This lecture was given as part of the Leadership theories undergraduate course at Linnaues University, Växjö, Sweden.

1. Leadership
Development
LEADERSHIP THEORIES 2FE017
Spring 2015
Yuliya Ponomareva

2. Leadership development
Increasing publicity since 1990
Increasing competition
Importance of strategy
- Changing work environment:
Knowledge-based tasks
Need for problem-solving skills

3. Global Leadership
Multinational, 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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4. The rise of the leadership
development research
- Leader development
•&
- Leadership development

5. Corporate spending on leadership
development:
• Why so
much?
• Capability
gaps

6. Leadership failure incidents
• Lack of leadership skills
• Lack of interpersonal skills

7. Organization capabilities

8. What happens when leadership
improves?
• People stick around
• People are happier
• People are more productive
Employee branding
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9. 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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10. Initial theories in leadership
development:
• Grounded with trait approach
• Effective leaders possess a certain set of traits
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11. 11
Nature Nurture
Generic determinants of
personality: novelty seeking
behavior, neuroticism
• Can be acquired early in life
Heredity of leadership style: 58% -
Transformational leadership
48% - Transactional leadership
• The traits can be reworked
Overall 30% of leadership
effectiveness is genetically
predetermined
• Development of leadership can
be planned or accidental

12. Common ground perspective
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• Genes are switched on and off
by the environment
• Genes vary according to the
experience
DEVELOPMENT

13. Big 5 personality traits
• Extraversion +++
• Agreeableness *
• Conscientiousness ++
• Neuroticism -
• Openness to experience +
Transactional leadership
Transformational leadership
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14. Traits associated with leadership
- Intelligence
- Self-confidence
- Determination or perseverance
- Sociability
- Integrity
(Bligh, 2011)

15. 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

16. 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)

17. Implicit theories about leadership:
- Exclusion of women
- Exclusion of followers
Need to redefine the development of
leadership

18. Leadership development across life
span:
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Social environment

19. 3 components of successful leadership
development
• Self-efficacy: locus of control
• Awareness
• Leadership skills
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20. Organizational level
• Development of leaders and development of
leadership.
• Formal training and leadership development
• Focus: Problem solving, decision making.
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21. Appraoches to organizational
leadership development
• Leadership competence
• Leadership development strategy

22. Organization level
Importance of fit between employees and
organization: LINKS with STRATEGY
1. Hiring practices
2. Development and improvement
3. Utilization
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23. Hiring practices
• Competence based recruitment:
- Job-based competences
- Team-based competences
- Firm-based competences (Fernandez-Araoz, et
al., 2009)

24. Developing “Whole” Leaders
Placement 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

25. Utilization & Assessment
- Performance measurement
- Career management
- Reward systems (Gold, Thorpe, Mumford,
2010)

26. 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

27. 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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28. Conclusions
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Leadership
Experiences
Genes
Leadership
Style
Training
Age