Transformational Leadership and Wealth Creation in Educational Organizations: The Case of Higher Education in Cameroon

Education is a trillion-dollar industry, booming, with a growing population thirsty for knowledge. There has been tremendous influx of graduates in this industry, seeking for self-reliance since obtaining a decent job upon graduation remains a nightmare particularly in developing countries. Consequently, the surroundings of all state and private universities in Cameroon are overcrowded with educational subsidiary firms created by graduates. Most of these firms intend to metamorphose into giant self-reliant enterprises while mitigating the problem of graduate unemployment. This hardly happens as most end at ground levels, while others close down in less than 5 years of existence.  The question that arises is; what hinders these small and medium-sized education businesses from thriving? This study surveyed 210 small and medium-sized educational firms, selected through the clustering technique. The SWOT analysis technique was used to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to these firms. Results revealed little or no leadership education, specifically in wealth creation as a major weakness, that threatens these firms from thriving. The multiple regression further confirms the absence of transformational leadership education as a statistical predictor to setbacks in these firms. Key recommendations call for mainstreaming pragmatic transformational and strategic leadership education in higher education courses, using the case of the Faculty of education of the University of Yaoundé I.  learners should be opened to the world of business through meaningful partnership with the world of work, and quality entrepreneurship courses as well.