Shokunbi, O., Eke, P., Oriade, A., Olusanmi, C., Adekunle, A., Akintola, O. and Adisa, Olalekan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8006-7736 (2026) Beyond the Western Lens: Rethinking Dark Leadership in Anglophone West African SMEs. Human Resource Development International. (In Press)

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Abstract

This study reconceptualises the notion of “dark leadership” within Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in five Anglophone West African countries – The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone – challenging its universal negative framing in Western scholarship. Drawing on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Schwartz’s value theory, and Ubuntu principles, and using qualitative data from 20 semi-structured interviews, the study explores how traits often labelled as authoritarian, manipulative, or paternalistic are socially constructed and legitimised in contexts marked by resource scarcity, institutional fragility, and communal norms. Findings reveal that while such behaviours can catalyse creativity, innovation, and operational resilience under uncertainty, they also pose ethical dilemmas and risks to employee well-being. The study advances Human Resource Development (HRD) by advocating culturally sensitive leadership development programmes that balance authority with fairness, structure with empathy, and control with voice. It calls for a pluralistic paradigm that integrates indigenous ethics with global HRD principles to foster adaptive hybridity as a lever for organisational resilience and sustainable growth in African SMEs.
Keywords: Dark Leadership, Anglophone West Africa, SMEs, Cross-Cultural Leadership, Human Resource Development (HRD)

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
School/Department:	London Campus
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/15352

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