Defining Leadership in Transitioning Countries: A Case Study of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova

• In Event: Bridging Generations for Youth Leadership Development

Short Description

The purpose of this research was to examine perceptions of leadership between two generational groups that experienced very different types of leadership in two former Soviet republics. The presenters will examine shifting cultural, generational, and language paradigms, providing contextualized richness to the understanding of leadership.

Detailed Abstract

This qualitative research project was focused on examining and interpreting leadership concepts among local populations in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, two relatively new independent Eastern European counties with 25 years of a post communist history of transition. These countries were selected for the study due to their unique position historically, politically, and geographically, as well as the wide-spread changes in leadership they experienced during the last quarter of a century of independence. Both Ukraine and Moldova were part of a federal multinational soviet state, and consequently, older and younger generations lived through similar yet different post-Soviet experiences. Since the post-socialist transition process is a quintessential experience for all generations in Ukraine and Moldova, leadership interpretations within this case study were viewed from a generational perspective in that specific region. Many former Soviet states are still going through the long complicated transformation process where older generations carry memories of the earlier systems, while younger people born in independent developing states combine collective memories of the past with a unique experience of the present.

The purpose of the study was to examine perceptions of leadership among two generational groups in two former Soviet republics, who have experienced very different types of leadership. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted in six cities throughout East, West, South and Central Ukraine and in rural and urban parts of Moldova. A qualitative interview guide was based on a US-developed quantitative instrument – the Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI). The study design was linked to the statistical research results from a previous Ukrainian LPI project, using adapted and translated (Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian) versions of the scale. Interview questions were designed based on five key LPI themes: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. Analysis of the data was based in an understanding that leadership should be viewed as a socially-constructed, context-sensitive, dynamic construct. This research approach thus examined how leadership discourse reflects cultural and language paradigms within respective countries and contributes to a contextualized richness in an understanding of leadership.


Qualitative interview data enabled the researchers (both locals and outsiders) to look at the wording that the Ukrainian and Moldovan respondents used to express their understanding of leadership concepts. Systematic analysis of in-depth interviews demonstrated the uniqueness of perceptions and meanings in the two countries. Findings suggested that there are some differences in the understanding and interpretation of leadership between younger and older generations. The representatives of the older generation share attributes such as “fairness” and their concept of leadership corresponds somewhat to Soviet leadership models. The younger generation didn't appear to have a well-formed model, but still differs from the older group. Qualitative data demonstrated how older generations bring their communist experiences into definitions of leaderships, whereas youth in both countries define leadership differently, since they grew up within independent states, with new country borders, and yet with an old socialist legacy and an ongoing pro-West vs. pro-Russia debate. Ukrainian and Moldovan youth seem to share a high level of disillusionment in local leaders, which may well have an impact on the future of two countries as they move into a new and challenging period in their development as nations.

Key words: leadership, Ukraine, Moldova, leadership practice inventory (LPI).

Participants

• Svitlana Buko

• Diana Mirza Grisco

• Boyd Johnson, Indiana Wesleyan University