Team Emergence Leadership Development and Evaluation: A Theoretical Model Using Complexity Theory

Abstract

This paper presents a leadership development model that is designed to utilise the self-organising, self-managing, and self-regulating functions found in teams and small groups. This theoretical paper presents the Team Emergence Leadership Development and Evaluation Model as a new dynamic leadership development model designed to function in complex and non-predictive environments. Complexity theory, complexity leadership theory, and emergence were utilised to connect this theoretical model to leadership development, team cognition and learning, and knowledge management. This new theoretical model provides a new way of viewing leadership development, by incorporating naturally occurring team processes as a means of replicating the characteristics traditionally viewed as being related to leadership development. Emergent events occur through distributed leadership among various agents and are defined by levels of meaning, providing new knowledge to the agents, and allowing for the collective to move onto the next step towards goal attainment. Connecting leadership development competencies with the environmental factors is critical for successful leadership development programs. The methods and procedures within the evaluation plan and protocols should move beyond a reliance on competency development as confirmation of leadership development. Complexity theory can help to shed light on the formation of these connections while aiding other agents to become potential emerging leaders themselves.