Nairobi, May 5 -- Kamau led a widely respected manufacturing firm in the industrial area of Nairobi for six years. He steered his firm through supply chain shocks, currency exchange fluctuations impacting the price of inputs, and a difficult expansion into East Africa. All the while, his board of directors praised both his discipline and his calm temperament.

Unfortunately, trouble quietly started the same year that two of his rival chief executives at competing firms in the same industry began appearing in glossy business magazines, winning prestigious leadership awards by Kenyan and East African associations, and getting public applause at corporate events and conferences.

Kamau noticed that his board's whole tone shifted even though ...