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Coaching is a much‐discussed topic on which little has been written at a thoeretical level. Relates coaching to Bandura′s theory of sefefficacy and Schon′s work on developing reflective practitioners. Claiming that enhancement of self‐efficacy (a sense of mastery in a particular domain) is central to coaching, describes how self‐efficacy is acquired in general, how it can be enhanced in coaching on leadership, and what characterizes good coaches.

Psychological research on leadership deals mainly with the effect of leadership styles on workers' attitudes and performance. This paper seeks to focus the attention to patterns of preference of followers to different types of leaders.

In the two studies presented in the paper, followers classified on the basis of attachment theory as having secure attachment style or avoidant attachment style were asked to indicate their preference for a personalized charismatic leader or for a socialized charismatic leader.

Subjects with a secure attachment style preferred a socialized charismatic leader, while those with an avoidant attachment style preferred personalized charismatic leaders.

The study adds knowledge regarding compatibility between leaders' and followers' personality characteristics. This knowledge could serve processes of selection and assignments to teams and missions.

This study provides a relatively new angle for looking at leader‐led dynamics and is an attempt to examine the initial (unconscious) attractions of followers to different types of leaders.

Aims to present a conceptual framework for understanding how leaders develop.

The arguments are derived from the assumption that leadership, like many other human manifestations, is a function of a given potential, relevant motivation, and ongoing developmental processes. It is argued that three developmental psychological principles are essential for leaders' development, i.e. experiential learning, vicarious learning, and the suitability of certain developmental aspects to relevant critical periods.

These developmental principles, along with Schon's modalities of learning and reflections (“follow me”, “joint investigation” and “hall of mirrors”), serve as a conceptual framework for discussing main implications and practices related to developing leaders.

Leaders' development is a process that occurs continuously in an organization. Many organizations attempt to confine it artificially to courses and supplementary training. This limits the range of developmental possibilities, since leadership experiences and vicarious learning take place all the time over a broad range throughout the organization.

Argues that hierarchical level is frequently not given enough consideration in analysing managerial jobs. Describes the qualitative differences existing at the various hierarchical levels in terms of time‐span, task complexity, and mental capabilities required. Specifically argues that the cognitive complexity required at senior managerial levels may be a liability at lower managerial levels where direct judgment and quick action are needed. Consequently, postulates an inverse “Peter Principle”. Elaborates on the implications of this inverse “Peter Principle” for management selection promotion and development of these hierarchical differences.

The implications of disabilities, whether already existing at the time of appointment or incurred during the working career, are examined at the macro‐organisational levels – productivity and human resources strategy. It is argued that the extent of physical disability of an individual may be quite independent of his/her contribution to the organisation. Consequently, a diagnostic model was developed which assesses an individual’s Total Productivity Capacity (TPC). The TPC index proposed is a multiplicative function of a disabled worker’s Productivity Potential (PP) at work, assessed by the direct supervisor, and individual Sickness Absence (SA) rate compared with the organisation’s average (SA\sb\(x)): TPC = [1 ‐ (SA\sb\(n) – SA\sb\(x))] x PP. A 2 x 2 matrix, measuring extent of physical handicap and TPC allows grouping of handicapped into four categories: mildly handicapped with low TPC scores, mildly handicapped with high TPC scores; highly handicapped with high TPC scores; highly handicapped with low TPC scores. The utility of this classification scheme is demonstrated through an exploratory study conducted at a production plant for military vehicles where 12 per cent (n= 310) of the workforce were medically defined as disabled. TPC indices were derived for each disabled employee, and for the different plants/shops. Comparison of average TPC scores with incidence of disabilities indicated the independence of these measures, partially validating the proposed diagnostic model. Implications for production planning and differential personnel policies appropriate for disabled employees within the categorisations suggested are elaborated upon.

The correlation between organizational unit managers’ leadership styles and the level of organizational learning in their units was tested.

A positive correlation was hypothesized between transformational leadership and organizational learning as manifested by organizational learning mechanisms – OLMs (the structural component) and by organizational learning values (the cultural component). The research was conducted at 44 community clinics of a health‐care organization in Israel.

The findings attested to the central role of organizational leaders in determining the effectiveness of organizational learning. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Suggests that, in addition to separating the sources of reporting, and increasing the number of measures, future studies should also extend the research to different kinds of organizations, addressing different purposes, environments, work forces, and so forth.

By comparing “leaders” with “non‐leaders” the current research attempts to shed light on the impact of early experiences on leaders' development.

The study is presented in two parts, quantitative and qualitative. In the first (quantitative) part, a group of soldiers perceived as leaders was compared with a group of soldiers perceived as non‐leaders, in order to examine the hypothesis that leaders have had more leadership experiences than non‐leaders. Confirmation of this hypothesis led to the qualitative part, in which the sense in which the reported experiences had contributed to leadership development was explored.

The leaders proved to have had more leadership experiences than non‐leaders in their youth. Such experiences impact on self‐perception as a leader, the development of self‐efficacy in leadership, and the accumulation of psychological and behavioral knowledge related to the manifestation of leadership.

Conceptually, the study adds knowledge regarding leadership development via natural experiences, particularly experiences that occur in early periods of life. Practically, the study adds knowledge that can improve selection processes of leaders, as well as knowledge that can be applied to leaders' development, particularly reflective methods.

The contributions of this study are methodological, conceptual, and practical. The study offers methods and instruments to assess leadership and distinguish leaders from non‐leaders..

Notes that the relationship between leader and led may involve four types of process ‐ transactional processes wherein the leader conducts rewarding motivational transactions with his/her people; projective processes wherein the leader serves as a “screen” for transferential projections to authority figures; attributional processes, in which the leader is the focus of attributions of order, direction and a clear path; and symbolic processes, in which the leader represents and recruits the collective symbolic motives of “worthiness” and doing “worthy things”. Argues that the combat unit is a unique organizational system in which intensive attributional and projective processes take place, processes that are much more intensive than in business organizations. These processes affect expectations with regard to the leadership role, function and images. Discusses the psychological implications of this argu

Most studies on leadership focused on the personality, actions and behaviors of leaders as independent variables. More and more scholars of leadership call to place more weight on the images of leaders that followers construct. This article demonstrates the significance and potential of this approach by discussing the effect of cultural dimensions on perceptions of leaders in schools. The effect of intercultural differences on followers’ perception of leadership was examined in a study carried out in Israel, where 154 teachers from the Druze minority were compared with 103 teachers from the Jewish majority. Cultural differences were examined on the basis of Hofstede’s conceptual formulations. The two groups were found to differ significantly in their attitude to authority. The second phase tested the hypothesis that this cultural dimension would be reflected in different leadership perceptions. The findings partly supported the hypothesis. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the research are discussed.