The Dark Side

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 376-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Armitage

The Problem Morgan explored in her book What Poetry Brings to Business the deep but unexpected connections between business and poetry. She demonstrated how the creative energy, emotional power, and communicative complexity of poetry relate directly to the practical needs for innovation and problem solving that face business managers, and how poetry can unpack complexity, together with the ability to empathize with, and better understand the thoughts and feelings of others. This, it can be argued, not only aids the creative process of individuals, but it can also help facilitate the entrepreneurial culture of an organization, develop imaginative solutions, and help better understand chaotic environments. However, despite Morgan’s welcomed addition, it still remains that there is still a dearth of literature of the use of poetry concerning toxic leadership practices. The Solution According to Roebuck, reflexive practice can be described as a process of inquiry that facilities appreciation and understanding of contextualized views, deeper learning experiences, the development of ideas, and the conditions for actual change. Therefore, if organizations are not to objectify the creativity of those who aspire to be organizational leaders, then leadership development programs have to give voice to those who own organizational problems and their solution. Examples of organizational poetry will be presented to show how it can be used to unlock personal experiences and relationships within the context of working life. It will be argued that if stories are to represent reality as lived by those who report them, then poetry provides an alternative method of enquiry to inform contemporary leadership practices. The Stakeholders Poetry empowers individuals to internalize stories that carefully attend to context and settings to offer fresh perspectives on established truths, thus providing a way to explore hidden worlds that might often go unsaid in the milieu of normal conversation. As such, this article is aimed at those who need to develop an alternative paradigm for leadership and Human Resource Development (HRD) educational programs and want to adopt a more open dialogical approach to human relations within classroom settings and practice.

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (9) ◽  
pp. 538-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Turner ◽  
Rose Baker ◽  
Jae Schroeder ◽  
Karen R. Johnson ◽  
Chih-hung Chung

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the different leadership development techniques used to develop leaders from the human resource development (HRD) and performance improvement (PI) literature, and to categorize the development techniques using Garavan et al.’s (2015) multifaceted typology of development where development has recently emerged in the literature as a “central and important process” (p. 360). Design/methodology/approach This literature review followed the guidelines for an integrative literature review presented by Torraco (2005) and Imel (2011). This literature review was a freestanding literature review designed to provide directions for future research and development within the HRD discipline. Findings This literature review categorized over 500 leadership development techniques and mapped them with previously identified leadership capacities into Garavan et al.’s (2015) development typology. Once mapped, the authors were able to identify the most common leadership capacities and related development techniques for each development domain in the typology. Practical implications This research provides a tool for identifying required leadership capacities and development techniques that could be used by scholars and scholar-practitioners to conduct further research, as an aid in designing future leadership development programs and as instructional materials in the classroom. Social implications Leadership is becoming a shared construct in today’s literature. Leadership as a shared construct has multiple shareholders, both internal and external of the agent. To better meet the needs of these shareholders, this research provides tools for the scholar and scholar-practitioner for leadership development that can be catered to one’s needs – as opposed to a one-size fits all strategy. Originality/value This paper highlights the HRD and PI literature, and provides a pragmatic tool for leadership development. This tool can be used by scholars for future research and for testing, as well as by scholar-practitioners for designing future leadership development programs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Edwards ◽  
Carole Elliott ◽  
Marian Iszatt-White ◽  
Doris Schedlitzki

The Problem Leadership development programs have become prolific in organizations in both the public and private sectors, with new initiatives endlessly being developed. Empirical and conceptual work that challenges some of the mainstream approaches to leadership learning and development has led to initiatives increasingly becoming complex in nature and to the use of innovative and unusual approaches. There is limited knowledge, however, regarding the impact of such techniques. The Solution This issue focuses on some core themes around enabling and enacting leadership development in organizations through creative techniques using art, poetry, symbolism, theater, drama, and film, and is rooted in experiences of delivering such interventions in a range of countries, sectors, and professions. Each article explores how these techniques can be translated into practice across a wide of variety leadership learning and development contexts and is rooted in the contemporary and critical leadership literature. The Stakeholders Human resource development professionals seeking to identify key considerations in selecting creative techniques for effective leadership learning and development interventions, and academics advising on such selections and teaching leadership themselves, will be interested in these articles, which will also set the basis for further empirical research and theoretical reflection on the topic.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gelaye Debebe

The Problem Although leadership researchers have alluded to a connection between talent and leadership, the relationship has not been explored. The Solution Leadership entails influence through inspiration. A key assumption of this article is that people inspire others when they themselves are inspired by what they do and, further, that such inspiration stems from authentic talent development. Authentic talent development is a process whereby individuals discover what they are good at and love to do, and use their talents to express their values. This article incorporates insights from the leadership authenticity and talent development literatures to present a framework of authentic leadership and talent development in sociocultural context. The framework illuminates how social identity ascription processes can thwart the course of an individual’s talent development efforts. It also shows how individuals can overcome these pressures by cultivating positive psychological capital (PsyCap), thereby pursuing personally resonant talent trajectories. The Stakeholders This article is relevant to Human Resource Development (HRD) researchers and scholar-practitioners, and those that design and deliver leadership development programs. It is also relevant to students of leadership in academic and corporate settings.


Author(s):  
Shilpa Kabra Maheshwari ◽  
Jaya Yadav

Purpose Current volatile environments, business complexity, and leadership gaps are compelling organizations to deploy effective leadership development strategies. Fueled by competitive growth and people challenges, efforts continue to scale up but fail to create the desired leaders. This paper aims to address the missing links and calls for new ways of deploying leadership development strategy. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data on experiential feedback have been collected from participants and stakeholders of leadership development programs in Indian organizations. Findings An integrated six-step approach to leadership development has been proposed for scholars and practitioners. Practical implications From the practitioner’s perspective, this study contributes to the field of leadership development by challenging the relevance of current approaches. It also adds to the scholarly literature on leadership development in the context of the organization and the individual. Originality/value Current studies in the area of leadership development in the Indian context are scarce.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 745-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Cundiff ◽  
Sohee Ryuk ◽  
Katie Cech

One strategy for addressing gender disparities in STEM and leadership focuses on women-targeted diversity initiatives, such as women’s networking groups and women’s leadership development programs. Although well intentioned, targeting diversity initiatives specifically toward women instead of all employees may unwittingly make workplaces appear unwelcoming and biased to prospective employees. To test this notion, undergraduate women and men read a recruitment brochure for a company that framed its diversity initiatives as either targeting women employees or all employees. Both women and men felt less social fit and comfort with the company and were more concerned about being treated negatively and unfairly when diversity initiatives were framed as women-targeted rather than all-inclusive. These results held regardless of whether the company was portrayed as male-dominated or gender equitable (Study 1, N = 117). However, results were somewhat attenuated for women, but not men, when the women-targeted program was portrayed as initiated and led by women employees rather than upper management (Study 2, N = 152). Overall, our results suggest that diversity initiatives may more effectively convey identity safety to both women and men when framed in a way that includes all employees rather than targeting only women.


Author(s):  
Melanie Lee

This chapter is grounded in scholarly sources and personal narrative, and it concludes with recommended best practices about fostering more socially just higher education environments for college students. Specifically, the author focuses on the development of more equitable inclusion of students with disabilities in curricular and co-curricular leadership development programs. This chapter provides a context of major models of disability over time, a chronological scaffold of dominant student leadership models, and recommendations for educators inside and outside of classroom spaces. The intersection of models of disability and leadership models has not been explored. This chapter fills that gap in the literature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (8) ◽  
pp. 637-650
Author(s):  
Laura Paglis Dwyer

Purpose The purpose of this paper, on self-efficacy and leadership, has two objectives. First, it comprehensively reviews approximately 25 years of research on leadership self-efficacy (LSE), beginning with LSE measurement and related criticisms. Findings concerning LSE’s relationships with leader effectiveness criteria, as well as individual and contextual influences on LSE, are presented. Second, it examines the evidence on efficacy enhancement interventions and offers some preliminary recommendations for increasing LSE through leadership development programs. Design/methodology/approach The author conducted a comprehensive literature review of the existing research on LSE, covering the main contributors to this research stream and their findings. Findings The review revealed substantial diversity in LSE construct development and measurement approaches. Regarding LSE and leader effectiveness, many studies reported positive relationships with potential, performance and behavioral ratings of leaders. Collective (team) efficacy has emerged as a significant mediator between LSE and group performance. Influences on LSE include several of the Big Five personality traits, while contextual antecedents are under-researched, and potentially fruitful areas for further study. Executive coaching and mentoring, as well as cognitive modeling techniques and training in constructive thought patterns, received support for enhancing LSE in developing leaders. Originality/value This paper’s review and implications should be of substantial value to current and future LSE researchers, as it summarizes past research, synthesizes the findings to draw out common themes and consistent, corroborated findings, and identifies opportunities for future research. For practitioners, the reviewed research on interventions for increasing LSE through leadership development programs provides practical guidance.


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