Lived experiences of gay men in their achievement of leadership in South African organisations

Abstract

There is a noticeable absence of the voices of gay men in leadership in South African government and corporate organisations. This absence of visible gay male leadership in organisations in South Africa, coupled with the limited research in a South African context, gave rise to the research topic. This qualitative study investigated the lived experiences of gay men in their achievement of leadership with a focus on the possible barriers or obstacles they may have encountered and overcome to realise their leadership positions. The study was conducted through interviews with South Africa citizens working in mainstream South African organisations; some participants also had personal experiences working in multinational organisations allowing for a comparison between the multinational workspace and the South African workspace. By utilising snowball sampling methods, eleven participants were purposefully selected from a sample of self-identified cisgender gay men. The selected participants had all openly revealed their same-sex sexual orientation to the organisations where they worked and were all working in senior leader roles. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with the participants and later transcribed, and rigorously analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis methods. The findings of the study identified that gay cisgender males in mainstream South African organisations do indeed encounter barriers relating to prejudice based on their same-sex sexual orientation. These barriers may impede their professional development and growth into senior leadership positions. It was found that some gay men possess internal resources or enablers that allow them to overcome existing barriers and advance into successful leaders in their careers. Similarly, progress has been made in some South African organisations, allowing them to provide a culture and environment of safety and support for gay men, enabling these men to realise their aspirations of senior leadership. By combining senior leadership who are supportive and involved in LGBTI+ affirmative practices and implementing workplace processes like LGBTI+ forums and inclusivity,

and awareness training programmes, organisations may create cultures where LGBTI+ people may flourish and advance to senior leadership roles in South African organisations.