Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Case 8.3: Grandmothers and Benches
Case Synopsis and Analysis
Dr. Dixon Chibanda is one of 12 psychiatrists in the African nation of Zimbabwe. With more
than 16 million people, these 12 psychiatrists needed to meet the mental health needs of the
entire country. This problem was addressed by Dr. Chibanda. After losing a patient to
suicide, Dr. Chibanda had a moment of clarity—a life changing idea. He turned his attention
to properly training grandmothers to serve as resources or front line counselors and the
Friendship Bench idea was born. The Friendship Bench is about front line engagement with
those in need. It is accomplished by training grandmothers from local communities, as well
as the integration of digital technologies. Grandmothers? Dr. Chibanda’s vision included
grandmothers who are often viewed as a trusted, cultural cornerstone in Zimbabwean
communities.
Interested grandmothers were screened and heavily trained and soon the number of trained
front line counselors outnumbered psychiatrists in the country. Grandmothers in the field
provide problem-solving sessions while utilizing technology to support the program. As of
2017, there were hundreds of grandmothers supporting their communities and the results
show it is working. Dr. Chibanda has a vision to take the program around the globe to
positively impact mental health in the world.
Learning Objectives:
• Students will understand how Transformational Leadership is a two-way
Answers to Questions in the Text:
1. Based on the definition of transformational leadership in this chapter:
a. What aspects of the implementation of the Friendship Bench and the
effectiveness of the grandmothers do you see as related to the transformational
leadership processes? Explain why.
b. Are there aspects of this process outlined in this case study that you would
classify as transactional leadership? Why?
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
2. Charisma and its relationship to transformational leadership was discussed at length
and outlined in Table 8.1. View Dr. Dixon Chibanda’s 2017 TED Talk at
www.ted.com/talks/dixon_chibanda_why_i_train_grandmothers_to_treat_depression
and respond to the following:
a. Do you perceive Dr. Chibanda to be a charismatic leader? Why or why not?
Based on the case and TedTalk, Dr. Chibanda does possess many qualities of
b. What about the grandmothers? What characteristics of charismatic leadership,
if any, would you ascribe to them? Explain your answer.
c. Bass suggested that “charisma is a necessary but not sufficient condition for
transformational leadership.” Based on the elements of this case study, would
you agree or disagree? Why?
3. How do each of the leadership factors of idealized influence, intellectual stimulation,
and individualized consideration relate to this case?
Idealized influence: This resides mostly in the charisma and the role modeling
4. Bennis and Nanus expanded on the transformational perspective by identifying four
common strategies for transformational leaders. Discuss how each of these relates to
Dr. Chibanda and the grandmothers:
a. Clear vision: Grandmothers have a vested interest in their community and the
success of those in it. So, they tend to utilize their training and their persona to
b. Social architect: Grandmothers in this program have the ability to showcase
5. Kouzes and Posner identified five fundamental practices of transformational leaders.
Discuss how these apply to this case:
a. Model the way: In a general sense, grandmothers are often community role
c. Challenge the process: This is key in transformational leadership and in
d. Enable others to act: Empowering participants to act in a positive way is a
key to suicide prevention. This is a guided tour of what is wrong and how can
e. Encourage the heart: This is the emotional aspect of the model. What can be
done to secure an emotional connection to the counseling session?
6. The chapter lists seven criticisms of the transformational leadership model. Select
three of these and address them with respect to this case.
Training: A weakness is clear, can one be trained to be a charismatic/transformational
Scope: This form of leadership is quantified in small, interpersonal interactions.
Hence another weakness is that transformational leadership does not appear to work
in a large organization. How can a single leader transform individuals in an
organization with 50,000 people, for example?
Competing models: What this chapter also showcases are many competing models
Potential Teaching Approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class, based on the Transformational Leadership models and
Case Study 8.3:
• Lecture on the Transformational Leadership and outline the many different
models.
Exercises for This Case Study:
1. In small groups, ask students to take one of the models and present pros/cons of their
2. In small groups, ask students to find movie clips on YouTube (or a similar site) that
3. In a short essay (200-250 words), students should reflect on a transformational leader
from their past. Someone who motivated, inspired, and challenged them to become
something more, something better. Ask students who are willing to share their person.
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021