Reframing leadership through imperfection: a golden repair leadership model for inclusive and authentic leadership in the Global South

April, K., Bourne, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9008-1769 and Dharani, B. (2025) Reframing leadership through imperfection: a golden repair leadership model for inclusive and authentic leadership in the Global South. Effective Executive, 28 (2). pp. 34-50. ISSN 0972-5172 doi: 10.71329/EffectiveExecutive/2025.28.2.34-50

Abstract/Summary

This paper introduces the Golden Repair Leadership Model (GRLM), a transformative framework grounded in the philosophies of Wabi Sabi, Kintsugi, and Ubuntu to reimagine leadership in the Global South. Challenging dominant Western ideals of perfectionism, individualism, and control, the model foregrounds imperfection, relationality, and spiritual inclusion as core tenets of authentic leadership. The GRLM unfolds through four developmental phases: Shattering, Sorting the Pieces, Golden Mending, and Display & Presence. These stages represent a journey from fragmentation toward embodied wholeness, wherein personal wounds and systemic marginalization are reframed as sources of ethical strength and communal repair. Drawing on narrative inquiry, emotional maturity, and decolonial sensibilities, the model positions leadership as an act of soul-work rather than performance. By affirming personal challenges and visible scars as testimonies of resilience and integrating spiritual epistemologies long excluded from organizational discourse, the GRLM offers a culturally resonant and psychologically robust alternative to conventional leadership paradigms. The framework calls for leaders to engage in visible vulnerability, relational authenticity, and strategic discernment – thereby fostering inclusive and humane organizational spaces. This paper contributes a critical and aesthetic reorientation of leadership, particularly suited to postcolonial contexts seeking epistemic justice and holistic transformation.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/123570
Identification Number/DOI	10.71329/EffectiveExecutive/2025.28.2.34-50
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Leadership, Organisations, Behaviour and Reputation
Publisher	IUP Publications
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item