Colonel Sean T. Hannah, Infantry, US Army, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic
(CAPE), United States Military Academy (West Point)
Areas of Expertise:
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Leadership Development
Leadership in Extreme Contexts
Leader Complexity
Ethical and Authentic Leadership
Character Development
Leader Identity, Self-Efficacy, and Courage
Colonel Hannah directs the CAPE in its mission to increase Army-wide understanding,
ownership, and sustained development of the Army Profession and its Ethic and the
Character Development of Soldiers. Previously he served as the Director of Leadership
and Management Programs at West Point.
Over twenty four years of military service he served in numerous command and staff
positions in Infantry units in Europe, Cuba, Panama, Southwest Asia, and the United
States. He served in combat with the lead unit of 3d Armored Division during Desert
Storm where his unit was awarded the President’s Valorous Unit Award, and also in
other contingency operations such as Operation Sea Signal (Panama and Cuba), Joint
Task Force Los Angeles, and the Pentagon on 9/11. He also served at the Pentagon in the
office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, and later an Assistant Secretary of the Army.
COL Hannah’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Four Meritorious Service
Medals, and 19 other medals; numerous service ribbons, and three unit commendations.
He has also been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge,
Ranger Tab, Airborne Badge, and Army Staff Badge
COL Hannah holds a PhD in Management with a specialty in Leadership Development
and a minor in Psychology from the University of Nebraska; both a Masters of Business
Administration and a Masters of Public Administration from Syracuse University; a
Masters in Military Science from the Marine Corps University, and a Bachelor of
Political Science from the California State University
As a leadership scholar, he has published over 30 articles and chapters on leadership. His
most recent works are published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior; the
Leadership Quarterly; Consulting Psychology Journal; the Journal of Positive
Psychology; Human Resource Management Journal; Industrial and Organizational
Psychology, the Organizational Psychology Review; Military Psychology; and the
International Journal of Conflict Management, as well as in numerous books.
Select Publications
Hannah, S. T., & Avolio, B. J. (in press). Moral potency: Building the capacity for
character-based leadership Consulting Psychology Journal.
Harms, P. D., Spain, S. M., & Hannah, S. T. (in press). Leader Development and the
Dark Side of Personality. The Leadership Quarterly.
Lord, R. L., Hannah, S. T., & Jennings, P. L. (in press). A Framework for Understanding
Leadership and Individual Requisite Complexity. Organizational Psychology
Review.
Avey, J., Luthans, F., Hannah, S. T., Sweetman, D., & Peterson, C. (in press). Wisdom:
A strength of character to reduce stress and facilitate creativity. Human Resource
Management Journal.
Hannah, S. T., Campbell, D. J, & Matthews, M. D. (2010). Advancing a research agenda
for leadership in dangerous contexts. Military Psychology, 22, 1-14.
Hannah, S. T., Campbell, D. J., & Matthews, M. D. (2010). Leadership in military and
other dangerous contexts: Introduction to the special topic issue. Military
Psychology, 22, 157-189.
Fry, L., Hannah, S.T., Noel, M. & Walumbwa, F. (in press). Spiritual Leadership at a
Military Academy: Impact on Unit Performance. The Leadership Quarterly.
Ben-Yoav Nobel, O., Campbell, D., Hannah, S. T., & Wortinger, B. (in press). Soldiers’
Negotiations in Combat Areas: The Effects of Role Clarity and Concern for
Members of the Local Population. International Journal of Conflict Management.
Hannah, S. T., Sweeney, P. J., & Lester, P. B. (in press). The Courageous Mindset: A
Dynamic Personality System Approach to Courage. In C. Pury & S. Lopez (Eds.),
The Psychology of Courage. American Psychological Association.
Lester, P. B., Vogelgesang, G. R., Hannah, S. T., & Kimmey, T. (in press). Developing
courage in followers: Theoretical and applied perspectives. In C. Pury & S. Lopez
(Eds.), The Psychology of Courage. American Psychological Association.
Avolio, B. J., Reichard, R.J, Hannah, S. T., Walumbwa, F.O, Chan, A. (2009). 100 Years
of Leadership Intervention Studies: A Meta-Analysis. The Leadership Quarterly,
20, 764-784.
Hannah, S. T., Uhl-Bien, M., Avolio, B. J., & Cavarretta, F. L. (2009). A Framework for
Examining Leadership in Extreme Contexts. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 897-919.
Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J. (2009). Ready or Not: How Do We Accelerate the
Developmental Readiness of Leaders? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30, 1-7.
Hannah, S. T., Woolfolk, R. L., & Lord, R. G. (2009). Leader self-structure: A
framework for positive leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30, 269290.
Hannah, S. T., Lester, P. (2009). A multilevel approach to building and leading learning
organizations. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 34-48.
Avolio, B. J., & Hannah, S. T. (2009). Leader developmental readiness. Industrial and
Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 2, 284-287.
Avolio, B. J., & Hannah, S. T. (2008). Developmental readiness: Accelerating leader
development. Consulting Psychology Journal, 60, 331-347.
Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F, & Harms, P. (2008) Leadership Efficacy:
Review and Future Directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 19, 669-692.
Hannah, S. T., & Luthans, F. (2008). A Cognitive Affective Processing Explanation of
Positive Leadership: Toward Theoretical Understanding of the Role of
Psychological Capital. In R.H. Humphrey (Ed.) Affect and Emotion: New
Directions in Management Theory and Research, Volume 7 of Research in
Management: 95-134. Information Age Publishing.
Hannah, S. T., Eggers, J. H., & Jennings, P. L. (2008). Complex adaptive leadership:
Defining what constitutes effective leadership for complex organizational contexts.
In G. B. Graen & J. A. Graen (Eds.) Knowledge driven corporation: Complex
creative destruction. LMX Leadership: The Series. Volume VI: 79-124. Charlotte,
NC: Information Age Publishing.
Hannah, S.T, Sweeney, P., & Lester, P. (2007). Toward a Courageous Mindset: The
Subjective Act and Experience of Courage. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2, 2,
129-135.
Hannah, S. T., & Sweeney, P. (2007). Frameworks of Moral Development and the West
Point Experience: Building Leaders of Character for our Army and the Nation. In
D.M. Snider and L.J. Matthews (Eds.), The Development of Leaders of Character at
West Point. Sisters, OR: Jerico, LLC .
Sweeney, P., & Hannah, S. T. (2007). High-Impact Leadership: The Positive Effects of
Authentic Moral Leadership on Followers. In D.M. Snider and L.J. Matthews
(Eds.), The Development of Leaders of Character at West Point. Sisters, OR: Jerico,
LLC.
Sweeney, P., Hannah, S. T. , & Snider, D. M. (2007). The Domain of the Human Spirit.
In D.M. Snider and L.J. Matthews (Eds.), The Development of Leaders of Character
at West Point. Sisters, OR: Jerico, LLC .
Hannah, S. T. (2007). Authentic Leadership: The Heart of High Impact Leadership. In D.
Crandall (Ed.), Leadership Lessons from West Point. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
88-106.
Avolio, B. J., Reichard, R. J., Hannah, S. T., Walumbwa, F. O., & Chan, A. (2005).
Executive Summary: 100 Year Review of Leadership Interventions. Leadership
Review, 5(Winter), 7-13.
Chan, A., Hannah, S. T., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Veritable Authentic Leadership:
Emergence, functioning, and impacts. In W.B. Gardner & B. J. Avolio (Eds.)
Authentic Leadership Theory and Practice: Origins, Effects, and Development.
Monographs in Leadership and Management. Elsevier/JAI Press. 3-42.
Hannah, S. T., Lester, P. B., & Vogelgesang, G. R. (2005). Moral Leadership:
Explicating the moral component of authentic leadership. In W.B. Gardner & B. J.
Avolio (Eds.) Authentic Leadership Theory and Practice: Origins, Effects, and
Development. Monographs in Leadership and Management. Elsevier/JAI Press. 4382.
Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., & Luthans, F. (2004). Authentic Leadership Theory: A
theory primer for students of leadership. In Special Readings in Military
Leadership, 2d Ed. McGraw Hill.