Leadership Antecedents in Employee Empowerment among Nigerian Public Organizations
This qualitative single-case study explored how leadership antecedents influence employee empowerment in Nigerian public organisations. The study focused on the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Nigeria. Kanter's Theory of Structural Empowerment and Bass's Full-Range Leadership Theory served as the conceptual frameworks. The study analysed how leadership antecedents affect organisational challenges and empowerment. Data were collected from 30 NOA employees across Nigeria's six geo-political zones. Collection methods included semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, and document review: triangulation of interview, document, and observation data. Key findings reveal that employees perceive empowerment primarily as being equipped with the tools, resources, and support needed to execute organisational mandates, particularly in project planning and implementation. This is especially true in project execution. Recent studies also suggest that ethical leadership, digital tool adoption, and generative leadership mediate empowerment (Hassan & Aliyu, 2024). Seven critical leadership themes for empowerment emerged: entrenching an agency mindset, addressing challenges, fostering cross-team collaboration, establishing two-way feedback, responding to staff feelings, applying tailored leadership strategies, and implementing training on Innovation and digital fluency. The study recommends that Nigerian public organisation leaders intentionally adopt these antecedents. Doing so can boost empowerment, organisational commitment, and service outcomes. The study has implications for policymakers and leaders in post-pandemic contexts and during digital transformation.