The aim of this study was to examine the effect of audit committee independence (ACI) on the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya. The study analyzed data from the 55 insurance firms licensed by the Insurance Regularity Authority (IRA) in Kenya. ACI was operationalized by the number of independent directors serving on the boards of insurance firms operating in Kenya. Primary data was collected from a sample of 412 board directors, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Chief Finance Officers (CFOs), Audit Committee members (AUDIND) and Internal Auditors (INAUD) using a questionnaire instrument while secondary data was retrieved from audited financial reports of the year 2017. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Firm performance was measured by the two accounting-based measures Return On Assets (ROA) and Return On Equity (ROE). The findings from the regression analysis indicate that audit committee independence significantly and positively affects the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya.

Effective leadership development has eluded many organizations and academia for a long time. Those who have attempted to improve the practice and study of leadership development focus on the same old elements of leadership development. The traditional elements of leadership development that have been studied and implemented previously include: the content of the leadership development programs, the delivery of leadership development programs, the length of the programs and advocating for leadership development programs that are entrenched in leadership theory. Despite numerous studies and implementation of the studies’ findings on leadership development, there exists widespread dissatisfaction with leadership development outcomes. Some scholars have observed that leader developmental readiness may be the missing ingredient in leadership development. Learning goal orientation is one of the five elements of leader developmental readiness. Therefore, this study examines the effect of learning goal orientation on leadership development. The study reveals that learning goal orientation has a significant effect on leadership development, F(1,286) = 62.346, p < 001. In addition, learning goal orientation accounts for 17.9% of the variation in leadership development. Thus, enhancing participants’ learning goal orientation should be part and parcel of any leadership development program in order to improve the effectiveness of leadership development.

Leadership is the single most important element for the success of an organization. This explains why leadership skill is one of the most sought after skills. The only challenge is that effective leaders are few. Leadership development is meant to eradicate the shortage of leaders but there is a widespread outcry about the effectiveness of the current leadership interventions. Despite the huge expenditure in developing leaders, the outcomes are not comparable to the resources invested. Beyond the traditional elements (content, context, program length and delivery) of leadership development, the boundaries of research and practices have to be extended to the neglected elements of learning like metacognitive ability, hence this study examines the effect metacognitive ability on leadership development. The study was conducted among MBA students within private universities in Kenya. The sample size was 314 students, with a response rate of 92 percent. The results reveal that metacognitive ability significantly predicts leadership developments. The results imply that the higher the levels of metacognitive ability that leadership development participants have, the better they are at acquiring leadership skills.

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