Leadership & Organization Development Journal

Understanding leader development: learning from leaders

Aoife McDermott Rachel Kidney Patrick Flood
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Aoife McDermott Rachel Kidney Patrick Flood, (2011),"Understanding leader development: learning from
leaders", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 32 Iss 4 pp. 358 - 378
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LODJ
32,4
358
Received December 2009
Revised August 2010
Accepted September 2010
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Leadership & Organization
Development Journal
Vol. 32 No. 4, 2011
pp. 358-378
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-7739
DOI 10.1108/01437731111134643
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7739.htm
Understanding leader
development: learning from
leaders
Aoife McDermott
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, and
Rachel Kidney and Patrick Flood
DCU Business School, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate senior managers’ personal experiences of
leadership development with theory to provide insights into leadership development for aspiring and
developing leaders.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research design was adopted. Empirical data were
gathered from 11 semi-structured interviews with senior leaders in the Irish public, voluntary
(non-profit) and private sectors.
Findings – The analysis led to the identification of development-oriented themes in the leadership
literature, and the provision of insights regarding the developmental influences, core activities (vision
and mobilisation) and the contextual influences (sectoral and societal) which affect appropriate
leadership behaviour.
Research limitations/implications – Although the study is limited by its small sample it provides
a basis for further research and draws attention to personal leader development processes. In
particular the importance of formative experiences on leaders’ development, their struggle to attain
balance, the need for advanced emotional management skills, the capacity to work with collectives of
people and to adapt to contextual demands are emphasised. The study suggests that future research
investigate how contextual factors influence the adoption of certain leadership styles.
Practical implications – The study explores personal perspectives on fundamental leadership
development themes, of pragmatic value to established and aspiring leaders interested in enhancing
their capacity to lead.
Originality/value – This paper considers leader development from the viewpoint of front-line
actors. As such it adopts an intrapersonal focus, considering the development journeys of individual
leaders. The paper extends the traditional focus on the transactional and relational dimensions of
leadership behaviours to incorporate the formative experiences and contextual factors that influence
leadership.
Keywords Self development, Leaders, Leadership development
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This article considers leader development as an ongoing process of personal
development. As such it adopts an intrapersonal focus, considering the development of
individual leaders and their personal “human capital” (Day, 2001). McCauley and Van
Velsor (2004) argue that leader development is one aspect of leadership development.
Leadership development has been defined as:
 [. . .] the expansion of the organisation’s capacity to enact the basic leadership tasks needed Understanding
for collective work: setting direction, creating alignment, and maintaining commitment
(McCauley and Van Velsor, 2004, p. 22). leader
At the individual level, they view leader development as:
development
[. . .] the expansion of a person’s capacity to be effective in leadership roles and processes
(McCauley and Van Velsor, 2004, p. 2).
359
Our focus on individual leader development contrasts with the common focus on
leadership development, which is concerned with expanding the collective capacity of
organizational members to engage in leadership roles (Day, 2001; McCauley et al.,
1998).
From an organizational perspective, a growing body of evidence suggests that
leadership can affect organization performance, (Agle et al., 2006; Waldman et al.,
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2004). This is reflected in the widespread investment in leadership development

(Martineau and Hannum, 2003). This investment is also echoed in the academic
literature, where leadership development has been considered from a training design
perspective (e.g. Ladyshewsky, 2007), a programmatic perspective (e.g. Boaden, 2006)
and a practice perspective (e.g. Leskiw and Singh, 2007). The common objective
underpinning such interventions is to establish processes that expand the
organizational cadre of individuals who can “assume leadership roles” and “engage
effectively in leadership processes”. (Houghton and DiLiello, 2009, p. 233).
From an individual perspective, the major focus of leadership research has been on
the human capital of individual leaders (Brass and Krackhardt, 1999 cited in Day,
2001). However, many studies consider leadership as either trait (e.g. Stogdill, 1974) or
behaviourally driven (e.g. Shamir and Howell, 1999). From a behavioural perspective,
the traditional focus has been on the transactional and relational dimensions of
leadership behaviours (Judge and Piccolo, 2004). Although it has been noted that
“critical developmental experiences such as crises, failures and achievements create
lessons that generate new perspectives or skills or a shift in character” (Wood and
Vilkinas, 2003, p. 187), with the exception of Avolio (2005), little explicit attention has
been given to the personal development processes that leaders go through. As a result,
the purpose this study was to consider the nature of individual leader development
processes, including the formative influences on and key learning experiences of, now
successful leaders.

Theoretical background
For Day (2001) the differences between leader and leadership development are marked.
In particular he notes that leader development focuses on human capital, an individual
model of leadership, an intrapersonal competence base and is underpinned by core
personal skills that include self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation and a shift
towards “relational dialogue”, rather than a traditional emphasis on “personal power”
(Brower et al., 2000). In contrast leadership development focuses on social capital, is
underpinned by a relational model, has an interpersonal competence base and is
underpinned by core social skills that include social awareness and conflict
management (Day, 2001). From the perspective of this study, the crucial differentiating
factor is the focus on the individual in leader development. However, common to both
approaches is the assumption that leaders can be developed. This assumption harks
 LODJ back to the earliest debate in the leadership literature; whether leaders are born or
32,4 made. This is the first of five leader development oriented themes that we address in
the paper. The second is an ongoing issue facing leaders – achieving a work life
balance. The third examines the role emotions play in enhancing the development of
leadership skills and behaviours. The fourth theme considers whether leadership is an
individual or collective activity. Finally, the last theme addresses the assumption of
360 universality of leadership by examining the effect contextual and individual
differences have on leadership development.
These themes reflect a balance between decades of leadership research, which we
attempted to capture in our interview schedule (detailed in Table I), and the themes
that emerged as particular concerns of the leaders, based on our analysis.

Leadership theme one: are leaders born or made?

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A long-standing debate in the leadership literature addresses the question of whether

leaders are born or made. Trait theorists contend that individuals are born with innate
leadership traits (e.g. Stogdill, 1974), whilst Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991, p. 40) suggest
that key leader traits enable the development of relevant skills, vision and effective
planning of procedures to implement these visions. Subsequent research has supported
their view; indicating that effective leaders invest time reflecting on events and use
developmental learning from these experiences to guide their future actions (Burns,
1978; Fisher et al., 2000; Avolio, 2005). Self-awareness and self-regulated behaviours
are believed to foster optimal leadership development (Luthans and Avolio, 2003). In
particular, Lord and Hall (2005) postulate that leader development is influenced by
individual differences in cognitive capacity, personality and temperament, emotional
regulation ability, identities, and values.
Developmental focused research indicates that certain childhood experiences such
as exposure to early role models and the adoption of early leadership roles are related
to the development of transformational leadership behaviour (Bass and Avolio, 1994;
Avolio, 1994; Popper et al., 2000). Later in life, in the early stages of a leader’s career,
Kotter (1990) suggests that executives are exposed to a variety of developmental
opportunities which focus, refine and shape their leadership capabilities. Hooijberg and
Quinn (1992) argue that this development occurs when a leader interacts with
environmental features and events. These learning experiences are believed to trigger a
shift away from habitual responses and routines and towards the adoption of new
leadership behaviours. Following this, Lewis and Jacobs (1992) note the significance of
learning through challenging work roles, and the usefulness of mentoring and
coaching as a means of exposing aspiring leader’s to alternative perspectives. The
developmental process, in this sense, is enhanced through direct experience with
established leaders and work assignments.
The stage of a leader’s career has also been found to influence leader development
and the nature of the skills required. Following research in skills acquisition
(Ackerman, 1987; Fleishman, 1972), Mumford et al. (2000) examined the development of
leadership skills over the course of ones’ career. They found that increased levels of
skills (e.g. knowledge, problem-solving skills, systems skills, and social skills) were
found at higher-level leadership posts. However, certain skills were more relevant at
different organizational levels, suggesting that leadership development is progressive
and systematic in nature (Mumford et al., 2000). Overall, it appears that leader
 Understanding
Formative influence Question
leader
Leadership 1. What is involved in the work that you do? development
2. What brought you down this path in life?
3. What drives you?
4. How do you achieve balance?
5. Based on your own experience, what does leadership mean to 361
you?
6. How would you describe your own leadership style?
7. What are the critical things that have shaped you as a leader?
8. Is there anything that could help you to be a more effective
leader?
9 What do you look for in your employees/those you work with?
10. How do you think those who work with you would describe
you?
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11. Based on your experience, can you identify clear characteristics

of effective leaders in your work context (sector/industry)?
12. Do you think there is a difference between management and
leadership?
13. [If appropriate] Can you tell us about your international
experience and how effective leadership varies across countries?
14. What advice would you give to aspiring leaders?
Innovation 15. Innovation is often about trial and error. Can you tell me about
an initiative that worked particularly well for [organization] and
how that worked well?
16. Can you tell me about an initiative that encountered difficulties
and how those difficulties came about?
17. What do see as being the key to staying ahead of your
competitors?
Achieving change 18. How do you bring about change in your organizations?
19. How you persuade people to support your vision?
20. Do you have any advice for others who would like to bring Table I.
about change in their own work context? Interview schedule

development involves a complex interaction between personal traits, early life

experiences and career-related learning opportunities.

Leadership theme two: leadership and the attainment of balance

Effective leaders are often perceived as highly driven and visionary individuals,
capable of prioritising and communicating business needs. Particularly during
turbulent times, leaders can provide guidance and psychological safety for those they
lead. However, the demanding nature of leadership roles can lead to the complete loss
of balance between work and personal domains (Mintzberg, 1973; Muna, 2006). Leaders
who fail to achieve balance have been found to suffer from burnout, poor mental and
physical health, regrets, damaged relationships and unfulfilled dreams (Muna and
Mansour, 2009). Muna and Mansour (2009) argue that despite the introduction of
work-life balance policies, an organization’s underlying culture often contradicts these
efforts. Individuals who could benefit from flexible work arrangements often avoid the
uptake of such options as they are perceived to run counter to career progression. In
contrast, a cross-cultural study based on high-level managers across 33 countries
 LODJ found that managers who self-reported high work-life balance were rated higher in
32,4 career advancement potential by peers and supervisors than those who reported lower
work-life balance (Lyness and Judiesch, 2008). Wood and Vilkinas (2003) identified a
“balanced approach” towards all aspects of life as one of seven characteristics CEOs
associated with their career success. However, in comparison to other characteristics,
CEOs placed less emphasis on the “balanced approach” as a key contributor. This
362 finding runs counter to Kets de Vries and Florent-Treacy’s (2002) study which
advocated the centrality of work-life balance in a CEO’s career.
Despite the pragmatic importance of work-life balance in leader development, a
paucity of studies investigate this issue. However, the available literature implies that
leaders often perceive a “trade-off” between their personal and professional lives. This
has implications for developing and sustaining emotional resilience (Hernez-Broome
and Hughes, 2004), a skill central to leader development (Moxley and Pulley, 2004).
This links to the next theme in which we addresses the role emotions play in the
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context of leadership development.

Leadership theme three: the role of emotions in leadership

Contemporary leadership theories demonstrate the centrality of emotional skills for
effective leadership (e.g. transformational leadership (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978);
charismatic leadership (Conger and Kanungo, 1998; House, 1977)). In turbulent times,
leaders often need to contain the anxiety of those they lead, regulate their own
emotions and express appropriate emotions in response to the needs of the situation. In
fact, leader’s mood and affective displays have been found to influence the collective
tone and mood of a group (George and Brief, 1992).
Goleman (1998) argues that a leader’s ability to understand, manage and use
emotional awareness – an aspect of a leader’s emotional intelligence – enhances the
quality of relationships and improves reactions to problematic individuals and
situations. Emotional regulation is considered to have the greatest potential for
leadership roles (George, 2000) and is defined as the ability to connect or disconnect
from emotions depending on the usefulness of emotion in a given situation (Mayer and
Salovey, 1997). According to Riggio and Lee (2007), successful leaders are likely to
have developed interpersonal and emotional competencies overtime rather than in the
context of a development programme. Thus, leaders’ engagement in self-reflection
enables the development of the whole person which contributes to a stronger sense of
self-identity and understanding of those around them. As leadership is an inherently
social role, emotional skills are critical component of a leader’s development and
effectiveness.

Leadership theme four: leadership – an individual action or a collective activity?

“Post-heroic” leadership theories (Huey, 1994) respect the weight leadership
behaviours carry but recognise that success is a product of the collective effort and
expertise of others. Leadership models which view leadership as collective action (e.g.
shared, dispersed, collective and distributed leadership) advocate the need to distribute
leadership responsibilities to the extent that organizations become a process of
negotiation and collaboration between leaders (Miller, 1998).
A growing body of leadership research suggests that leadership is difficult to enact
by a single individual and thus creates a need for organizations to develop appropriate
 capabilities, connections, systems, and culture (McCauley and Van Velsor, 2004; Understanding
Pearce, 2004). Research has found that leaders who over-exercise their hierarchical leader
power in decision making can lead to team-member withdrawal, the abdication of
decision-making responsibility and job dissatisfaction (Manz et al., 1990). In contrast, development
high performing teams have been found to exhibit dispersed shared leadership models
(Pearce and Sims, 2002). According to Pearce (2004), the greatest challenge for
pursuing such leadership strategies is achieving a balance between over centralisation 363
and total abdication of control over the decision making process. However, the
appropriate level of centralisation may be contingent on contextual circumstances (e.g.
situational needs, organizational structure, and leadership culture). This brings us to
our final leadership theme where the role of context is examined.
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Leadership theme five: is there one best way in leader development?

A common conjecture in leadership research is that certain leadership behaviours
(i.e. transformational and charismatic leadership) are applicable across contexts
(e.g. Shamir and Howell, 1999; Bass, 1997). These generic behavioural approaches
have advanced the leadership field. However, they have also led to a focus on leader
traits, categories, styles, and qualities. Based on current research we illustrate how
leader development is an individual experience influenced by a series of contextual
factors.
Periods of environmental instability, crisis or major change bring increased
uncertainty and anxiety, which intensifies the need for leadership (Bass, 1990). In
response to these environmental pressures leaders develop new leadership skills and
strategies to ensure organizational survival. At an organizational level, Shamir and
Howell (1999) claim that organizations with a strongly defined hierarchy and
bureaucratic mode of governance are less likely to respond to charismatic leadership
than those organizations with a flatter organizational structure. Moreover, the overall
objectives of an organization have been found to influence the development of certain
leadership approaches.
In addition, the industry in which an organization is embedded appears to influence
the adoption of certain leadership approaches. For example, non-profit organizations
are more likely to adopt a transformational leadership approach than healthcare
organizations, which tend to adopt collective leadership strategies (Egri and Frost,
1994; Denis et al., 2001). These factors are likely to affect the leadership approaches
that individual leaders develop.

Summary
Based on our review of the literature we align ourselves with the developmental
perspective of leadership (Day, 2001; Avolio, 2005). In concert with this, we credit
certain innate or personality traits as contributors to the extent to which individual’s
engage in the leadership development process.
Whilst a solid body of research illustrates the regularities that exist in leadership,
the aforementioned research indicates the influential role that context plays in leader
development. Having considered five overarching themes in leader development
research, attention now turns to the methods adopted in the study.
 LODJ Methods
32,4 Research approach and interviewee selection
As this was a descriptive and exploratory study of leader development and leadership
practice, a qualitative approach was deemed most appropriate (Eisenhardt, 1989).
Qualitative methods are more flexible and sensitive to context than quantitative
methodologies (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005), an important consideration as the research
364 aimed to take account of the personal and contextual influences on leader development
and leadership enactment. The interviewees were selected from across the private,
public and voluntary sectors. Following Wood and Vilkinas (2003), leaders were
selected using a combination of sources that included high-profile leadership awards
and nomination. Specifically, we asked for the nomination of perceived “successful”
leaders by 175 post-graduate students. In addition to one health leader nominated for
his advocacy work, three further health leaders were selected by the research team on
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the basis of prior personal knowledge of their participation in a range of leadership

strategies in the public sector (policy engagement; intrapreneurship and
entrepreneurship). The research team wished to explore whether personal
experiences had influenced the leadership strategies adopted. The 12 most
nominated leaders and the three additional leaders were invited in writing to
participate in the research, and 11 agreed. The inclusion of leaders from the three
sectors facilitated comparison of the similarities and differences in the characteristics
of, and barriers to, leadership in different contexts. All of the leaders were either at
CEO level or held very senior leadership roles.
Our private sector interviewees included a CEO voted as “Ireland’s most trusted
leader”; a veteran of high-profile and successful business turnarounds who has
previously held HR directorships in a number of leading Irish and international
companies; and a CEO who has previously been director of a large Irish-owned family
firm and who has successfully diversified into a range of entrepreneurial activities.
In the voluntary sector we interviewed a serial social innovator who has previously
won a “Humanitarian of the Year” award. They established and are life President of the
largest Irish voluntary sector organization in its field of service-provision. We also
interviewed the President of the largest non-profit organization in Ireland.
In the public sector we interviewed a senior public servant who has won a “Person
of the Year” award for their work; the governor of a high profile prison who has
received numerous awards and recognition for his formal role and community
development work and four individuals from the health sector who had adopted
different approaches to leadership in a similar context. The first had a national profile
for pioneering service-development work and advocacy through the national press.
The second, a consultant and former President of a Medical Foundation, had engaged
with the policy-process to develop a large-scale national strategy in his clinical area.
The third had developed a clinical unit by acquiring private funding and establishing a
charitable foundation to build and develop his service. Finally, a recipient of the Irish
College of General Practitioners award provided an example of a healthcare
entrepreneur with a social vision. Hence, five of the leaders had received awards for
their work. Four managed organizations that were among the largest organizations in
their field and four had adopted different approaches to achieving public-sector reform.
The final sample included three men and eight women. At the time of interview, all of
the interviewees had a minimum of four years tenure in their roles. Two had recently
 retired but were continuing to work in reduced-commitment roles. One had recently Understanding
changed role but predominantly discussed their previous role. Seven of the leader
interviewees had been engaged in their leadership roles for more than ten years.
development
Data collection and analysis
Interviews were typically of 40 minutes duration and were conducted by the first and
second authors, with both in attendance. The interviews took place in locations chosen
365
by the leaders. These were predominantly workplaces, but also included two homes.
The interviews were thematically segmented and the questions addressed formative
influences, leadership practice, achieving innovation and change and advice for
aspiring leaders. Interview questions are detailed in Table I.
In our analysis, our discussion of whether leaders are born or made links to
questions 3, 7 and 14; the attainment of balance emanates from questions 3 and 4; the
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role of emotion in leadership emanates from questions 5, 6 and 7; leadership as an

individual or collective activity also emanates from questions 5, 6 and 7, as well as
question 9; and an integrative consideration of whether there is “one best way” of
undertaking leadership draws on the above and questions 11, 14 and 20. The responses
were further evidenced in the leaders” descriptions of achieving change. It noteworthy
that the role of emotion in leadership and the issue of whether leadership is an
individual or collective activity emerged as strong themes in response to open
questions regarding the critical things that have shaped the leaders, what leadership
means to them and how they would describe their leadership style (questions 5, 6,
and 7).
We note that as we are concerned with leader development rather than practice, we
do not consider types of leader behaviour (i.e. charismatic or directive) in-depth.
Additional prompt questions were added to reflect the particular interests of the
individual leaders, where appropriate. For example, in the case of voluntary sector
leader 2 we inserted the following question, after the “what drives you” question:
“Inclusion is a key theme in your work. Why is inclusion so important to you?”
Data analysis was undertaken by one team member, to ensure consistency. It
entailed four phases. In each instance a search for confirming and disconfirming data
was undertaken:
(1) An interview-by-interview analysis was conducted, based on the themes raised
in the interview protocol.
(2) Each interview was revisited to consider themes which emerged in the other
interviews.
(3) A cross-interview comparison was undertaken to identify patterns in the
interviews. Following Eisenhardt (1989) this entailed consideration of within
case (interview) similarities and between case differences.
(4) Finally, the findings were compared with the literature, to link the empirical
findings to existing literature.

Findings: learning from leaders

In this section, we present our empirical data with regards to the five leadership themes
identified.
 LODJ Leadership theme one: on whether leaders are born or made
32,4 I’ve been influenced by a mix of my family and other influences – nature and nurture, I guess
(Private Sector, Leader 2).
The leaders could each identify formative events and individuals that shaped their
leadership development. Five referred to the influence of significant early-life events:
366 I think probably my very early experiences, which were quite difficult, of a father who died
very young, and I was the oldest of eight children and we were very poor and I was acutely
conscious of the difficulties (Public Sector, Leader 1).
Well I suppose I was very lucky in that when I was young, I was sent to Kilkenny to work and
I worked there with [key individual] [. . .] And I learned that there really the importance of
developing participatory kind of communities, where people could show their care (Voluntary
Sector, Leader 2).
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Eight leaders also mentioned similar critical incidents in their early careers and later
life which were instrumental to their development as leaders within the organizational
context. Interventions by individuals, key learning experiences, transformative
experiences and chance events were all described as critical incidents by the
interviewees:
Specifically within heart failure, I would probably have had the seed sown in my brain by my
senior colleague who I worked with a lot with over the years (Health Sector, Leader 3).
I then spent a year with eight young women who were I homeless [. . .] The year I spent
learning from those eight women was the greatest year of my life, because I really did grow to
understand what it was like to be out of home (Voluntary Sector, Leader 2).
In addition to isolated formative incidents, each of the 11 leaders identified personal
qualities and underlying drivers that have influenced their development as a leader.
Personal qualities included having strong values (four respondents) such as “a
passionate commitment to justice” (Public Sector, Leader 1); a vocation (three
respondents), which health sector leader 3 described as “almost a cliché”; faith (two
respondents), described by voluntary sector leader 2 as “my faith and my belief that
we’re all equal” and personal drive. These “underlying drivers” served to focus the
leaders’ development, refine their visions and generate enthusiasm, vigour and
commitment to their leadership roles:
My passion I suppose would be around people and trying to seize, there are ways we can save
people and ensure that people don’t have to suffer (Public Sector, Leader 2).
I just have an interest in seeing organizations that have potential and they may have fallen
into, kind of, tough situations but the fundamentals of the business is really there and in most
cases most of the people in organizations want to be successful and it sometimes frustrates
me that the organization doesn’t manage to tap into that because people are quite prepared to
listen to hard messages and make quite big changes if they have a context in which to do it
(Private Sector, Leader 3).
Overall, findings emphasised that many leaders were influenced by formative events
or individuals; often had underlying drivers and a desire for interconnectedness with
others that was fundamental to their leadership development. Although the data
suggests that personal formative incidents and the value-laden nature of the
 “underlying drivers” described by the leaders is related to their work in the public Understanding
and/or voluntary sector, the small-scale of the study precludes definitive comment in leader
this regard. However, it is an issue worthy of further exploration.
development
Leadership theme two: on whether and how leaders attain balance
While leaders often present a façade of “calm in the storm”, eight of the 11 leaders 367
reported a lack of balance between their work and personal lives. Interestingly, there
was little discussion of whether this failure to attain balance came from their
organizations or their own personal underlying drivers. Although not always explicitly
addressed, the issue of “drive” manifested in the language of commitment, dedication -
and in some cases competitiveness:
I don’t think I do [achieve balance]. I think I work very long hours, I know I work very long
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hours (Public Sector, Leader 1).

If I had one regret looking back, it would be that I didn’t get the balance between my
professional life and my personal life and so on right when I was younger. My wife would say
I still haven’t got it right, but I think I have a better balance now (Health Sector, Leader 2).
I’m not sure I do, in a work-life sense. What I’ve done over the years is learnt to box off time.
So, for family, weekends are with family. So I get home for tea-time for a Friday and rarely
interrupt the weekend for business, if I can help it. And that’s allowed me to therefore commit
fully during the working week to whatever.
Overall, a lack of balance was a characteristic of a majority (eight) of the leaders.
However, the issue was most pronounced in those individuals who identified an
underlying value or belief system as their core driver. Nonetheless, across all leaders
and irrespective of sector, the issues of attaining balance and avoiding burnout remain
key concerns. Central to balance and burnout is emotion management; the focus of our
next leadership theme.

Leadership theme three: the role of emotion in leadership

The leaders all articulated the importance of achieving vision through people. This
generated a strong underlying tension between the need for emotional detachment, to
facilitate analysis, and emotional engagement with others to achieve their progression.
Nine of the leaders explicitly discussed the role of emotion-management. Specifically,
eight of the leaders noted attempts to manage others’ emotions. Strategies included
treating people holistically, empathising and working to create psychological safety
and engagement to enable change:
People to me are whole beings, they are physical, they are intellectual. They are also spiritual.
And the whole person has to be cared for. The whole person has to be valued (Public Sector,
Leader 1).
I learned a lot about that [changing people] in context of the [. . .] prison, where we had this
fantastic vision, where we had this fantastic philosophy. And then we moved, and both the
prisoners and the staff, we were shocked with the resistance. And the resistance came from
insecurity, fear, lack of structure as they were used to, all that sort of stuff and I began to learn
that one of the things that you really need to plan is moving people, psychologically,
emotionally, not physically as much (Public Sector, Leader 2).
 LODJ For most people, change is something that they fear unless they feel they have some relevance
in the changed environment. Really, for leaders it’s a question of contextualising the change
32,4 in that way that the person can see that if they are prepared to go the journey that they will
have relevance in the new set up. That’s the core to me of leadership (Private Sector, Leader
3).
Personally, leaders also drew upon their emotions to renew and develop their visions.
368 Three leaders also noted that they required the capacity for detachment, to engage with
the issue at hand and prioritise business needs.
I learned resilience, I learned to step back, I learned detachment. [. . .] So there was that
learning that I had to put myself out of the picture and that I didn’t matter. And I could go
home and cry afterwards, but my tears were of no value to them. That was a big learning
(Public Sector, Leader 1).
There are matters of a more controversial nature [. . .] and people have been fundamentally
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opposed to them. Clearly where people have such strongly held views, no argument will
change their perspective. So, sometimes decisions have to be made and you won’t bring all of
the people with you. That is a form of leadership too and it requires a very significant amount
of personal strength and conviction (Voluntary Sector, Leader 1).
One leader emphasised that detachment is required to facilitate evaluation, not alone of
problems, but of the leaders’ contributions to those problems.
If you look at a lot of organizations that have gone through crises what you will see is that
they have been very successful organizations at particular points in time. And one of the big
problems you have is that the leaders of that time are often struggling to bring themselves to
undo what they have built – which is what you have to do to survive. Therefore, you do see in
a lot of change processes where quite a number of the people formerly on the top team of quite
a successful organization aren’t there when you go through the change because it’s too much
for them (Private Sector, Leader 3).
Thus, leaders across sectors have to learn to manage emotions in a two-fold and
occasionally dichotomous manner; masking and managing their own emotions to
attain personal detachment while simultaneously working to provide psychological
safety and security for those they work with.

Leadership theme four: leadership – an individual act or a collective activity?

Leaders are often praised as talented individuals. However, each of the eleven leaders
interviewed noted the achievement of leadership results through people:
To change complex organizations you need, not a big number, sometimes it can be as low as
five, but you need people who can be mutually supportive, who can be mutually challenging,
but have a common thread of where they want to go (Private Sector, Leader 3).
In answering the question, whether I would have done anything differently over the last ten
years, I think if we got a wider group of people saying the same message that would probably
have pushed things forward a lot (Health Sector, Leader 3).
Although all the leaders identified the need to work with other to achieve results, the
extent to which autonomy was devolved to others was a key differentiating factor. Five
of the leaders viewed themselves as holding a central goal identification role, with
support in deciding the course of action and implementation from those in the
organization.
 For me leadership entails being able to stand back, to see what’s needed, to decide how best to Understanding
achieve it and to identify who you need around you to accomplish it. That process should
involve leaders” taking account of the multiple opinions about what we should be doing leader
(Health Sector, Leader 3). development
In practice, my leadership style is consensus based. I tend to focus on identifying a goal to
aim at and then consider how we might achieve it. Then, even when I had a sense of how to
achieve something, I wouldn’t go in some morning and say, “x, y and z, you’re doing that, that 369
and that”. I would be more likely to say “Do you think?” or “how do you think we can do this?”
or “how do you think we can do this better?”. . .And when they do you must be able and
flexible enough to say “good idea”, we’re going to do that. And give credit where it is due
(Health Sector, Leader 1).
The focus on leadership as a collective activity was emphasised by ten leaders, as
described below:
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I do think that leadership is about empowering (Voluntary Sector, Leader 2).

By creating the right culture in a team you can make up for each person’s shortcomings
within a group and make the collective capability of that group much stronger than the sum
of its parts and less dependant on the unique capability of any single individual (Private
Sector, Leader 3).

When I was younger my leadership style was very much leading from the front. Curiously I
remember being irritated by people who talked about teams, because I thought the
responsibility for the delivery of the service was an individual responsibility. It was only as I
got older that I came to see that the individual is just a very small proportion of what
contributes to an institution. If you do want to deliver a service, you have to harness and
focus the individual talents of many people (Health Sector, Leader 2).
The collective dimension of leadership also emerged in the leaders’ descriptions of
what they look for in those they work with. Closer examination of the qualities sought
in others includes passionate advocates, honesty and courage. Leaders also refer to the
importance of self-awareness and low ego, which are indicative of leadership-like traits.
Therefore, activities associated with leadership can potentially be dispersed
throughout the organization and collectively held:
I look for expertise or excellence that adds to the mix. So it’s not another me. It’s somebody
who can be very different. I look for people who are self-confident and comfortable in who
they are. Preferably low ego because with that you get fewer politics. I look for energy.
Passion. I think you have to have passion in business. It’s not just a process or a methodology.
And then obviously the usual things around people skills. The ability to work with others and
to help improve the dynamics in the team (Private Sector, Leader 2).

I look for the kind of loyalty that is not just loyalty to the organization, but loyalty to their
colleagues. But I also look for honesty. If there are things wrong I want to know about them. I
want the whistle-blowers, and I want them to understand that. I look for technical skill,
because we all need technical skills. So I think that I demand an awful lot of people (Public
Sector, Leader 1).
Interestingly, leaders across all sectors emphasised the importance of leadership as a
collective activity, meaning that leader development encompasses human and social
capital development.
 LODJ Addressing leadership theme five: that there is “one best way”
32,4 Although a common cadre of leadership activities, namely vision and achieving
momentum, were identified in the analysis of the discussion of leadership practice by
the leaders, personal and contextual influences affected how these activities were
enacted:
It is very important to have a vision and to work towards it. I think it’s not leadership unless
370 there is a vision (Voluntary Sector, Leader 2).
Leadership essentially means identifying what is possible to do and develop, identifying the
people who can do it and empowering them to do it, we can’t all do everything ourselves
(Health Sector, Leader 2).
Movement is always a word I associate with leadership, it’s about taking an entity from one
situation to another by helping to build a bridge that people feel they can cross (Private
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Sector, Leader 3).

The difference in how the respondents described their leadership styles, detailed below,
illustrates the variation in approaches adopted by each leader:
Having very clear direction, and the ability to communicate it, to bring with you, can be done
in lots of different styles (Private Sector, Leader 2).
I think to come in and be dogmatic and dictatorial, I don’t believe would work, and it’s
certainly not a style that I have used. So I would certainly be a consensus type leader
(Voluntary Sector, Leader 1).
[My leadership style is] Direct. Robust. Inclusive. I challenge a lot. I can remember, in the
early days [of my role] when people would come to me with a problem and say “here’s a
problem” and I would sit back and I would say “ok what are my options” and they would say
“but that’s why I came to you” and I would say “no, no, no; you are the skilled person and this
is your specialist area, you think about it and you come back to me and then we’ll talk about it
(Public Sector, Leader 1).
My leadership style depends on the situation. Consultation can be a great way to lead, but
sometimes it’s a disaster. Because in a crisis you can’t be going around asking people what
you should do next. So for me my leadership style is about timing and about being able to
judge the appropriate thing to do at a particular time (Public Sector, Leader 2).
An alternative way to consider if there is “one best way” of leadership is to consider the
characteristics of effective leaders in a variety of contexts. Although one response
(detailed below) was applicable across contexts, the majority of interviewees noted
specific characteristics of leadership efficacy in their own work context (i.e. in the
health, public, private and voluntary sector):
I think leadership is about, it’s about the public face of the leader but it’s also about having
systems and processes which ensure that things happen and having quality assurance
mechanisms. So it’s about having somebody very good in the chief executive role or
something like that who understands the processes, ensures they happen and quality assures
them. And then checks back with staff (Public Sector, Leader 1).
In the health sector, effective leaders are required to manage inter-group relationships,
to have the capacity to use the media to achieve their goals and to manage the
medical-management interface. In the public sector more broadly, leaders have to deal
 with transitory formal leaders in the form of politicians, as well as bureaucrats and the Understanding
media: leader
In such a disparate speciality as I was in, you had to go and talk to the other groupings and development
find out that you were in tandem, that you were all seeing things the same way (Health Sector,
Leader 1).

I think within the structure of a hospital that the goals of the management are not the same as 371
the goals of the healthcare providers and that is a critical obstruction to the optimal working
of any unit (Health Sector, Leader 3).

At the end of the day you know, these people, whoever they are, the journalists, the
politicians, the bureaucrat, they come and they go, they leave a lot of destruction sometimes
behind them. But the one consolation is they go (Public Sector, Leader 2).
In the voluntary sector, key challenges were identified as maintaining a wider vision
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beyond the organization, engaging in cross-organizational cooperation and achieving

through volunteers and within a limited period of office:
It really has to be co-operative leadership, we can’t afford to be vying with one another, or in
competition with one another, we have to see the complementarities of each others work and
really be supportive in that [. . .] I think in the voluntary sector, we have to be able to let go
when we have done a certain work, it is better if we can pass it on. If the state for example can
do it, and then we move on to the next thing (Voluntary Sector, Leader 2).

Because we’re a volunteer based organization and led by volunteers, albeit with some paid
administrative staff, having appropriate communications with people is critical (Voluntary
Sector, Leader 1).
In addition to the sectoral context, further contextual influences on effective leadership
were identified. In particular, attention was brought to the broader societal context (i.e.
good and bad times) and the cultural context in which the organization is embedded:
I think the leadership agenda when times are good is much harder because you have to
convince people particularly in an industry like this for example, and in other industries as
well, you have to convince people who have been quite successful, and are still quite
successful that the way they’re doing it isn’t the best and it could be better. People often look
at you and say “Well, why do we need to do the change we’re doing fine”(Private Sector,
Leader 3).

You have to be I think respectful of what is acceptable in different cultures and adapt your
style to suit that. You can still be who you are underneath it all. But I think you have to adapt
to those cultural norms. But the thing underneath it all, which is knowing where you’re going,
being able to communicate it, putting the right people in the right roles, that for me stays the
same. Regardless of where you work (Private Sector, Leader 2).
As in the closing quote, this section has emphasised that although there are common
components to effective leadership, namely vision and achieving movement through
people, the manner in which this is achieved varies according to personal style and the
demands of the cultural, sector and organizational context. As a result the capacity to
analyse and operate in different contexts must be considered in leader development.
Next, the findings presented in this section are discussed with regards to extant
literature.
 LODJ Discussion
32,4 This study focused on individual leader development, and drew out five themes
emphasised in prior literature and which were salient features of the leaders”
developmental experiences – and ongoing struggles. Based on our learning from the
findings presented above and the associated literature, we identify five considerations
for leaders, in their personal processes of leader development.
372
1. Using your drive to make the most of early life and career experiences
The first theme considered was whether leaders were born or made, underpinned by
the interaction between personal characteristics and life experiences. Our findings
align with the developmental model of leadership in which life experience contributes
to the development of leadership behaviour (e.g. Bass and Avolio, 1994). In particular,
our respondents emphasised that they were often strongly influenced by events in their
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early childhood or careers. Interventions by individuals, key learning experiences,

transformative experiences and chance events were all described as critical incidents
by the interviewees. In addition, the leaders were influenced by personal qualities and
underlying drivers, including values, faith and personal drive. According to Avolio
(1994) such underlying drivers are often influenced by the moral standards of parents
and early role models. Although we note the importance of early experience in shaping
leaders, we also recognise that antecedents of leadership skills, such as some aspects of
personality (i.e. ambition and motivation as per Atwater and Yammarino, 1993;
Barbuto et al., 2000) may affect how an individual uses these opportunities or
experiences. The salient discussions of the personal qualities underpinning leadership
– as well as the chance events that influence development, make the balance between
personality and opportunity clear. The challenge for individuals is to capitalise on
personal career experiences that provide opportunities for leadership development.

2. Developing personal strategies to attain balance

The second theme discussed was the difficulty – and importance – of attaining
balance. In considering this we note that high levels of drive and commitment are
characteristic of leaders interviewed in this study. Although we found that a majority
of the leaders failed to attain balance, this was most evident among those who
identified a strong underlying value system as their fundamental driver. The potential
for burnout suggests that leaders need to consciously and consistently work on
attaining work-life balance (Muna and Mansour, 2009). Those leaders who did attain
balance managed to do so through establishing clear work-life boundaries and
engaging in sport. More broadly, the sustained difficulty of the leaders in attaining
balance does raise questions regarding overlap between personal and professional
identities and the advisability of some separation to avoid burnout and facilitate
continued achievement.

3. Undertaking the dual-strands of emotion-management

The importance of emotional intelligence is commonly recognised as required for
leaders to elicit the achievement of positive follower outcomes. In describing how
emotion-management is applied, leaders emphasised the importance of detaching from,
masking and managing their own emotions while concurrently working to provide
psychological safety and engagement for those they were working with. Detachment
 from their own emotions was required for analysis and engagement with the issue at Understanding
hand. Although this undertaking may be considered as a component of Mayer and leader
Salovey’s (1997) “managing emotions” construct, it is particularly significant for
leadership development programmes (Goleman, 1998; Kets de Vries, 2006) and the development
underlying tension between the need for personal emotional detachment, to facilitate
analysis, and strong emotional engagement with others, to facilitate change. Leaders
must recognise – and learn to manage – the dual role of emotion in leadership. 373
4. Knowing that you cannot do it alone . . . but being selective about how you work
Normative as well as research based models of leadership increasingly emphasise that
it is a collective and sometimes dispersed activity (Avolio et al., 2009). Consistent with
this growing body of research, the leaders recognised the contribution of a variety of
stakeholders in enhancing leadership activities. Although all leaders identified the
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need to work with other to achieve results, the extent to which autonomy was devolved
to others was a key differentiating factor. Five of the leaders viewed themselves as
holding a central goal identification role, with support in deciding the course of action
and implementation from those in the organization. However, post-heroic models of
leadership have suggested a range of collective leadership models, differing in the
extent of devolution (Tannenbaum et al., 1992). Factors influencing devolution have
been previously researched. The challenge for an individual leader is to identify what
is appropriate for their specific context – and the extent to which they engage in
dialogue or delegation.

5. Maintaining the substance of your leadership . . . and tailoring your style

Our findings mirrored those from prior research, identifying a common cadre of
substantive leadership activities, the enactment of which was affected by contextual
factors. In particular, the sectoral context in which the leader was operating had
significant implications for the leadership activities undertaken. Broader contextual
influences on leadership, such as the societal context (i.e. good and bad times) and the
cultural context in which the organization was embedded, affected appropriate
leadership behaviour. Hence, while common components to leadership were identified
across the respondents, we contend there is no “best way” to enact these. The closest to
an advocacy of a best way that can be provided from the empirical evidence and
literature review is that leaders need to take account of the core (vision and
mobilisation) and context (sectoral, organizational and societal) of leadership to
achieve efficacy. For individual leaders, knowing your context – and appropriate
tactics to manage this – is vital.

Limitations
A clear and significant limitation of this paper is the small number of interviewees on
which the paper is based. However, it is our belief that the paper has begun to reveal
the personal journeys of leaders as they develop – and the value of this approach. As a
result we believe that our work will serve to generate further research in this vein and
to highlight its potential pragmatic value. In addition we note that an alternative
approach could have been adopted in the presentation of this research – one that
explores the development journey of individual leaders in the form of coherent and
in-depth narratives.
 LODJ Conclusion
32,4 This study begins to shed light on individual processes of leader development,
including key learning points and their associated challenges for individuals. These
include the difficulty of attaining balance, the role of emotion and the collective nature
of leadership. The paper has also drawn attention to the personal experiences and
characteristics underpinning leader development – and to the importance of sector
374 context to the leadership activities required. These issues are of significant pragmatic
interest to organizational leaders interested in further enhancing their leadership
capacity. However, they also pose challenges to researchers and educators in the field
of leadership. They emphasise the significant demands placed on leaders, reflected in
their struggle to attain balance and their need for advanced emotion management
skills, in conjunction with managing collectives of people and adapting to contextual
demands.
In considering the formative experiences, underlying drivers, leadership style and
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contextual influences of each leader the paper has begun to draw attention to the very
personal nature of leader development, which has to date been lacking from the trait,
behavioural and intervention-focused nature of much leadership development
research. Although the assumption that leaders can be developed underpins the
significant investment in leader and leadership development by organizations, we have
begun to move away from the sanitised “zero to hero” narratives evident in the
practitioner literature, and to illustrate the messy and personal nature of leader
development. This shift raises the issue of how leadership development programmes
are currently undertaken and the best way to develop leaders. Inline with Byrne and
Rees (2006), we argue that leadership development requires a tailored and
individual-focused approach to meet needs of the individual leader and the
organizational context in which s/he is embedded as opposed to a generic “one size
fits all” development model. In moving forward, attention must now turn to how
individual leaders can be supported in addressing the development themes identified
above – and the personal and organizational challenges that accompany them.

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Corresponding author
Aoife McDermott can be contacted at: mcdermott@cardiff.ac.uk

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