Secondhand learning from graduates of leadership development programs

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 511-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen F. Goldman ◽  
Marilyn Wesner ◽  
Margaret M. Plack ◽  
Nisha N. Manikoth ◽  
Yolanda Haywood

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the impact leadership development program graduates had on their workgroup, the nature of that impact and how that impact occurred. Design/methodology/approach – This research was conducted at three sites using a qualitative interview methodology with thematic data analysis. Techniques to ensure trustworthiness included purposive sampling, triangulation of researchers, member checks and code checking. Findings – Analysis of the data revealed secondhand learning as specific changes in practices, behaviors and attitudes, transferred by program graduates to their peers and supervisors. The transfer of learning was described as both intentional and informal learning during episodes of varying duration, and occurred through a variety of dyadic and group interactions in a manner generally consistent with the 4I framework of organizational learning. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to medical educators. Recommendations for supervisors and organizations to maximize training transfer are identified. These suggestions advocate for actively encouraging graduates in departmental leadership and faculty development; focusing transfer on specific practices, behaviors and attitudes; and considering both short- and long-term outcomes. Originality/value – This paper makes an original contribution to the literature by describing the process of secondhand learning from leadership development program graduates. The paper also expands our understanding of the nuances in transfer methods and associated learning episodes in the context of an educational environment. Finally, the research illustrates how qualitative methods can be used to expose secondhand learning.

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth King ◽  
Paul Nesbit

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate ways to gain deeper understanding of the evaluation challenge by reporting on insights about the impact of a leadership development program. It focusses on participants’ reflective post-course analysis of their learning, comparing this to a traditional evaluative analysis. Recently there has been a greater focus on programs to develop leaders who have the requisite cognitive and behavioral complexity to lead in challenging environments. However models for the evaluation of such programs often rely on methodologies that assume learning of specific skills rather than assessment of how well participants are able to cognitively and behaviorally adapt to uncertain and complex environments. Design/methodology/approach – The leadership development program was evaluated in two stages and the findings compared. Stage 1 elicited responses to the program using a traditional evaluation approach. Stage 2 involved 30 semi-structured interviews with the participants exploring the connections made between their development experience, work environment and approach to challenge. Findings – Evaluation approaches which focus on assessing reflection about personal learning provide greater detail on learning experience than traditional approaches to evaluation and can increase our understanding of the broader impact of leadership development programs. Current evaluation practices are mostly traditional despite dissatisfaction with outcomes. There are functional and financial benefits flowing from this practice suggesting collusion with denial between the suppliers and purchasers of leadership development and posing a question of causation. Originality/value – This study supports the use of qualitative evaluation techniques and in particular a focus on post-learning reflection to increase understanding of the impact of leadership development programs. The increased understanding provided by this type of evaluation can play a significant role in both the design of leader development programs and the creation of strategic alignment between business strategy, the purpose of leadership development interventions, learning objectives, program design and program evaluation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1262-1271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Kotlyar ◽  
Julia Richardson ◽  
Len Karakowsky

Purpose – An increasingly popular method of facilitating employee and leadership development is via a career community (Parker et al., 2004), where individuals self-organize to obtain career support. This study was driven by the following research question: how do external peer coaching groups – which are a form of career community – impact leadership development? The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a research study that examined one such career community focussed on providing peer coaching for managers in business organizations. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with participants who attended a leadership development program that was based on harnessing a career community for the purpose of peer coaching. The authors report the results of the study and its implications for leadership development programs. Design/methodology/approach – The authors chose a qualitative methodology to conduct this exploratory examination, where the authors conducted in-depth interviews with participants in a unique leadership development program which involved peer group coaching supplemented by one-on-one personal coaching. A key reason for adopting a qualitative methodology was that the authors were looking for a deeper understanding of interviewees’ perceptions and experiences regarding peer coaching. The first component of the leadership program involved eight peer coaching sessions over a 12-month period. Participants met in small, exclusive groups – typically in cohorts of seven to eight peers, but as many as 12 peers – every six weeks to discuss a variety of topics relevant to their jobs and stage of career and to provide each other with peer coaching and advice. Each group was comprised of people from different organizations. Sessions were led by a facilitator and lasted three hours each. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 17 graduates of the program. The sample comprised 14 women and three men. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim and then analyzed using thematic analysis (King, 2004) to identify the key themes in interviewees’ experiences of the respective program. Findings – Thematic interpretation of participants’ responses yielded the following four major themes: first, the value of a learning community; second, the utility of a formal approach to peer coaching; third, the value of diversity and “externality”; and fourth, the value of an open learning environment (each fully described in the manuscript). The study revealed that external peer coaching and personal coaching deliver distinct types of value as part of a complete leadership development program. Research limitations/implications – This was a case study and specific to one leadership development program. Consequently, the authors cannot necessarily generalize the findings. Practical implications – The findings draw critical attention to the major contribution that learning communities can make toward leadership development. Although many leadership development programs assume that “leadership” is best learned from top leaders (e.g. Presidents and CEOs), organizations can acquire unique benefits by leveraging the concept of peer coaching, which can produce substantial results by having managers at the same organizational level learn from each other. In addition, the study underscores the potential value of external sources of peer coaching and leader development. Organizations may further maximize such benefits by sending their mid and senior-level managers to external peer coaching programs, which can deliver unique value in addition to any internal leadership development initiatives. Social implications – This study underscores the need to better bridge the gap between two literatures – careers and leadership development. Career scholars explore the activities involved in developing careers (e.g. career communities) and leadership development scholars explore activities involved in developing leaders. This study demonstrates the value of integrating knowledge from both these literatures to suggest that learning communities can impact leadership development in significant and positive ways. Originality/value – This study makes a novel contribution to the literature addressing leadership development. It draws attention to the use of career communities for leadership development – an issue which has largely been ignored. In addition, while much of the extant research has focussed on either academic or student participants, the study focussed on business professionals. Few studies have examined the use of peers from outside organizations to serve as coaches for leadership development.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Douglas ◽  
Daisha Merritt ◽  
Robin Roberts ◽  
Daryl Watkins

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of leadership development programs on organizational outcomes and organizational effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach Using a grounded theory approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 executive leaders from aviation firms in Brazil with employees participating in a leadership development program. NVivo12 was used for coding and managing the data. Thematic analysis was performed to determine themes and categories. Findings The leadership development program was found to influence organizational level outcomes identified as themes of internal impact, external impact, skill development and capacity. The interviews also found that executive leaders perceived the leadership development program to impact organizational effectiveness. Connections to human capital, social capital and collective leadership were found as outcomes of the leadership development program contributing to organizational effectiveness. Research limitations/implications The findings are dependent upon the executive leaders’ interviews and are limited sample size. The protocol of subjective inter-coder reliability was followed supporting the credibility and dependability of the findings; however, researcher bias may still be present in qualitative studies. Generalizability outside of the Brazilian aviation context is cautioned until further studies in additional contexts and industries are completed. Practical implications The findings of this study support leadership development programs as impactful on organizational outcomes and effectiveness. Incorporating leadership development programs as part of human capital management strategies supports organizational effectiveness through increased collective leadership capacity, human capital development and social capital. Originality/value A large amount is known regarding the outcomes for individuals as a result of leadership development programs with less examination on the contribution to organizational level outcomes and organizational effectiveness. This study aids in bridging this gap.


Author(s):  
Jitendra Kumar Dixit ◽  
Vivek Agrawal ◽  
Sucheta Agarwal ◽  
Shqipe Gerguri-Rashiti ◽  
Dina Sabry Said

Purpose Education is the most promising and prominent domain for entrepreneurs who are willing to infuse innovation and creation to initiate the change in existing educational practices. These changing agents are known as edupreneurs. Educational domain generates an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to balance work and life, both. However, women edupreneurs community needs to enhance their competencies and capacities to handle diverse issues and challenges posed by stakeholders. This paper aims to explore competencies helpful in designing a customized leadership development program, especially for women edupreneurs community. Design/methodology/approach From the extensive literature, a number of competencies for women's edupreneurs were found and 12 competencies were selected in this study after experts’ opinions. These competencies were analyzed by an integrated analytical hierarchy process (AHP)-TOPSIS approach. Findings The study has extracted competencies (visionary, delegative, inquisitive, learning agility, cognitive ability, self-reflection, tolerance, decisive, self-development, receptive to feedback, building partnership networks and save face) to be included in leadership development program specially designed for women edupreneurs community engage in operating child care, pre-school, primary-elementary schools and secondary-high schools, addressing the problems and issues related to students and parents community. Practical implications Future leadership development programs designed for women edupreneurs can include these competencies and trainers, educators and policymakers can follow the suggested structure for execution purpose. Originality/value This study is an initial attempt to set a benchmark for improving competencies of women edupreneurs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 135-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Solansky ◽  
Derrick McIver

Purpose By relying on social learning theory, the authors aim to evaluate how team characteristics as evaluated by a team coach impact participation in leadership development program activities. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that teams with high levels of competence and social support would participate more team and program-wide training activities. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine 41 teams (266 participants) in a leadership development program and develop a two-by-two matrix to categorize teams based on their underlying characteristics for the purpose of identifying participation differences. Findings The mixed results indicate how team social support is a key driver for participation in team activities and how team competence is associated with less participation in program-wide activities in a leadership development program. Practical implications The results point to the importance of team characteristics when using teams for education and training programs such as leadership development programs. Team characteristics such as team competence and team social support should be considered when building teams and for team facilitation needs during education and training programs that implore teams to enhance learning. Originality/value Although the use of teams as an organizing strategy is popular, very little research has examined the effectiveness of this strategy by taking a deeper look at team characteristics and how these impact participation in a leadership development program.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Jack J. Phillips ◽  
Patti P. Phillips

Purpose In uncertain times, courageous leaders must be in place, stepping forward to take action to drive results. Because there is really no such thing as a natural-born leader, the organization must constantly develop current and new leaders. Leadership skills and leader behavior are shaped and molded over time, but also can be dramatically changed and improved with a variety of effective leadership development programs. The perplexing issue about leaders and leadership development is the negative press it often receives. The root cause of this problem is not necessarily the content of leadership development programs or even the way that they are delivered, it is the definition of leadership success and the success of leadership development. Design/methodology/approach The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the success of a courageous leader does not occur until impact is achieved in the organization. Findings The courageous leader is one who can deliver on all levels of outcomes in the face of many difficulties, challenges and uncertainties in ambiguous environments. Originality/value Great leaders deliver great results, including the impact they have on their organizations or spheres of influence. Without impact, leaders are ineffective. To achieve success in these turbulent times requires leaders to be effective in delivering on five levels of outcomes, including impact and ROI. The courageous leader is one who can deliver on all levels of outcomes in the face of many difficulties, challenges and uncertainties in ambiguous environments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya M. Jeyaraman ◽  
Sheikh Muhammad Zeeshan Qadar ◽  
Aleksandra Wierzbowski ◽  
Farnaz Farshidfar ◽  
Justin Lys ◽  
...  

Purpose Strong leadership has been shown to foster change, including loyalty, improved performance and decreased error rates, but there is a dearth of evidence on effectiveness of leadership development programs. To ensure a return on the huge investments made, evidence-based approaches are needed to assess the impact of leadership on health-care establishments. As a part of a pan-Canadian initiative to design an effective evaluative instrument, the purpose of this paper was to identify and summarize evidence on health-care outcomes/return on investment (ROI) indicators and metrics associated with leadership quality, leadership development programs and existing evaluative instruments. Design/methodology/approach The authors performed a scoping review using the Arksey and O’Malley framework, searching eight databases from 2006 through June 2016. Findings Of 11,868 citations screened, the authors included 223 studies reporting on health-care outcomes/ROI indicators and metrics associated with leadership quality (73 studies), leadership development programs (138 studies) and existing evaluative instruments (12 studies). The extracted ROI indicators and metrics have been summarized in detail. Originality/value This review provides a snapshot in time of the current evidence on ROI indicators and metrics associated with leadership. Summarized ROI indicators and metrics can be used to design an effective evaluative instrument to assess the impact of leadership on health-care organizations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 357-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kirchner ◽  
Mesut Akdere

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how branches of the USA military conduct leadership development of their members to build on existing knowledge of effective approaches. The military, often credited for its ability to develop leadership competencies, has been overlooked and offers a new context for consideration in training. Training strategies presented may offer organization leaders new insight into enhancing current leadership development programs. Design/methodology/approach A review of accessible military doctrine in recent decades was conducted to determine leadership development methodology for possible transferability into industry. Findings The military’s diverse perspectives on service member leadership development offered insightful methods for application in commercial training. Four development strategies were identified and are discussed. Research limitations/implications The purpose of the military is unique from non-military organizations and, as such, each of the leadership development training approaches may not be applicable or feasible for traditional employees. Further exploration of leadership development in the US military is required to better understand the impact of the training. Originality/value A review of existing literature revealed little evidence of examining the military’s approach to developing leaders, even though employers claim to hire veterans because of their leadership abilities. Each of the identified development components are distinguishable from traditional leadership programs and present readers a series of opportunities to consider.


2021 ◽  
pp. 216507992110017
Author(s):  
Crystal Spears-Jones ◽  
Ranell Myles ◽  
Tichelle Porch ◽  
Stephanie Parris ◽  
Michelle Ivy-Knudsen ◽  
...  

Background: Leading Change is one of five Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) used in developing leaders in the federal government. Leadership development programs that incorporate multirater feedback and executive coaching are valuable in developing competencies to lead change. Methods: We examined the extent by which coaching influenced Leading Change competencies and identified effective tools and resources used to enhance the leadership capacity of first- and midlevel leaders at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis Prevention. Data included qualitative data collected via semi-structured interviews that focused on leadership changes made by leaders in the Coaching and Leadership Initiative (CaLI), a leadership development program for Team Leads and Branch Chiefs. Findings: Ninety-six participants completed leadership coaching; 94 (98%) of whom completed one or more interviews. Of those 94 respondents, 74 (79%) reported improvements in their ability to lead change in 3 of 4 leading change competencies: creativity and innovation, flexibility, and resilience. All respondents indicated tools and resources that were effective in leading change: 49 (52%) participated in instructor-led activities during their CaLI experience; 33 (35%) experiential activities; 94 (100%) developmental relationships, assessment, and feedback; and 25 (27%) self-development. Conclusions/Application to Practice: First- and midlevel leaders in a public health agency benefitted from using leadership coaching in developing competencies to lead organizational change. Leadership development programs might benefit from examining Leading Change competencies and including instructor-led and experiential activities as an additional component of a comprehensive leadership development program.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 493-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Stenling ◽  
Susanne Tafvelin

Leadership development programs are common in sports, but seldom evaluated; hence, we have limited knowledge about what the participants actually learn and the impact these programs have on sports clubs’ daily operations. The purpose of the current study was to integrate a transfer of training model with self-determination theory to understand predictors of learning and training transfer, following a leadership development program among organizational leaders in Swedish sports clubs. Bayesian multilevel path analysis showed that autonomous motivation and an autonomy-supportive implementation of the program positively predicted near transfer (i.e., immediately after the training program) and that perceiving an autonomy-supportive climate in the sports club positively predicted far transfer (i.e., 1 year after the training program). This study extends previous research by integrating a transfer of training model with self-determination theory and identified important motivational factors that predict near and far training transfer.


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