The future of leadership development: how can L&D professionals design and develop our next generation of leaders?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inform L&D Professionals of our research finding and the key highlights from our published book, so that they can use this information when reviewing or designing Leadership Development Programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

We wanted to discover the common themes present in successful leadership. We researched over 60 leaders from businesses of various sizes and structures. They completed a set of multiple choice questions (personality profiling questions) and then we asked them a set of open question to identify their likes/dislikes, keys to success, areas for development, values and main issues they face.

Findings

We found that the leaders profiled across a broad spectrum of personality types (from the multiple choice questions), and yet there were strong similarities in the themes in the open question answers. We concluded that successful leadership was not dependant on a personality type but could be developed and learnt while staying true to your own personality.

Research limitations/implications

We would have liked to research more leaders and define the research specifically by type of organization. As the purpose of the research was to inform our writing of a useful and practical leadership development book, we did not feel it was essential for this purpose.

Practical implications

We would like this to inform the shape of future leadership development towards a more “whole person” development and away from the traditional skills-based approach. This will support leaders to be healthier, more successful and better role models.

Social implications

Leaders are one of the most important roles in the world, and we need healthier, more rounded, emotionally regulated, more focused leaders to be appropriate role models for future generations. It is also important that a diverse range of leadership styles is accepted and developed in organizations.

Originality/value

What is new in our paper is the development of the idea, supported by our research that Leaders can be authentic and successful without the need for a personality transplant. We have brought together our research with our psychological qualifications and business experience to produce a leadership development approach that is deep in its thinking and construction but easy and practical to use and apply.

Citation

Meager, K. and McLachlan, J. (2014), "The future of leadership development: how can L&D professionals design and develop our next generation of leaders?", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-07-2014-0052