Leadership Development Initiatives to Ensure Succession Planning Effectiveness

Abstract

Leadership development has received considerable coverage in recent decades, and this is evident by the proliferation of research and popular literature covering this topic. In practice, organizations are employing leadership development initiatives in an effort to nurture talented individuals who will provide effective leadership. As a leadership development becomes prevalent in academia and practice, it is critical to understand what are leadership development initiatives and their related concepts. In this chapter, we review the literature on these ubiquitous yet elusive concepts. We begin by exploring what are leadership development initiatives, distinguishing between leader development and leadership development terms and highlighting the difference between experiential and educational leadership development. In the final part of this chapter, we highlight the importance of leadership development initiatives in succession planning. This chapter uses supportive literature to examine leadership development initiatives to ensure succession planning effectiveness.