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In response to the significant gap between strategy planning and execution, a conceptual model was developed in an attempt to close this gap, particularly in the public sector. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The paper is based on a literature review and participatory action research, stretching over ten case studies and eight years.

The MERIL-DE model integrates the identified “nine vital stratex components” of leadership, strategic planning, project management, alignment, MERIL (Measure, Evaluate, Report, Improve and Learn), drive, engagement, risk, and stakeholder management. The car analogy demonstrates this integration in a practical way.

The conceptual model should be used as guide in the tailoring of a unique MERIL-DE model or Stratex Car for each public sector organization (PSO), according to its unique context.

In designing a tailored “Stratex Car” based on the MERIL-DE model, it is believed to close this gap significantly. The strategy execution framework is presented as a tool to assess the total strategy execution capacity (TSEC) of PSOs.

This is a new conceptual model for the unique public sector context, focusing on successful strategy execution in the public sector.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that effective and ethical governance and government can and should benefit from many influences and inputs. These influences and inputs, in the form of evidence, information, knowledge and informed public participation contribute to the quality and legitimacy of government analysis and action.

The approach in this viewpoint is to use persuasive communication in an advocacy and illustrative way to introduce learning governance as an approach to governance.

The viewpoint states the case for the usefulness and relevance of evidence and ideas based learning governance linked to learning leadership in governance for effective and ethical leadership in governance.

The value of the viewpoint is to stimulate and elicit discussion and debate on learning governance and leadership as approach to governance leadership.

In the sub-region even though most entrepreneurial activities are borne out of necessity, such as need for employment, there are some entrepreneurs, particularly women who are opportunity-driven, who are pulled to start businesses due to the positives associated with the entrepreneurial journey. Opportunity-driven entrepreneurs start their businesses with an aim to fulfill a dream, realize a passion, or gain some independence and experience their autonomy. They are growth-oriented and develop creative ways to solve problems and effectively deal with challenges they face in their firms and satisfy the needs of their clients. Some female entrepreneurs in Ghana use innovative ways such as growth-oriented training, innovative recruitment, and selection practices. Innovation training practices, for instance reflect the personal values of the entrepreneur thus making innovation within the small and medium enterprises to be vision-led rather than market-led. Entrepreneurs who are innovative and growth-oriented provided proactive training and made use of technology to provide leadership and to better equip their employees.

Whereas leadership has existed on the continent of Africa as long as African peoples therein, the study of the same is limited in scope, depth and availability. Even as African scholars decry this dearth of available literature, they are at the same time actively involved in remedying the situation. In this chapter, the author attempts to answer a couple of questions: what is African about African Leadership? How can we engage in radical scholarship of African leadership? The author concludes with an invitation to readers of the edited volume to answer those two questions for themselves, as well as allow the chapters to help them rethink their own position and practices, arguing that leadership scholarship is always about both theory building and enhanced practice.

After several years of political emancipation from colonial rule, it is time for African nations to do the same economically. Our analysis indicates that the current political leadership environment is VUCA laden and complicated, leading to grand challenges on the continent. Therefore, the old political leadership models are inadequate for addressing the African VUCA and leadership landscape, hence, the inability to achieve the needed economic advancement. We propose a paradigm shift in political leadership for the continent to bring the decades-long desire for economic freedom to fruition by adopting the relevant organizational science and corporate leadership models for political leadership effectiveness in this complex and dynamic environment. We accomplish this by integrating three frameworks to derive nascent management and leadership capabilities relevant to the new African political leadership context and to ensure current and future leadership readiness for this new environment.

Prior COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that less than 50% of the world's population was able to obtain essential health services. These numbers have decreased with the onset of the pandemic. Concurrently, the pandemic has amplified the gaps in access and extended inequality in African contexts. This requires a concerted effort to reimagine and rebuild Africa's healthcare system to inclusively attend to the needs of society's most vulnerable populations. Women in leadership provide an opportunity to do this. Through the advancement of strategic leadership development focused on women and girls, developing African healthcare contexts have the potential to aid in the eradication of endemics like gender-based violence, extend community sustainability, and elevate the collective consciousness for women, girls, and other marginalized populations. Through this chapter, the authors present a compelling and holistic conceptual model and the accompanying practice grounded in transformational and adaptive leadership, systems thinking, and strategic social influence that creates the foundation for the development of women in leadership to advance developing African healthcare contexts. The implications for this emergent strategy advance the field of leadership calling for applied leadership within African healthcare contexts, advance society through a coordinated and integrated approach to healthcare service and patient care, and create direct linkages to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 – Good Health and Well-being, SDG 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 10 – Reduce Inequalities, and SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, while advancing our collective global community.

The devastating 2014 Ebola outbreak caused human and economic loss, but it also resulted in remarkable improvement in healthcare leadership. The impact is most evident in the affected West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In this chapter, the Ebola experience is used as a framework to explore the essential elements of healthcare leadership, with particular attention to healthcare crises in under-resourced communities. Overall, healthcare leadership presents unique challenges. In common with leaders of other industries, healthcare leaders must inspire others, create a sense of purpose, make difficult decisions and collaborate with a range of people. But, because their focus is on complex systems that aim to improve people's physical and mental well-being, expectations of healthcare leaders are especially high. Their work can be a matter of life or death. For the leader in an under-resourced area, the challenge and expectations are even higher, particularly in the face of new or emerging health threats. The key to effective healthcare leadership is systems thinking which involves looking at the entire system of care as an integrated whole, rather than discrete parts that operate in isolation. Healthcare leaders must understand that health means mobilizing multisectoral knowledge and resources and applying innovative and multiactor approaches to prevent, detect and address health problems. Since the 2014 Ebola crisis, healthcare leaders are increasingly using a systems approach by looking at the culture of health systems, the impact of diseases locally and globally, and the applicability of health interventions in different environments. In the post-Ebola era, steps to strengthen the healthcare system are described which includes the roles of healthcare leaders. These steps include deployment of field epidemiologists and community health agents, community education and fuller use of the One Health Platform, which allows actors from different sectors (human health, animal health and environmental health) to collaborate. Finally, suggestions for healthcare leadership training are offered.