Leadership By Merit or Representation?
By Chernor Jalloh
BA (Hons) Broadcasting and Journalism
MSc Diplomacy and International Relations
As the conversation around gender equality continues to grow in Sierra Leone and across the world, many advocates are calling for women to occupy at least 30 percent of leadership positions in public and private institutions. Supporters of this idea argue that increasing women’s representation will bring inclusivity, fairness, and diversity to decision-making spaces that have long been dominated by men.
While the call for gender equality is widely supported, recent experiences in some workplaces suggest that the national discussion may need to go beyond numbers alone.
In certain newsrooms, for instance, there have been reports of journalists leaving their jobs following disagreements with female supervisors. Such incidents should not be used to generalize about women in leadership. However, they have sparked debate about whether representation by itself automatically translates into effective leadership.
This raises an important question: should the national conversation focus only on increasing the number of women in leadership positions, or should equal attention be given to competence, preparation, and leadership training?
Proponents of the 30 percent representation policy argue that women have historically been denied opportunities to lead because of structural barriers within society. From this perspective, setting representation targets is seen as a necessary step toward correcting long-standing inequalities.
Critics, however, maintain that leadership appointments—regardless of gender—should primarily be based on merit, experience, and the ability to effectively manage people and institutions.
Leadership is not simply about occupying a position. It requires emotional intelligence, sound judgment, conflict management skills, and the ability to guide teams through complex challenges. These qualities are developed through experience, training, and personal capability rather than through representation quotas alone.
For countries like Sierra Leone, where discussions around gender representation are becoming increasingly prominent, the real challenge may lie in ensuring that leadership opportunities are matched with strong preparation and capacity building.
Encouraging women to participate in leadership is an important step toward achieving equality. However, representation must go hand in hand with competence and effective management if institutions are to function properly.
Ultimately, the discussion should not be framed as opposition to women in leadership. Instead, it should focus on how to balance representation with the need for capable and effective leadership.
In the long run, progress should not only be measured by the number of women who occupy leadership positions, but also by how well those leaders—male or female—are able to strengthen professionalism, accountability, and good governance in the institutions they serve.
