Individual Leader Development Research Articles

Transformations towards an integrated leadership development system—A longitudinal study in a high-performing public organization

Leadership development (LD) plays a significant role in achieving high-quality performance and business results, but there is little research on how leadership development itself evolves as the organization develops. This study explores how a leadership development system evolved over 30 years, during a time when the organization became increasingly high performing. Through reflexive thematic analysis of organizational documents and interviews with top managers and practitioners, the study provides a rich longitudinal description of the evolvement. The results revealed three pervasive changes of the leadership development system: 1) from a system for business-specific learning to one for system-wide learning; 2) from a system for personal development to one for customer-oriented quality development; and 3) from a leadership development system consisting of leadership development programs to one that is integrated into regular meetings and uses simple rules. These changes supported the gradual transformation of the leadership development from being independent to becoming integrated in the wider system, supporting the business system. The findings offer a unique insight into how an organization transitioned from individual leader development towards promoting collective aspects of leadership development. The study provides two main theoretical contributions that support the perspective of viewing leadership development as integrated within organizational development. Firstly, we present a more multifaceted way of understanding leadership development, wherein managers and employees, customer outcomes, and business advancement are seen as mutually developing. Secondly, we introduce two new critical points that complement previous descriptions of an advanced leadership development system: It is system wide (not only business specific) and customer oriented (not only leader/participant oriented).

Building Leadership Service Academies to Institutionalize a Strategic Leadership Development Focus

In this article, we propose a strategic view of leadership development, by defining a Leadership Service Academy (LSA) construct. The LSA represents a strategic approach that enables an organization and its leaders to institutionalize its own theory of leadership, narrative, models, learning methodologies, practices, and evaluation methods for determining the impact of investing in developing leadership. The LSA construct represents a shift in strategic thinking that involves moving beyond focusing on individual leader development training programs used for satisfying current role-requirements or tactical succession planning, to adopting a systemic view of leadership development aligned with the organization's strategic objectives, mission, values, and culture. Most leadership development research has focused on examining the efficacy of training methodologies linked to individual leadership models and modalities and has produced promising results. However, the narrow focus on individual leadership development has excluded the full spectrum of leadership development interventions from being explored and analyzed. Our primary goal here is to explore a comprehensive strategy for building a sustainable, multi-level leadership development system firmly anchored in both science and practice.

From personal wellbeing to relationships: A systematic review on the impact of mindfulness interventions and practices on leaders

This study provides a systematic review of prior empirical research on the impact of mindfulness interventions and practices on leaders. The aim is to integrate existing knowledge and identify future research needs. Mindfulness as a leader-specific practice is defined and discussed to provide conceptual clarity and to highlight the importance of understanding the phenomenon and its value in the context of leadership and individual leader development. A conceptual framework is presented which synthesizes findings from prior works and shows that leaders' mindfulness practices affect various developmental outcomes viewed as important for leaders and leadership. A comprehensive future research agenda for theoretical and empirical advancement is proposed that recommends looking beyond the essential wellbeing and work productivity outcomes and exploring the transformative outcomes of mindfulness interventions and practices related to leaders' relationships and inner growth that involve enhanced self-awareness and social/contextual awareness.

Case for rethinking system leadership and its development in public health

Abstract Background There is growing recognition of the importance of leadership in Public Health (PH) practice, and the need to embed it into the education and training of PH professionals. However the theoretical discourse within leadership research has changed significantly and there is recognition that previous conceptualisations of leadership, and our ways of developing it may be flawed, and need to be changed in practice. Objectives This presentation will discuss development of leadership theory, and system leadership. In particular it will highlight how System Leadership differs from previous understandings of leadership and the implications of this for ph practitioners and those charged with developing system leadership capacity within public health. Body of the session Leadership in organisations is mostly focused on current/anticipated internal challenges (strategy, performance management, staff engagement, etc.). Leaders are generally developed via individual leader development rather than a focus developing Leadership capacity across organisations/systems. Within PH it is increasingly realised that single organisations can no longer respond effectively to the “wicked” issues they face. They do not possess sufficient know-how to address the complex and multi-dimensional problems faced, so leadership models based on a single hierarchical organisation are not sustainable. There is a need to work collectively in an ecosystem-based approach (not an ego-based system). System Leadership development requires that participants are actively engaged in real attempts to improve PH System. Development requires that underlying values are made explicit, explored and diversity embraced. The emphasis will be on supporting learners in the doing rather than critiquing or talking about it. Conclusions There is need to appreciate fully the nature of systems leadership, together with implications for PH practice and the development of system leadership capacity throughout the PH workforce.

Characteristics of effective leadership networks

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to inquire about the characteristics of effective school leadership networks and the contribution of such networks to the development of individual leaders’ professional capacities.Design/methodology/approach– The study used path-analytic techniques with survey data provided by 450 school and district leaders in Ontario to test a path model of effective network characteristics. Variables in the model included network leadership, structure, health, connectivity, outcomes and unintended challenges.Findings– Results confirmed that the model was a very good fit with the data, and as a whole, explained 51 percent of the variation in network outcomes. Network leadership had the largest total effect on network outcomes (R2=0.56), followed closely by the effects of network health (R2=0.49) and network connectivity (R2=0.46).Research limitations/implications– The study was limited to leadership networks intentionally organized within districts, not networks organized by school leaders themselves or networks arising spontaneously by their members. Results cannot be generalized to other types of networks.Practical implications– In addition to a focus on single unit leadership development in districts, systematic initiatives should be designed to help prepare network leaders to foster the forms of collaboration that are so central to professional capacity development.Originality/value– Results of the study offer explicit guidance to network leaders about how to improve the contribution of network participation to their colleagues’ capacities; it is one of a very small number studies in educational contexts to provide such guidance.

Beyond Individual Leader Development: Cultivating Collective Capacities.

This chapter addresses the overemphasis on individual-leader development in leadership education, offering insights and pragmatic approaches for advancing collective leadership focused on social and political change.

The Emerging Role of Mindfulness Research in the Workplace and its Challenges

This paper focuses on the current state of art in mindfulness research on workplace and identifies some of the necessary steps and risks in the creation of mindful leadership theory. Mindfulness has the potential to effectively address three topical organizational challenges of growing demands on adaptability, prevailing issues of work-related stress and the necessity to raise the moral level in organizations. Current studies seem to suitably respond to the issues of work-related stress; however, the challenges of adaptability and morality so far lack appropriate empirical validation. Lack of empirical support is also noticeable in the case of mindful leadership theory as most studies still focus solely on individual leader development. However, it is important to start to discuss the suitable core variables of mindful leadership now as a clear differentiation from other leadership approaches like authentic leadership will be crucial for successful creation of mindful leadership theory. This paper also presents recommendations for entrepreneurs and managers willing to incorporate mindfulness into their organizational settings.

The ‘Dharma’ and ‘Karma’ of CSR from the Bhagavad-Gita

In recent years, numerous researches have been conducted on CSR from various perspectives. From a survey of CSR literatures from spiritual and religious perspectives, there are some studies based on the Quran (Islam) and the Bible (Christianity) made by scholars. However, the Bhagavad-Gita (Hinduism) is yet to be explored in the context of CSR. This article is therefore timely and fills the gap in the CSR literature. In this article, the authors employs hermeneutics, a qualitative research methodology which involves the study, understanding and interpretation of the BG particularly the concept of ‘dharma’ (duty) and ‘karma’ (action) in the context of CSR. In a nutshell, the BG provides an inside-out approach to CSR, which is the development of individual leader’s self-conscience of his1 dharma (duty) and karma (action). Based on the BG’s insights, CSR should ideally begin with ISR (Individual Social Responsibility includes Personal Social Responsibility) and to go beyond CSR with GSR (Global Social Responsibility). These three social responsibilities are the essential dharma and karma of corporate leaders. The leaders and the role they play in corporations are crucial in ensuring transparency, good conduct and governance towards the ultimate aim of achieving CSR. This article is expected to provide a framework to the study of BG philosophy from other aspects of corporate management; such as corporate governance, corporate ethics and human resource management in the near future.

Identity Workspaces for Leadership Development

Profound changes in individuals’ relationship with their employers and expectations for their work lives have generated an increasing demand for leadership development, while at the same time exposing the limitations of traditional leadership programs focused on the acquisition of conceptual knowledge and requisite skills. This chapter explores how conceptualizing leadership programs as “identity workspaces” helps to meet the demand for leadership in ways that benefit individuals, organizations, and society. Alongside the acquisition of knowledge and skills, identity workspaces facilitate the revision and consolidation of individual and collective identities. They personalize and contextualize participants’ learning, inviting them to wrestle with the questions “What does leading mean to us?” and “Who am I as a leader?” Attention to both activity and identity deepens and accelerates the development of individual leaders and strengthens leadership communities within and across organizations. I describe the conceptual foundations, learning processes, design principles, and professional competences that enable leadership programs to function as identity workspaces. Designing such programs, however, takes more than adopting the methods described here. It calls for revisiting the role of leadership developers as professionals and demands of us the same mindfulness, curiosity, courage, integrity, and social responsibility that we invite leaders to demonstrate.

Developing leaders and leadership in health care: a case for rebalancing?

PurposeThe paper aims to describe the emerging critique of leader development in health care and to describe an alternative approach.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores the growing critique of leader development, highlighting the concentration on the development of individual human capital. The creation of social capital through an emphasis on leadership development is explained. Design principles and potential obstacles are identified.FindingsA rebalancing of the field from an over‐concentration on the development of individual leaders to an emphasis on context and relationships is necessary.Practical implicationsAlthough the basic building‐blocks of development will remain the same, there is a need to rebalance them towards leadership rather than leaders.Originality/valueThe paper brings together in one place various strands of concern over leader development in health care and makes a case for change.

Competence Profile School Management (CPSM) – an inventory for the self-assessment of school leadership

The professional demands on school leaders have changed drastically and have become highly complex in the last few years. The professionalization of school leaders is high on the agenda. Human resource management includes different aspects of professionalization. One major domain is the preparation, induction and continuous professional development of individual leaders and leadership teams. Another is personnel marketing and selection, which includes the question of attracting capable future leaders and of appointing the right candidates. However in Europe there is a need for standardised tools which provide systematic feedback to professionals interested in assessing their strengths and individual development needs. Suitable instruments are still scarce. The Competence Profile School Management CPSM (German: KompetenzProfil SchulManagement; KPSM) is the first online-based self-assessment in the German language which has been designed to fit the school context and is based on psychometric principles. It offers participants the possibility to reflect their strengths and weaknesses in different requirement areas of school leadership; and to compare their individual results with peers from the school context, thus gaining valuable information on their individual profiles when planning their professional development and careers. After sketching the theoretical and empirical background, this article presents information about the aims and purpose of CPSM, the tool’s development, its test scales and test formats, the results of the pilot study and those of the evaluation study. Then, the further development of the tool in terms of modifications and add-ons are outlined, before, finally, the tool’s contribution to practice and research is discussed.

From leader to leadership: clinician managers and where to next?

Individual clinician leadership is at the forefront of health reforms in Australia as well as overseas with many programs run by health departments (and hospitals) generally focus on the development of individual leaders. This paper argues, along with others, that leadership in the clinician management context cannot be understood from an individualistic approach alone. Clinician managers, especially in the ranks of doctors, are usually described as 'hybrid-professional managers' as well as reluctant leaders for whom most leadership theories do not easily apply. Their experiences of leadership development programs run by health departments both in Australia and internationally are likely to be based on an individual leader-focussed approach that is driving health care reforms. These approaches work from three key assumptions: (1) study and fix the person; (2) give them a position or title; and (3) make them responsible for results. Some would argue that the combination of these three approaches equates to heroic and transformational leadership. Several alternative approaches to leadership development are presented to illustrate how reforms in healthcare, and notably in hospitals, must incorporate alternative approaches, such as those based on collective and relational forms of leadership. This does not mean eschewing individual approaches to leadership but rather, thinking of them differently and making them more relevant to the daily experiences of clinician managers. We conclude by highlighting several significant challenges facing leadership development for clinician managers that arise from these considerations.

Leadership Education and Experience in the Classroom: A Case Study

This paper examines the core academic leader development course at the United States Air Force Academy. The course serves as the foundation for individual leader development that is integrated across all four years of the student’s education. The basic approach uses a self-study where the student selects a current leadership role and that role serves as a common frame of reference for the entire course. Assessment strategies such as self-study, journaling, leadership application exercises are intentionally developed to integrate the classroom education into their leadership role. Through this integration the student is able to apply the leadership education real time as they have a current, relevant context in which to apply the material. Initial response to the course has been positive from both the students and the faculty. Future data collection is planned to determine the actual impact of the experience on relevant leadership outcomes.

Implicit leader development: The mentor role as prefatory leadership context

AbstractThis qualitative study examines the role of mentor as a possible avenue of individual leader development. Specifically, how do mentors conceptualize effective leadership, and what facets of psychological capital develop in the mentoring relationship? Fourteen mentors participating in a statewide mentoring program were surveyed, along with expert mentors and mentees for verification. Results found that mentors' conceptualization of their role and activities aligned with established leadership concepts, specifically those leadership behaviors associated with transformational leadership. Mentors also indicated perceived growth in facets of psychological capital associated with leadership success. By examining the implicit influences and benefits of serving in the mentor role, the alternative focus on the mentor's growth can be utilized to incorporate leadership development into this well‐established pedagogical tool.

Individual Leader Development: An Appreciative Inquiry Approach

The problem and the solution . Leader development, expanding an individual's leadership capacity, may include learning to transform perspectives as one objective.This paper explores how such transformation might be achieved through appreciative inquiry (AI).The authors define AI and transformative learning and articulate a perspective being advanced which highlights the relationship between them. Using two illustrative examples from organizational and educational settings, the authors describe the AI process and propose how the process might be conducted to achieve transformative leader development. Through these examples, they explore the types of affirmative questions that guided participants' conversations and led to commitment to action and shift in perspectives that are important elements of transformative learning.The authors propose that AI may increase a leader's capacity to generate his or her role anew through inner work and an inside-out orientation (Hunt, 1987). They consider ways in which AI can be coupled with other sources of learning, expanding its use beyond a tool for developing organizational leadership capacity through large-systems organizational change to one that is focused on developing individual leader capacity.

Leadership by People with Disabilities in Self-Determination Systems Change

People with disabilities have been in the forefront of advancing self-determination services and policies. This article discusses the involvement of individuals in person-directed services and the roles of individual leaders with disabilities and disability organizations led by people with disabilities in shaping policies and systems. Findings from 3 surveys of the involvement of individuals with disabilities in disability organizations and agencies are presented. Cross-disability principles for self-determination and recommendations for promoting disability leadership are discussed. Advancing leadership requires supporting the development of individual leaders with disabilities, building the capacities of organizations led by people with disabilities, and encouraging cross-disability partnerships.