Business Commons^™

Evaluating Strategic Leadership Development Programs, Felicia Littlejohn

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Companies that lack an in-depth understanding of leadership development program evaluation may invest in a program that achieves suboptimal results. However, there is no generally prescribed framework for the evaluation of leadership development programs. Thus, the purpose of this action research paper is to provide the basis for vetting leadership development programs based on their organizational fit and investment value, training methodologies, workplace development approaches, coaching and development support, and targeted business outcomes.

Impact Of Leadership For Startup Companies, Emem Okon Akpanekong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Startups play a vital role in employment opportunities, creating new markets, and economic developments in a nation. However, several challenges, such as financial and scalability factors, confront startups at the initial stages because of the highly uncertain startup business environment. Recent research has confirmed that the development of startups is indeed connected to leadership. A literature review revealed that entrepreneurial leadership, as opposed to mainstream leadership theories, is more suitable to explain the complex leadership process in startup growth and development. A qualitative, single case study was conducted to investigate the leadership characteristics of successful startup founders to explain the …

Effects Of A Mindfulness-Based Leadership Training On Leadership Behaviors And Effectiveness, Nina Tan, Eva Katharina Peters, Jochen Reb

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Objectives: Organizations increasingly integrate mindfulness elements into their leadership development. However, there is limited evidence supporting the efficacy of mindfulness-based leadership training (MBLT) due to a scarcity of intervention studies. Theoretically, little is known about mediating mechanisms through which MBLT might affect leadership effectiveness. Thus, this research examined whether MBLT can improve leadership effectiveness and whether leadership behaviors mediated this effect.MethodsWe conducted a quasi-experimental study conducted in a real-world setting with an active control condition. Sixty leaders from various industries participated in either a 2-day intensive MBLT workshop followed by three individual coaching sessions over 3 months, or a presentation …

Strengthening Sisters: How Latter-Day Saint Missionary Service Prepares Women For Leadership, Sara Mcphee Lafkas, Wendy Fox-Kirk, Susan R. Madsen, Robbyn T. Scribner

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Women, especially those from highly religious societies, are underrepresented in professional and civic leadership positions. Considering how women's life experiences, especially from religious volunteer opportunities, can be reframed as training for broader leadership roles could help address this disparity. The potential for women to learn leadership skills from volunteer religious service is an overlooked, but possibly important, means of transferability to larger leadership roles. The current article describes a qualitative study of women's perceptions of leadership skills gained while serving as full-time volunteer missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during young adulthood. Respondents described perceptions of …

Understanding The Context And Social Processes That Shape Person- And Family-Centered Culture In Long-Term Care: The Pivotal Role Of Personal Support Workers, Ellen Helena Melis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This single, exemplar case study explored the context and social processes that shape person-and family-centered culture in a long-term care (LTC) home, using grounded theory and situational analysis for the data collection and analysis. Findings revealed one core dimension: needing to be heard, valued, and understood, and five key roles: personal support workers (PSWs), executive director (ED), senior leadership, nurse managers, and residents and families, which informed five dimensions, each focused on enhancing care for residents: (a) attending to residents’ daily care needs (PSWs), (b) advocating strategically (ED), (c) translating vision into programs and policies (senior leadership), (d) ensuring quality …

A Guide To Leadership Development At A Company, Bridget Nobiletti

Senior Honors Projects

Leadership development is essential for companies because it drives a company’s effectiveness in reaching its goal and promotes growth among employees, causing them to want to stay with the company. Knowing how to develop employee leadership is complex because it is largely dependent on the individual and their role within the organization. I interviewed leadership professionals and human resource professionals who have experience in leadership development to guide my research. I broke up management into three categories and found that the different segments of management need different skills in order to be effective at their jobs. The first step to …

Career Sponsorship: An Effective Way For Developing Women Leaders, Jovina Ang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Other than an effective career progression strategy, this research, which comprised of an autoethnography and an in-depth qualitative case study research showed that career sponsorship could be an effective strategy for developing women leaders. In the sponsor relationship, sponsors invest considerable time, effort and resources in developing sponsees, thus, preparing them for the top jobs. In addition to developing the skills on the leadership strataplex, career sponsorship has been shown to be an enabler for developing confidence, which is one of the necessary ingredients for developing executive presence. Career sponsorship also fills the gap and addresses the shortcomings that arise …

Breaking The Cycle: The Effects Of Role Model Performance And Ideal Leadership Self-Concepts On Abusive Supervision Spillover, Min-Hsuan Tu, Joyce E. Bono, Cass Shum, Liva Lamontagne

Hospitality Faculty Research

Building on identity theories and social learning theory, we test the notion that new leaders will model the abusive behaviors of their superiors only under certain conditions. Specifically, we hypothesize that new leaders will model abusive supervisory behaviors when (a) abusive superiors are perceived to be competent, based on the performance of their teams and (b) new leaders' ideal leadership self-concepts are high on tyranny or low on sensitivity. Results of an experiment in which we manipulated abusive supervisory behaviors using a professional actor, and created a role change where 93 individuals moved from team member to team leader role, …

Talent Management: Hiring And Developing Engaged Employees, Chuck O'Bryan, Anne Marie Casey

Publications

Talent management, which includes intentional work design, leadership development, and employee engagement, is a growing trend in the world of commerce, both domestically and globally. This article provides a review of the literature on talent management and explores ways in which this human resource management concept might be applicable to higher education and libraries.

Psychogeography – Providing A Lens On Corporate Culture And Its Potential Impact On Career Success: A Novel And Efficient Approach, Dorothy Wardale, Linley Lord

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Psychogeography refers to the loose interface between psychology and geography. Specifically it examines how we impact on the environment and the environment impacts on us. As a process it involves intimately observing the environment and seeing what may have been previously unobserved. Participants then construct meaning from these observations. This paper describes how we used a time-limited psychogeography approach followed immediately by a focus group as research method. The aim was to determine if examining participants’ work environment would potentially enable them to identify enablers and barriers to career success. The findings from these two short interventions are compared to …

A Method To My Quietness: A Grounded Theory Study Of Living And Leading With Introversion, Leatrice Oram

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Leadership scholar-practitioners must create a more sustainable, diverse, and equitable future, fostering emergence and development of resilient, competent leaders, including those who may have been previously overlooked.Leadership studies, particularly those situated in early trait and behavior paradigms, have long privileged extraverted leaders as ideal.The scholarly conversation is limited on introverted leaders; moreover, most of that literature depicts introversion as either a pathological construct associated with shyness and social anxiety, or includes introversion only by omission, as a state of deficit-of-extraversion.This study instead began with positive inquiry, framing introversion as a positive individual difference, and explored the lived experiences of introverted …

Teamwork: Crucible For Learning About Collaborative Leadership, Lisa Deangelis, Sherry H. Penney, Maureen A. Scully

Center for Collaborative Leadership Publications

In teaching leadership development we have developed and revised a model of teamwork and collaboration, which has yielded innovative and positive results. Our study draws on insights from more than 90 project teams, gathered over twelve years of a mid-career executive education program designed specifically to teach collaborative leadership. The teams work on a strategic dilemma with a business association or community organization, highlighting the civic engagement aspect of collaborative leadership. Teams devise their own operating procedures, refine (not simply manage) the project, create working relationships with multiple stakeholders, and present a deliverable within the nine-month span of the program. …

Professional Hurt: The Untold Stories, Ruby Macksine Brown

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine professional hurt across the public services of the Commonwealth Caribbean with a view toward creating what could probably be the first body of knowledge that will offer insights into its nature and relationship with the practice of leadership. The study also sought to explore an understanding of professional hurt that could inform the design of leadership development programs to help develop leaders who can navigate or avoid hurt. I utilized the biographical research approach to access the lived experiences of 20 public sector leaders across 9 independent Commonwealth Caribbean islands. Narrative thematic …

Researching Critical Incidents Of Transformation, Paul R. Scheele

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined transformation within individuals in a collaborative adult learning context. Using a combination of methods—surveys and critical incident technique (CIT)—the study explored in depth the experiences of 28 subjects from a population of 100 participants in an open-enrollment workshop, the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium produced by the Pachamama Alliance. The program employs high-impact training approaches to inform participants about social injustices and environmental practices that threaten the planet, and to encourage them to act on that information. The research focused on critical incidents at or shortly after the workshop that produced significant and meaningful change …

Effectively Measuring Student Leadership, Barry Z. Posner

Management & Entrepreneurship

With a worldwide sample of students (N = 77, 387), this paper reviews and analyses the psychometric properties of the Student Leadership Practices Inventory [1]. Modest to strong internal reliability coefficients are found across a number of different dimensions. Predictive validity of the instrument is supported, with the instrument being able to differentiate between effective and ineffective leaders using both self-reported and observer (constituent) data. Few significant differences are found on the basis of respondent gender, ethnicity, nationality, or institutional level (high school versus college). Implications for developing student leaders and future research are offered.

Leadership Development In Undergraduate Public Relations Students: A Case Study, Mitchell Friedman

Communication Studies

This qualitative case study considered the relationship between a Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter at a public state university in Northern California and its local Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) affiliate chapter. Its purpose was to explore student perceptions of the contributions of this relationship to what they learned about leadership while serving as club officers. Research was conducted during the fall semester 2010.

The study explored efforts designed to help PRSSA chapter officers fulfill their individual responsibilities. Local and national PRSA representatives provided advice and counsel through diverse channels, the intent of which was to …

Leading Deeply: A Heroic Journey Toward Wisdom And Transformation, Richard Warm

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation will explore leadership as a mytho-poetic transformational journey toward self-knowledge, authenticity, and ultimately wisdom; the power to make meaning and give something back to the world in which we live; and the necessity of transformation. I view leadership as a transformative process and a transformational responsibility. As leaders we must undergo our own transformation in order to lead change on a larger scale. The dissertation will be both philosophical and theoretical, exploring how the threads of the hero’s journey, transformation, wisdom, and leadership intertwine. It will also examine the role of education in this process. Education does not …

Museums, Leadership, And Transfer: An Inquiry Into Organizational Supports For Learning Leadership, Julie I. Johnson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Given the rapid changes that 21st century museums must manage, flexible thinking about leadership forms and purposes is needed. Today's complex leadership landscape necessitates that staff engage in enacting leadership with positional leaders. Limited empirical literature exists that describes how the next generation of museum leaders is being nurtured and developed. The purpose of this study was to: describe museum professionals' perceptions of leadership practices; investigate museums as sites of organizational and leadership learning; and consider the experiences of museum professionals who have participated in leader development programs. The study involved an on-line survey with 310 professionals working in U.S. …

Understanding The Outcomes Of Leadership Development - A Contextual Approach, John Golden

Doctoral

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the outcomes of leadership development in the context of a global building materials company. The study utilises a contextual approach to more fully understand the outcomes of leadership development. The value of a contextual approach is highlighted in the literature.

Leadership Development In Financial Institutions In South Dakota: A Slow Growth State, Stan Wayne Vinson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation asks the question, “What are the challenges of developing a leadership program in community banks in South Dakota, a slow growth environment?” The research looks at the intersection of leadership development, transformational leadership, and context—against a backdrop of community banking, corporate social responsibility, and demographic trends in South Dakota. The objective of the study is to provide theoretical and practical understanding of leadership development activities in South Dakota community banks. Using quantitative methods, seven hypotheses were created and tested using insights gained from reviewed literature and informational interviews that framed the study. The hypotheses were built looking to …

Leadership On Trial: A Manifesto For Leadership Development, Mary Crossan, Gerard Seijts, Jeffrey Gandz, Carol Stephenson, Richard Ivey School Of Business

Business Publications

Recent books and articles have analyzed the causes of the global financial and economic crisis of 2007-09. Yet little attention has been paid to the quality of leadership in organizations that were at the epicentre of the storm, were victims of it, avoided it or even prospered from it. In the summer of 2009 a multi-disciplinary group of Ivey faculty decided to look at the leadership dimensions of the recent financial and economic crisis. We started by writing a working paper that laid out our preliminary views. We then engaged more than 300 business, public sector and not-for-profit leaders in …

An Analysis Of Factors That Influence The Success Of Women Engineering Leaders In Corporate America, Letha Joye Jepson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

"One in 4 women entering the engineering profession leaves after age 30, while only 1 in 10 of their male counterparts does" (Perusek, 2008, p. 20). I was interested in analyzing the factors supporting women engineers’ leadership development and success. My particular focus was on women engineers in corporate environments—the personal characteristics needed for a successful career and the impacts of social support, career development, and the corporate culture on their career progression. The aspects of social support included the factors of family, friends, and significant others and the levels of supports during the woman’s career. The features of corporation …

How Effective Leaders Learn From Life: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Impact Of Significant Life Experiences Upon Leadership Development, Ryan P. Meers

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

Fifteen effective leaders from diverse organizational backgrounds described their significant life experiences and the impact upon their development as leaders. Using grounded theory methodology, a theoretical model emerged for assisting leaders absorb greater learning from their various life experiences. Related to the central phenomenon of how effective leaders learn from significant life experiences, four causal conditions of types of experiences were identified as influencing how leaders learn: (1) experiences of adversity or loss; (2) experiences of “stretch assignments”; (3) inspirational experiences; and (4) experiences with conflict. Strategies used by the leaders to absorb learning from their significant experiences were active …

A Leadership Development Instrument For Students: Updated, Barry Z. Posner

Management & Entrepreneurship

This paper updates the research literature on the Student Leadership Practices Inventory, which is one of the few leadership development instruments targeted for college students. The psychometric properties of a revised version of the instrument are also provided, along with a discussion of developmental issues pertinent to developing and enhancing leadership capabilities in college students.

Exploring The Relationship Between Learning And Leadership, Lillas Brown, Barry Z. Posner

Management & Entrepreneurship

This paper investigates how two important research streams, namely learning and leadership, might be related with one another. Responses on the learning tactics inventory and leadership practices inventory are compared for a managerial sample (n = 312). Results indicate that more active and versatile learners subsequently consider themselves more frequently involved and engaged in leadership behaviors. Implications for transformational learning and leadership theories are explored, as well as thoughts about how the development of leadership competencies may be enhanced and affected by various learning techniques.

The Leadership Practices Of Effective Ras, Barry Z. Posner, Barbara Brodsky

Management & Entrepreneurship

Investigated is the relationship between the leadership behaviors of RAs and effectiveness assessments provided by their constituents (N = 1,304 ), supervisors (N = 5 ), and themselves (N = 333 ). Significant and consistent patterns emerge, with the RAs most frequently engaged in leadership practices viewed as most effective.

A Leadership Development Instrument For College Students, Barry Z. Posner, Barbara Brodsky

Management & Entrepreneurship

Few people question the importance of leadership in organizational effectiveness, even though there is little agreement about how to develop leaders. Nevertheless, nearly every college and university has established some sort of leadership education program for students (Hirschorn, 1988), demonstrating a belief that leadership can be learned and enhanced through an educational process.

When Are Leaders At Their Best?, James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner

Management & Entrepreneurship

During the last 18 months, we have asked more than 300 managers and executives to describe one leadership experience in their careers when they though they had performed at their personal best; when everything seemed to come together an they did the very best they had ever done as a leader of a group of people.