Leadership Development and Succession Planning of Faith Based Organizations in Kenya: A Case of International Christian Centre (Icc), Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Organizations have certain leadership positions that they believe are key in both short and long-term periods. These positions are regarded as such because they mitigate the risks of an organization in terms of its knowledge base and their positioning relative to the competition. Many organizations, however, have not been keen on enabling their own staff rise through the ranks to take up these positions in order to allow a smooth transition process. The dynamic business environment continues to challenge such organizations. To counter this scenario, organizations must place their best management practices strategically. One way of achieving this is through succession planning. This study assessed the role of succession planning in leadership development of faith-based organizations with specific focus on the International Christian Centre (ICC), Nairobi. The specific objectives of the study were to: find out whether top management support, organizational structure, resources availability, and organizational culture influences leadership development at International Christian Centre (ICC), Kenya. Transformative Leadership theory was employed in the study, as supported by Behavioural Theory of Leadership. Descriptive research design was used, while the census survey was used to settle on all 120 employees of ICC. A self- administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The study found that majority of the respondents were confident that the top management of the organization was providing support to leadership development. This was done by internally filling key positions, active promotion of leadership development programs, and expansion of financial support. In addition, majority of the respondents indicated that resource availability influenced leadership development. This was achieved through provision of a budget and training of staff. Majority of the respondents were also in agreement that organization structure affected leadership development. This was achieved through having an active leadership development programme, identification of employees, and development of leaders through the organizational structure. The culture of the organization was also found to influence leadership development. The study concluded that top management support, organizational structure, resource availability, and organizational culture influence leadership development. The study recommends that the organization develops and implements a formal succession plan that should be widely circulated for all staff in the organization to be aware of it. It suggests that future studies be conducted within a similar subject area, though in different sectors such as family-based organizations, political organizations, and government organizations.