What lies beneath? Exploring the challenges of authentic leaders within the oil industry

This developmental paper sets out the rationale and design for a study exploring the challenges of authentic leadership within Nigeria’s oil sector, a key driver of Africa’s largest economy. While authentic leadership has gained prominence as a corrective to ethical failings and declining trust in leadership, the construct remains conceptually fragmented, normatively framed, and predominantly shaped by Western contexts. Such framing risks overlooking the lived realities of leaders in developing economies, where socio political, regulatory uncertainty, and ethical tensions influence leadership practice.

The study proposes a phenomenological approach underpinned by interpretivism to capture leaders lived experiences in this complex setting. Authentic leaders will be identified through follower nominations, ensuring that authenticity reflects recognition by subordinates rather than self-assertion. Semi structured interviews will provide rich qualitative data, with analysis following a systematic coding process to surface both explicit accounts and underlying meanings. Reflexivity, member checking, and peer debriefing are planned to enhance transparency and rigour.