, and transformational leadership style. The researcher employed the narrative approach to narrating the participants’ responses and used direct quotes in some instances. The recommendations inferred that leadership styles do indeed play a role in promoting connectedness and inclusivity in a diverse workplace. The significance of the study resides in that it affords insight into the leadership styles that are appropriate for diverse settings such as the South African public service.
Keywords: Connectedness, inclusivity, diversity, leadership, public serviceni