Influence Matters: Leader Influence Behaviours of Primary School Heads in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Abstract Poor leadership and management among some school heads in Zimbabwe has been foregrounded as a cause for concern. Questions are being raised about school heads’ ability to influence teachers in their day-to-day practice. Hence, this qualitative ethnographic study with a focus on leader influence behaviours employed by school heads to motivate teachers to attain school goals. Two schools were purposively sampled and at each school the school head and five teachers were selected as participants. Data was generated using interviews and participant observation. The study found that school heads utilised a variety of influence behaviours in the different core areas of their work. A blend, instead of the use of just one influence behaviour at a time increased the chances of a positive outcome. The researchers concluded that to be a good leader a school head ought to deploy a cocktail of leader influence behaviours that is context dependent.