DRUM BEATS FROM THE RAIN FOREST: Leadership Development in the Àyàn Family of Drummers in Southwest Nigeria - A Grounded Theory (Short Title: ‘Drum Beats’) Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of The University of Liverpool (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) For the degree of Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) By Ārámǐdé Títílaȳ ọ̀ Olúfọlakẹ́ Àjàyí December 2017 ABSTRACT ‘Láìsí ìlù kòsí ìlú’ (Without the drum, there is no town) In some age-old, pastoral towns and villages of south-western Nigeria, reside familial generational homesteads with a peculiarity that distinguishes them from the Yorùbá ethnic group they belong. The lineage is the Àyàn family. Their uniqueness is the talking drum. The life of the Àyàn revolves around the talking drum – from birth through development to death. A symbolic culture (Winkler, 2010; Omojola, 2010; Olusegun, 2015) accentuated by learning (Olaniyan and Olatunji, 2014), an apex of their developmental existence is the rise to leadership position of the ‘master’ (or lead) drummer (Bankole et al, 1975). A challenge is that the Àyàn leadership development method is generally informal, unstructured and undocumented. The end point of this research is a formal documentation of this leadership development style in a manner that can be applied to leadership practice. In achieving this objective, the investigation juxtaposes this unexplored, unconventional process with formal, distinctive academic models of leadership towards an academic construct of the Àyàn leadership development method. This interpretivist research emphasises the wealth of individual perceptions of respective realities (Potter, 1996 cited in Nightingale and Cromby, 2002). The thesis used grounded theory to academically understand how Àyàns develop their leaders. From the interviews, the research revealed that Àyàns prepare leadership by employing the interconnected pillars of learning, ambiguity, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, symbolic leadership and mentoring. The Àyàns expressed themselves as a group that willingly embraces the ambiguous as an avenue to learn. For example, they believe leaders are born and made. They aver that Àyàn was both male and female; both divinity and humanity; worshiped and yet not worshiped. The study also revealed that training the next generation of drummers involves periods of apprenticeship where there are rewards for doing well and vice versa. This transactional approach is balanced by the transformational methods of role modelling, inspiring and encouraging the trainee. There is a natural segue into the mentor-protégé relationship wherein the former takes responsibility for the growth, development and improvement of the latter. Lastly, drum symbolism is evident in Àyàn leadership development wherein the instrument is variously viewed as a god, an angel, a living being and the embodiment of Àyàn himself/herself. 1 The end point of the investigation was an academic explanation of the unstructured leadership development process of the Àyàn family. The result of this effort was a model that emerged out of the findings. The model revealed (6) development pillars founded on respective theories of leadership – learning, ambiguity, transactional, transformational, symbolic and mentoring. The development of the doctoral practitioner and action research were integrated as reflective pauses, poetry and vignettes in the body of the research. These were textual expressions of the multiple voices, perceptions and paradigms that constantly and continuously impacted the lived realities of the researcher in the course of the study. The study was not carried out in isolation from the professional world, as the researcher was able to integrate these concepts into the workplace. The first point was the need for a strong core of values (‘the drum’) around which organisational culture, understanding and behaviours would revolve - much like the Àyàns and their instrument. The institution upon which the findings were applied is an educational establishment that caters for the first eleven years of the child. It was founded in 1962. As the Àyàns focus on the drum and the training of the next generation of lead drummers for sustainability, the organisation, as a parallel, focuses on the child and the development of the teaching staff for organisational sustainability. To this end, the school built its set of values around the acronym-phrase, ‘L.E.A.R.N. the Child’:- Listen (to the child); Empathise (with the child); Appreciate (the child); Read and write (with the child); Nurture (the child) Just as the Àyàns teach leadership from childhood through the drum, this institution focuses on the child’s learning development facilitated by the continuous training, improvement and advancement of the teaching staff, to become experts in childhood learning. Full stakeholder (especially parents’ and staff) support was achieved through the adoption of a congruent approach that addressed respective crucial concerns i.e. focusing on developing the child (addressing parents concerns) and the learning provider (addressing teacher concerns). By resolutely concentrating on what matters to their longevity, Àyàn’s drums just might continue beating in perpetuity. 2 DEDICATION Lovingly and thankfully dedicated to my Mother, Victoria Arínọlá Àjáyí (Nẹ́e Kọ́láwọlé) (July 4, 1930 – October 18, 2017) (C.F. Mott College, University of Liverpool, 1958) “This is just the beginning …THANK YOU!” 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT “It takes a whole village to raise a child” (Nigerian Proverb) The permitted word count cannot accommodate everyone that should be acknowledged. I remain thankful for every support, motivation and encouragement received on this highly engaging journey. This research would not have been ‘raised’ without you. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Number Abstract 1 Dedication 3 Acknowledgement 4 Chapter 1 Introduction and Background 6 Chapter 2 Literature Review 23 Chapter 3 Methodology, Data, Findings 66 Chapter 4 Discussion 128 Chapter 5 Action Research, Implications for Practice, Conclusion 148 Bibliography 158 Appendices 169 5 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1.1 THE PURPOSE OF STUDY (RESEARCH PROBLEM) In the ancient, rustic towns and villages of south-western Nigeria, reside familial generational homesteads with a peculiarity that distinguishes them from the Yorùbá ethnic group which they belong. The lineage is the Àyàn family. Their uniqueness is the talking drum. The life of the Àyàn revolves around the talking drum – from birth through development to death. A symbolic culture (Winkler, 2010; Omojola, 2010; Olusegun, 2015) accentuated by learning (Olaniyan and Olatunji, 2014), an apex of their developmental existence is the rise to leadership position of the ‘master’ (or lead) drummer (Bankole et al, 1975). However, their approach to leadership development is generally informal, unstructured and undocumented. This study juxtaposes the unexplored, unconventional leadership development process of the Àyàn family with formal, distinctive academic models of leadership towards building a structured, scholastic, empirical explanation of the Àyàn leadership method. Like the human body, leadership metamorphoses with time (Kohl, 2010). By deduction, leadership theories and definitions also change and shift with the passage of time. Indeed, from the multiplication of leadership theories over decades, various leadership models have emerged (Northouse, 2015) some in direct conflict with others (Yukl, 1999). However, this time-sensitive permutation is not the case with the Àyàn family, who have sustained their leadership development approach for centuries. Theirs is a culture that grooms leaders for continuity within wider family and communal settings. Thus, while formal leadership theories and definitions constantly evolve and sometimes conflict over time, the Àyàn’s method of developing leaders has retained its essence for hundreds of years. The purpose of this research is to academically illustrate the development of leaders within the Àyàn family. As stated, their approach to leadership preparation is, for the most part, oral, informal and unstructured. This ambiguous conceptualisation of training their leaders is positioned against selected academic leadership theories to generate a scholarly explanation of the Àyàn phenomenon. Therefore, the research ‘stands on the shoulders’ of leadership theories to describe how the Àyàns develop their leaders. The study also attempts to unearth why their nonconformist approach has successfully defied time, society and related dynamics. It may be the discovery of a leadership ‘fountain of youth’, which is a neotenic (Bennis and Thomas, 2004) leadership model that remains relevant, regardless of the epoch and the 6 environment. In an extensive discussion of leadership theories and models, Northouse (2015) outlined thirteen leadership models viz.: trait, skills, behavioural, situational, path-goal, leader-member exchange, transformational, authentic, servant, adaptive, psychodynamic, ethical and team models - some of which are discussed in Chapter 2. He also introduced emerging leadership discourses around gender and culture. The effort was to evaluate leadership studies over the past decades till the present. He sought to explore, explain and evaluate the concept of leadership. From his analysis, one understands that leadership theories have also experienced their own rebirths and transformations as their respective propounders and researchers created more knowledge.