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Learning Leadership and Development
Part 1
Introduction
Leadership development is defined as planned efforts to enhance the quality of leadership
(Groves, 2007). The rapid changes in technology, business, social and political factors have
necessitated the need for effective leadership skills. Therefore, leadership development programs
are becoming a priority for government and business organisations. The concept of leadership
development is closely linked with a learning organisation, which facilitates change, encourages
collaboration, and empowers organisational members.
Models and Relationship to Organisational Needs
In this period of information technology and innovation evolution, companies are facing the need
for leadership that is effective in progressing towards the learning organisation. Leaders who
comprehend leadership theory enhances capabilities to lead, can help decrease negative attitudes
and employee frustration in working environment (Blake & Mouton, 1985). Leaders should be
able to envision employees’ needs thus enabling a good organisational climate. Leaders are
supposed to unify all groups in on organisation so that one can work towards a common goal and
objective. Leadership development is a process that needs both development experience and the
ability to learn from the experience. According to Senge (1990), the following are the main
elements of leadership development:
● Leadership capabilities and competencies
● Assessment and feedback
● Development planning
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● Developmental experiences
The above-mentioned elements serve two purposes in the leadership learning and development
process. First, leaders are motivated to focus efforts and attention on learning change and growth.
Followed by, providing experience and input that facilitates learning such as observations,
feedback, and information leading to a better understanding of the organisation by leaders. For
leaders to develop effectively, they require a broad range of learning experiences and
understanding of organisational needs so that they can provide various opportunities for
assessment.
There are three levels in leadership learning that must happen to maximise learning development
effectiveness and understanding organisational needs ("Leadership Development Model and
Process – Theoretical Overview", 2020):
● Level One – Understanding something intellectually
● Level Two – Applying newly obtained skills
● Level Three - Experiencing, i.e. experiencing an inner development that necessitates
beliefs and attitudes
These key elements of leadership development have been integrated with the levels of learning to
produce the “holistic model” for leadership development. The "holistic model" for leadership
development is designed to facilitate learning so that it can enable leaders to understand the
organisational needs and work towards providing the needs to the organisation.
Influencing Leadership Learning and Development
The increasing interest in leadership learning and development by organisation regardless of their
business type, nationality or sector is because of the change in the business (Oswald-Herold et al.,
2018). It has been debated that the development of leaders in an isolated setting may be
ineffective, and it may result in failure in attaining leadership development and learning outcomes
from activities. Some of the factors that shape leadership learning and development include the
following:
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Competitive Strategy
According to Porter (1998), competitive strategy is the “essence of coping with competition”
(p.21) that focuses on attaining the best fit between an organisation and its environment
established on an intimate comprehension of both requirements, and therefore, serves to
determine organisation’s challenges as an essential factor affecting leadership development. It is
debated that behaviour requirements are becoming more prevalent in identifying leadership
positions, and thus leadership development should start and conclude with business objectives and
strategy in place (Megheirkouni, 2016). Competitive advantage, cost leadership strategies,
differentiation require various sets of human resource (HR) practices and policies to elicit
negative attitudes and behaviours of people to encourage success (Megheirkouni, 2016).
Identifying leadership competencies and determining how to leverage them has proven to be
important.
Technology
Technology is viewed as the foundation for business needs as it enables groups or individuals to
communicate and share interests. Technology plays an important role in redesigning how
individuals cooperate among themselves and to steer the business assumptions when utilizing
technology-based learning (Megheirkouni, 2016). Technology influences leadership in various
ways, and it helps in facilitating the opportunities for leadership development through online
courses. However, technology infrastructure is becoming a challenge to leadership development
because the current businesses propose that organisations require cutting-edge leadership
development technologies (Megheirkouni, 2016). Furthermore, several studies propose that the
use of various technology across various nations tend to be distinct because of the different
infrastructure in technology (Corrocher & Ordanini, 2002; Lall, 1955).
Firm Size
Company size is viewed in terms of the use of HRM practices across small, medium and large
companies and their importance in explaining leadership development. Leadership learning and
development is influence by firm size since the number of people in a firm contributes to the
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concept of a leader's role and responsibility. There is a good relationship between firm size and
the number of individuals involved in organisational leadership and planning, which has
insinuations on the applications of leadership development (Megheirkouni, 2016). The size of a
firm brings challenges and benefits, so a balance between the company requirement and the
individual's requirement is needed.
Organisational Culture
Organisational culture refers to a set of shared beliefs, values, assumptions and practices that
derive from company workers, and this culture shapes the way which each worker in the company
behaves (Megheirkouni, 2016). Leadership development acknowledges the critical role of culture
in organisations and how culture can be used to address career flexibility. Integrating leadership
development with organisational culture develops a clear vision between organisations and
individuals and builds accountability (Guidroz et al., 2010).
Competitive Advantage
Over the last decade, the workforce around the world has been evolving continuously because of
several factors. A growing competitive business landscape, digital revolution, and the rising
complexities. The move to a digital-based economy implies that a lively workforce is essential
more than ever since a very good percentage of the market capitalisation in companies will be
built upon intangible assets – exceptional leaders, skilled employees and knowledge. All of these
have elevated the importance of leadership learning and development function. The leadership
learning and development function has adapted to meet the needs of organisations thus enabling
an organisation to gain better competitive advantage development programs such as training. To
acquire the most out of training programs, leaders should embrace a wider role in an organisation
and formulate better strategies that will help the company gain a better competitive advantage.
Development training provides leadership learning experiences that help people to acquire new
skills and knowledge to enable them to make positive changes and enhance performance (Wang,
2015). Leadership development training would be expected to improve leadership knowledge and
leadership performance, which would enable leaders to get a higher ratio of RODI (Return on
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Leadership Development Investment) (Wang, 2015). Employee performance is also impacted by
leadership development since development programs may be helpful in recognising and managing
teams where personal development and group development, as well as the growth of manager,
ensues. Performance is a major construct aimed at attaining results and has a good link to the
organisation’s strategic goals.
Because of extreme competition and unstable atmosphere, organisations are forced to seek other
means to become more adaptive, flexible and competitive because of the rapidly changing
markets and the competitive pressures that come with it. As a result, leadership learning and
development is used to enable organisations to gain a competitive advantage; thus, employee
participation is established. A competitive environment is created when leaders allow employee
participation to improve work performance.
Theoretical Approaches to Evaluation
The changing context of organisations and work is creating new leadership demands. Various
expectations on the leadership training goals and development are also forthcoming. To date,
there are few models to guide evaluation research in leadership training and development (Clarke,
2012). This section would look at a multi-level evaluation model that help in guiding leadership
learning and development in five analysis levels: Individual, team, organisational, leaderfollower, and community. This section would also look at the theoretical approaches to leadership
learning and development.
Individual-level
Undertaking evaluation on individual levels remains informed and developed within the human
resource development literature (Clarke, 2012). In terms of leadership learning and development,
this acknowledges the outcomes of activities affecting leaders and followers. Three categories are
recognized in this model, and they include leader knowledge behaviour and skills; leader
effectiveness; and leader identity and "self-awareness".
Analysis at the Leader-Follower Level
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Regarding summative evaluation, the result of “leader-follower” social capital is mentioned at the
dyad level. Although the social capital concept has received little attention within the leadership
learning and development, its importance in enhancing knowledge transfer and career
development is well established (Clarke, 2012). At the dyad level, leadership development is
expected to lead to social capital.
Analysis at the Team Level
Team represents a unit in an organisation where leadership’s influence is mostly exerted at
(Clarke, 2012). Team results have been linked with organisational outcomes, and at this level,
four outcome criteria are recognised for evaluation of leadership development: team
effectiveness, cognitive team bonding, relational team bonding and team performance.
Analysis at Organisational Level
Drawing upon the SHRM (Strategic human resource management) literature, Yukl (2008)
identifies the flexible relationship theory that recognised organisational performance subjected to
three impetus of organisational effectiveness. The key determinants identified were efficiency and
reliability, adaptation to the external environment and human capital. Yukl (2008) argued that
certain types of leader behaviour influence the mentioned determinants.
Analysis at the Community Level
Examining the impact of leadership learning and development at the community level stress the
belief of leadership as influenced by institutions, culture, and structures. This model draws upon
integrative leadership concepts as representing the type of leadership that can work to solve
complicated problems. Evaluation at this level is away from the belief that leadership
development will affect community-level outcomes directly.
Theoretical Approaches to Leadership Learning and Development
The way leadership development is often approached depends on the leadership theory and a
comprehension of what the term leadership means. Theories may be grouped in three approaches:
leader-centric theories that place people at the center of leadership, leadership theories that focus
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beyond people to acknowledge leadership in groups, and relationship-focused theories that
emphasize the dynamic existing between a leader and follower (Oswald-Herold, Elbert, & Feit,
2018).
Leader Centric Theories
Most early theories of leadership were leader centric. The classic "great man" leadership
theories that emerged during the early 1900s focused on characteristics (traits) that good leaders
had (Oswald-Herold, Elbert, & Feit, 2018). From the early attempts to study leadership
systematically, additional theories have emerge which focuses on an individual leader, and also
emphasise the significance of various elements of leadership that include skills, charisma,
authenticity, behaviours, the capabilities to manage unpredictability and change. Some of the
leader-centric theories include trait theories, skills theories, behaviour approaches/style theories,
psychodynamic approaches, authentic leadership, adaptive leadership, ethical leadership, and
strategic leadership.
Relationship and Situation Focused on Theories
Several theories acknowledge that leadership relies on the relationship existing between
leaders and followers and the context of which the relationship happens. Moving past the concept
that leadership comes from a single individual, the “relationship and situation focused theories” of
leadership, acknowledge that various skills, behaviors, personalities and skills will be required
depending on the individuals involved and situation. Some of the theories under relationship and
situation focused model are contingency theory, situational approach, path-goal theory, leadermember exchange, transactional leadership, transformational & charismatic leadership, and
servant leadership.
Leadership Beyond an Individual
While not as important as leadership models, which focus on relationships, situations and
individuals, there is an increasing interest in other leadership theories that view leadership as a
process that happens beyond the defined follower/leader relationship model. Leadership that
happens through complex multi-individual dynamics or group decisions requires different
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theories other than those presented. Some of the approaches related to this model are
team/collective leadership, feminist leadership, complexity leadership, and inclusive leadership.
Conclusion
The efficiency and survival of an organisation depend on the development and selection of
future leaders. To be successful, organizations need to invest in developing leadership abilities at
all levels in an organization. Effective leaders can understand the needs of their employees and
help them to achieve the organisation's objectives. Through the training program, leadership
learning and development helps leaders embrace a wider role in an organisation and formulate
better strategies that will help the company gain a better competitive advantage.
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References
Blake, R. R., & Mouton, J. S. (1985). The managerial grid III: A new look at the classic that has
boosted productivity and profits for thousands of corporations worldwide. Gulf Pub. Co.
Clarke, N. (2012). Evaluating leadership training and development: A levels‐of‐analysis
perspective. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 23(4), 441-460.
Corrocher, N., & Ordanini, A. (2002). Measuring the digital divide: a framework for the analysis
of cross-country differences. Journal of Information Technology, 17(1), 9-19.
Groves, K. S. (2007). Integrating leadership development and succession planning best
practices. Journal of Management Development, 26(3), 239-260.
Guidroz, A. M., Luce, K. W., & Denison, D. R. (2010). Integrated change: creating synergy
between leader and organisational development. Industrial and Commercial Training,
42(3), 151-155.
Lall, S. (1995). The creation of comparative advantage: the role of industrial policy. I. Haque,
Trade, Technology and industrial Competitivness, 103-134.
Leadership development model and process – theoretical overview. (2020).
https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/25691/02chapter2.pdf?sequence=3&isAl
lowed=y.
Megheirkouni, M. (2016). Factors influencing leadership development in an uncertain
environment. Journal of Management Development, 35(10),1232-1254.
Oswald-Herold, C., Elbert, M. N., & Feit, M. E. (2018). Foundational & emerging models of
leadership development: A review of the literature and a taxonomy of leadership
development programs. https://www.501commons.org/learn/research/foundationalemerging-models-of-leadership-development
Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive advantage of nations: creating and sustaining superior
performance. Palgrave.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.
LEARNING LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT
Wang, J. (2015). Impact of leadership development programs. In Globalisation of Leadership
Development (pp. 95-113). Springer Gabler.
Yukl, G. (2008). How leaders influence organisational effectiveness. The Leadership
Quarterly, 19(6), 708-722.
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Part 2
Introduction
In a quickly changing time, there has been a need for management development. In
fulfilling the needs, organisations are using various techniques and tools to improve their
organisational behaviour and manage workers. Management development is an organised way
used by managers to improve their skills and knowledge. The need for the management
development program benefits managers and employees in an organisation, and hence supports an
organisation in achieving its goals. Various training techniques and methods are used to improve
both employers' and managers' skills and knowledge assisting in a competitive advantage with in
an organisation
Formulation and Implementation
Management development is a structured process that enables managers to develop
abilities to help manage an organisation or company. Through this process, managers can increase
knowledge and skills that can be used to benefit an organisation. The responsibility of a company
in management development is the development of opportunities and programs that can help
develop existing potential managers. Management development is designed to enhance the
general effectiveness of managers and to prepare for more responsibility when promoted
(Nakkiran & Karthikeyan, 2007). Managers are expected to support organisations in the
formulation and implementation of strategies but in the process face several challenges that will
be further discussed
Selection
According to Sisson and Storey (1993), the success of the managerial work in
implementing and formulating strategies will depend on a wide range of social skills and personal
qualities; therefore, attention is required on selection to guarantee the suitable managerial pool.
Assessment of Development Needs
Effective management development needs a systematic and careful assessment of personal
development needs to ensure success in implementing strategies. However, this procedure has
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been done in a usual piecemeal and ad hoc manner (Doyle, 1995). Organisations are increasingly
employing performance appraisals as a mechanism to determine the behaviours and skills needed
to meet the objectives of an organisation (Storey, 1993). It is these behaviours and skills that are
essential in formulating and implementing strategies in any organisation. Issues involved in the
performance appraisals move around its methods, purposes, and the skills of the appraisers’
subjects.
Choice of Delivery Strategies
The program "design" in management development is viewed within the context of
making choices suitable for the objectives of the organisation. While programs in management
development utilise a wide range of formalised learning strategies such as lectures, simulations
and case studies, these formalised strategies have several disadvantages. These shortcomings
include artificial and detached nature which cannot compensate for the reality of the daily
managerial issues when it comes to implementing and formulating strategies (Burgoyne & Stuart,
1991).
Competitive Advantage
Management development is the process whereby managers working at various levels can
learn and enhance their ability, knowledge and skills to improve the performance. The new
approach of human resource management HRM remains that money utilised in developing
managers and employees is portrayed as an investment. Along with positions, the managerial staff
is given an opportunity to learn and enhance. The management development programs are used as
strategic elements in organisations to develop skills of managers and enable the organisation to
attain its goal. The improvement of managerial knowledge and skills is usually achieved through
implementation of training based on the management development program that aims at
improving employee managerial competencies.
Management development has been observed related to the growth of firms and
sustainability during this age of modern corporate governance. In recent years, there have been
attempts to demonstrate that HRM systems and management development are strategic assets that
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improve organisational performance making an organisation a better competitor. On a general
level, studies on this fall into two groups: the best practices in management development
regardless of the organisation’s circumstance, followed by those that accentuate contingencies
such as the degree to which an organisation’s HRM is aligned with as a competitive strategy
(Mabey & Gooderham, 2005). The universal approach to HRM practices and policies have been
found to improve export performance, increase profitability and productivity, and improve
employee satisfaction (Mabey & Gooderham, 2005). For the management development practices
to have a major impact on the business structure, one must be aligned with business strategy and
the organisation's management infrastructure. Properly aligned management development
practices and HRM systems end up as a core ability in that it does not only guarantee competitive
advantage, but it also cannot be imitated by competitors (Mabey & Gooderham, 2005).
The Role of HRD in the Development of Corporate Strategy
Human resource development enables an organisation to provide workers with current expertise.
Advances in human resource development processes and models are current with the increasing
information and production technology that continues to spread in important industries. With the
rapid technological development, human resource development function is relied upon to support
a wide range of business capabilities that need a competent workforce. Today's business
environment needs that human resource development to support business strategies of companies
and continue to play an important role in shaping corporate strategy. The success of a business
relies on the organisation's ability to utilise employee expertise in shaping corporate strategy
(Torraco & Swanson, 1995). Human resource development serves a strategic function by assuring
employees’ competence to meet organisation’s objectives.
Supporting Business Strategy
Human resource development plays an important role in strategy formulation and is an important
determinant in business strategy (Torraco & Swanson, 1995). Successful strategies depend on the
ability of an organisation to use “state of the art” expertise in both new and emerging
opportunities. In the marketplace today, organisations that have employees with high levels of
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expertise can meet emerging organisational needs, hence win. This changing business
environment needs a dynamic strategic process and flexible utilization of resources. HRD has
become an essential determinant in formulating strategy because of two factors: (a) the
competitive advantage because of employee expertise; and (b) the importance of information
technology in businesses. There is an importance in developing employee expertise, and the
strategic direction of an organisation and this business strategy linking is important in HRD's role
in shaping and supporting corporate strategy.
Supporting Business Objectives
The human resource development role is to support a wide range of organisational
objectives which require competent workers. Organisational objectives can span short- and longterm frames and may focus on wide business issues. The logic behind using HRD interventions as
a way of supporting business objectives is straightforward: Improving employee expertise through
human resource development expands the chances that organisational objectives would be
attained (Torraco & Swanson, 1995). The HRD programs that are portrayed as strategic values
have been supportive in the success of enhancing corporate strategy. For instance, HRD programs
such as training and various initiatives linked with quality management are important in
transforming manufacturing plans into prosperous facilities.
Impact of Topical and Relevant Strategic Management Development Issues
Strategic management involves having long-term objectives and plans that will enable a
company to increase opportunities, leverage capabilities, and attain competitive advantage.
Though there are several advantages related to strategic management like promoting collaboration
and decreasing the resistance coming from the need to change, there are some issues that are
associated with strategic management (Katsanos, 2019). Strategic management is a complex
process that is time-consuming and hard to implement; thus, it needs skillful planning to avoid
pitfalls.
● Complex process: Strategic management entails a continuous analysis of critical
components like the organisational structure, long-term and short-term objectives, internal
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and external environments, and strategic control. All these components are interlinked and
changing one component is likely to affect the others.
● Time-consuming: Managers spend a lot of time researching, preparing and communicating
various management process that may affect the day to day operations negatively. For
instance, managers can overlook the daily problems that need solutions, and hence cause a
reduction in employee productivity.
● Difficult to implement: Implementing a strategic process requires a clear plan, active
participation and mostly accountability from the members in the organisation and
company leaders. Managers must continue to develop and enhance synergies within
employees to make sure that support is obtained from the objectives and mission of the
company. These are the instance where it has proved to be challenging
● Skillful planning: The right skill set is needed to mitigate risk factors that arise from
planning. Managers should monitor and develop management plans as well as address
possible changes in the future so that the proper skillset can be developed.
Conclusion
Management development helps managers and employees to enhance their skills, which
leads to their effectiveness in an organisation. This improves their level of productivity, basically
increasing the production levels in the organization. The main objective of management
development is to give employees with a stress-free working environment so that the best result
can be incurred from them, and also provide the managers with some good leadership qualities to
enable them to fulfill the organization's demand in the future. However, despite the benefits of
management development, management programs are time-consuming and hard to implement,
requiring managers to look for the right skill set that can mitigate future risks.
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References
Burgoyne, J., & Stuart, R. (1991). Teaching and learning methods in management
development. Personnel Review, 20(3).
Doyle, M. (1995). Organisational transformation and renewal. Personnel Review, 24(6), 6-18.
Katsanos, K. (2019). What are some disadvantages of strategic management?
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-strategic-management-80740.html.
Mabey, C., & Gooderham, P. N. (2005). The impact of management development on perceptions
of organisational performance in European firms. European Management Review, 2(2),
131-142.
Nakkiran, S., & Karthikeyan, M. (2007). Training techniques for management development. Deep
& Deep Publications.
Storey, J., & Sisson, K. (1993). Managing human resources and industrial relations. Open
University Press.
Torraco, R. J., & Swanson, R. A. (1995). The strategic roles of human resource
development. Human Resource Planning, 18, 10-21.
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