Exploring the leadership development journey of SME owner-managers

Abstract

Purpose

This research aimed to investigate influences on and opinions of leadership development in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business owner-managers. Therefore, the objective of this study was to respond to the research question – How do SMEs’ founder-owner-managers develop their leadership over time?

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies a history narrative qualitative method to explore the leadership development journey of SMEs’ founder-owner-managers throughout their lifetime. Fifteen founder-owner-managers were interviewed.

Findings

Five main themes emerge reflecting a social contextual process starting from early childhood: (1) the dominant influence of parents on leadership qualities and behaviours; (2) the importance of sports activities in shaping leadership qualities and identities; (3) the dominant influence of role models especially bad role models on leadership perceptions and behaviours; (4) the importance of self-learning, experimentation and self-reflection in developing entrepreneurship capability and (5) the importance of community-based social networks in gaining support and practicing leadership capability.

Originality/value

The originality of this research lies within the methodology used whereby a history narrative qualitative method is employed to develop data for analysis purposes. Using this methodology, this study contributes to a broader understanding of SMEs’ founder-owner-managers’ leadership development journey by taking a more expansive view to explore the development process throughout their lifetime.

Citation

Vuhuong, J. and Edwards, G. (2022), "Exploring the leadership development journey of SME owner-managers", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 53-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-10-2021-0271