Leadership Development

LEADERSHIP THEORIES 2FE017

Spring 2015

Yuliya Ponomareva

Leadership development

Increasing publicity since 1990

Increasing competition

Importance of strategy

- Changing work environment:

Knowledge-based tasks

Need for problem-solving skills

Global LeadershipMultinational, global corporations require skills of global leaders:- cross-cultural leadership>>>cultural

intelligence- Importance of relationships and networks- Attitude towards experience and learning

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The rise of the leadership development research

- Leader development•&- Leadership development

Corporate spending on leadership development:

• Why so much?

• Capability gaps

Leadership failure incidents

• Lack of leadership skills • Lack of interpersonal skills

Organization capabilities

What happens when leadership improves?

• People stick around• People are happier• People are more productive

Employee branding

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Evidence of leadership development effectiveness:

• No conclusive evidence of effectiveness of leadership development (Burgoyne et al., 2004)

• Romanticized view on leadership• Limited knowledge about assessment of

leadership

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Initial theories in leadership development:

• Grounded with trait approach• Effective leaders possess a certain set of traits

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Nature Nurture

Generic determinants of personality: novelty seeking behavior, neuroticism

• Can be acquired early in life

Heredity of leadership style: 58% -Transformational leadership48% - Transactional leadership

• The traits can be reworked

Overall 30% of leadership effectiveness is genetically predetermined

• Development of leadership can be planned or accidental

Common ground perspective

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• Genes are switched on and off by the environment

• Genes vary according to the experience

DEVELOPMENT

Big 5 personality traits

• Extraversion +++• Agreeableness *• Conscientiousness ++• Neuroticism -• Openness to experience +

Transactional leadershipTransformational leadership

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Traits associated with leadership

- Intelligence- Self-confidence- Determination or perseverance- Sociability- Integrity

(Bligh, 2011)

Critique of the trait approach to leadership

- Grounded within the assumption of in-born leadership characteristics

- Fails to consistently distinguish between leaders and non-leaders

- Doesn't take into consideration the situational effects

Long term focus on personality and traits

• Traditional leaders’ traits:

• Sensitivity,• Tyranny• Intelligence• Devotion• Charisma• Strength • Attractiveness• Masculinity(Offermann et al., 1994)

Traditional followers’ traits:

• Enthusiasm • Good citizenship• Conformity• Insubordination• Incompetence(Sy, 2010)

Implicit theories about leadership:

- Exclusion of women- Exclusion of followers

Need to redefine the development of leadership

Leadership development across life span:

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Parental m

odelingSocial environment

Self-Development

3 components of successful leadership development

• Self-efficacy: locus of control• Awareness• Leadership skills

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Organizational level

• Development of leaders and development of leadership.

• Formal training and leadership development

• Focus: Problem solving, decision making.

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Appraoches to organizational leadership development

• Leadership competence• Leadership development strategy

Organization levelImportance of fit between employees and organization: LINKS with STRATEGY1. Hiring practices2. Development and improvement3. Utilization

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Hiring practices

• Competence based recruitment:

- Job-based competences- Team-based competences- Firm-based competences (Fernandez-Araoz, et

al., 2009)

Developing “Whole” LeadersPlacement decisions: - Job placements - Job rotation

Training for cognitive skills- Self-directed learning- Action learning- Soft training: team building

Coaching for emotional skills- Executive coaching- Formal mentoring

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Emphasis on Experience

Utilization & Assessment

- Performance measurement- Career management- Reward systems (Gold, Thorpe, Mumford,

2010)

Assessment tools

• Leadership Audit Questionnaire: vision, strategy, empowerment, motivation, etc.

• 360 Degrees Assessment and Feedback

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Bosses

Third party

Self

Subordinates

Peers

Shortcomings in Leadership Assessment and Development

• Hard to institutionalize• High costs• Poor implementation• Long-term orientation- no feasible results in a short run

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Conclusions

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Leadership

Experiences

GenesLeadership

StyleTrainingAge