Leadership in the Context of Plantation Sector of Sri Lanka:Exploring the Style, Behavior and Perspectives of Estate Managers

The paper explores the nature of managerial leadership within the estate working environment in the plantation sector of Sri Lanka by with a focus on estate managers. A survey of literature and a qualitative review carried out with the top most administrators of and expert stakeholders to this sector has led to development of a validated structured questionnaire, which was used to gather data from the Senior Estate Managers (n = 65) with more than 10 years of experience and are attached to 8 key Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) in Sri Lanka by means of an in-depth personal interview. The premise of the article is the examination of the behavioral dimensions of leadership as rendered by estate managers. The outcome of analysis proves that most managers believed the leadership style that prevails in their organizations showed “empowering” characteristics; not a completely empowered culture but one where managers are empowered within the work environment. Further respondents preferred a more “consensual” nature of leadership and a “proactive” organizational climate, as opposed to a “reactive” leadership style. Furthermore, estate managers claimed to be satisfied with the existing management practices of their respective organizations.