IMPACT OF AGE, TENURE, SENIORITY, FAITH, AND GENDER ON AUTHENTIC AND CREDIBLE LEADERSHIP
Abstract
Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of age, tenure, seniority, faith, and gender on authentic and credible leadership in a fintech company in Nairobi, Kenya.
Methodology: The study employed a quantitative methodology and survey design. A simple random sample was used to select participants from a Kenya-based fintech company in Nairobi. Using a self-administered questionnaire, the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) developed by Walumbwa et al. (2008) data were collected from 58 respondents and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics including chi-square tests were carried out.
Findings: The analysed results revealed a statistically significant association between faith and authenticity (Χ² = 34.644, p = 0.000), between tenure and authenticity (Χ² = 28.175, p = 0.016), and between seniority and authenticity (Χ² = 23.195, p = 0.026). No significant association was found between age and authenticity (Χ² = 8.32, p = 0.081), or between gender and authenticity (Χ² = 3.559, p = 0.169). Among the four components of authentic leadership, participants ranked the internalized moral perspective as the most important, recording the highest aggregate mean (M = 4.29, SD = 0.54).
Conclusion: The study concludes that faith, tenure, and seniority are significantly associated with authentic and credible leadership, while age and gender are not. Internalized moral perspective emerged as the highest-rated dimension of authentic leadership, indicating that leaders' alignment of personal values with action is the most critically perceived component of authenticity in the Kenyan fintech organizational context.
Recommendation: Organizations in the fintech industry and similar sectors in Kenya should invest in leadership development programs that strengthen internalized moral perspective, particularly for leaders across varying tenure and seniority levels, given the demonstrated relationship between these variables and authentic leadership.
Keywords: Authenticity, Credibility, Authentic Leadership, Credible Leadership, Leadership.
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