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This paper examines the relationship among leadership skills, management skills and individual success and failure in formal organizations.

A model is presented depicting the interactive relationship among the three variables and explaining why some high potential employees suffer derailment while other individuals with similar skills continue to develop and achieve organizational success.

The model indicates that there is not one combination of management and leadership skills related to individual success.

Developmental activities should be ongoing regardless of the individual's level in the organization.

This paper synthesizes several streams of research into a coherent model that can be used as a guide for leadership development activities.

In a review of the literature, supported by six case studies, executive development for senior managers in public and private organisations is explored in depth. The study looks at the roles and responsibilities of the chairman, CEO, executive and non‐executive directors, the required capabilities to achieve successful performance, and the related executive development activity implemented to support these. Methods of delivery, development needs analysis and evaluation are explored in case organisations to ascertain current practice. A detailed review of the leadership and governance literatures is included to highlight the breadth of knowledge required at director level. Key findings of the study include the importance of focusing executive development on capability enhancement, to ensure that it is supporting organisational priorities, and on its thorough customisation to the corporate context. Deficiencies in current corporate practice are also identified.

The results of this study suggest that self‐reported leadership styles of female accountants differ somewhat from the leadership styles reported by male accountants. Females are more likely than males to indicate that they use an interactive style of management called transformational leadership. This leadership style was found to be correlated with several management skills associated with success. Female accountants reported somewhat higher perceived effectiveness on two of these management skills: coaching and developing and communicating. The findings also suggest that female accountants receive more developmental opportunities than do their male colleagues.

Leadership and management skills are increasingly required to navigate organisations through the complexities and changes of contemporary environments. Over the last decade, 3608 feedback is a process that has gained wide usage to help development of these skills. Summarises current research on 3608 feedback and the development of an integrated model of leadership and management based on the theories of Wilber. The article describes a comprehensive “integral” model and a questionnaire that uses elements of 3608 feedback to measure roles of leadership and management, as well as dimensions of self‐development and strategic change skills. This approach is applied to a sample of 304 managers and over 1,000 subordinates. The construction, validity and results of the questionnaire are discussed, as well as the major leadership strengths and weaknesses of the sample managers. Issues and experiences in the use of this model and the 3608 process are described.

To meet the information processing needs of the new global organisation, IS/IT managers and their IS/IT staff need to develop new skills, so that they may be more focused on the business rather than on technical processes. In exploring the theme of the changing role and contribution of the IS/IT professional, this monograph provides a literature analysis of the changing skills of IS/IT professionals and identifies the new skills and competencies required for successful IS/IT development and utilisation. The monograph also presents capability‐related models that have been tested in two global corporations. The results of the two case studies suggest that there is a need for improvement in the area of IS/IT leadership for effective IS/IT development and utilisation. Strategies for developing IS/IT leadership capabilities are discussed at the end of the monograph.

The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of management and leadership competence of health-care leaders and managers, especially in the hospital environment. Health-care leaders and managers in this study were both nursing and physician managers. Competence was assessed by evaluating the knowledge, skills, attitudes and abilities that enable management and leadership tasks.

A systematic literature review was performed to find articles that identify and describe the characteristics of management and leadership competence. Searches of electronic databases were conducted using set criteria for article selection. Altogether, 13 papers underwent an inductive content analysis.

The characteristics of management and leadership competence were categorized into the following groups: health-care-context-related, operational and general.

One limitation of the study is that only 13 articles were found in the literature regarding the characteristics of management and leadership competence. However, the search terms were relevant, and the search process was endorsed by an information specialist. The study findings imply the need to shift away from the individual approach to leadership and management competence. Management and leadership need to be assessed more frequently from a holistic perspective, and not merely on the basis of position in the organizational hierarchy or of profession in health care.

The authors’ evaluation of the characteristics of management and leadership competence without a concentrated profession-based approach is original.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on academic library leadership in the digital age. Primarily, the goals are to identify: first, the top five major challenges facing academic library leadership; second, the top five most important leadership skills required for effective academic library leadership; and finally, the top five best ways to develop these academic library leadership skills.

A survey was conducted to elicit responses from individuals who hold senior library leadership positions in American academic libraries throughout the USA. The participants were identified through several means: the web sites of the ALA and its divisions; the web sites of American universities; referrals; and the author’s professional contacts. To simplify the survey research process, e-mails including the survey research questions were sent to potential participants. In all, 38 invitations (n=38) were sent out to large and medium-size academic libraries throughout the USA. Over 36.8 percent (n=14) of the participants returned the survey. The participants represent a wide spectrum of libraries.

The top five major challenges are how to: demonstrate the library values to the university community, operate the library under fiscal uncertainty, retrofit outdated library facilities to accommodate new services, strike a balance between digital and print materials, and keep the library staff trained and current. The top five essential academic library leadership attributes are: vision, integrity, management skills, collaboration skills, and communication skills. The top five best ways to acquire these skills include the need to have mentors, to attend leadership development programs, to gain practical library leadership experience, to seek leadership roles, and to know oneself.

Research in this area is rather limited. As a result, this study will contribute to the academic library leadership literature and help current and aspiring academic library leaders worldwide with insightful leadership lessons needed to lead academic libraries successfully in this transformational era.

The question of whether leadership is teachable has received considerable attention in the academic and practitioner arenas. Organized athletic team participation offers students a different experiential venue that many argue develops leadership. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between organized sports team participation and leadership skills. We employ a valid means of measuring several leadership dimensions using a validated assessment center method. Nine distinct leadership skill levels were measured for 141 MBA program students. Using ANOVA and correlation analysis we found no systematic association between the number of seasons of sports team participation and the level of any particular leadership skill. The findings caution recruiters and other persons making personnel decisions against using this past behavior as an indicator of these or any other leadership skills. By showing a preference for athletes, recruiters may bypass persons who would be a good fit for a position.

Soft skills which are a combination of personal qualities and interpersonal skills that help an employer perform their job are an increasingly important concern to businesses and academia, the purpose of this paper is to determine how students ranked the importance of soft skills and compare their rankings to retailing and tourism management faculty and businesses.

A cross-sectional survey of students, faculty and industry leaders was conducted using an existing survey instrument validated by Crawford et al. (2011). Faculty who were members of retailing and tourism management professional organizations were solicited to participate in the study. Retailing and tourism management students from the researchers’ university were sent a link to complete the survey. All participants were asked to rank the order of importance of the soft skills and their characteristics.

Variations in the importance of soft skills were reported between the three groups. Variations in the importance of the soft skills characteristics were also identified between the students, faculty, and industry leaders. While communication was identified as the most important soft skill by all three sample groups, experiences was the least important for students and leadership was the least important for faculty and industry leaders.

A limitation of the study was the variation in the sample sizes between the student, faculty, and industry sample. The strength of this study lies in the ability to provide evidence for the need to compare soft skills research results for retailing and tourism management students. Soft skills are found to be important to all three groups, but differences indicate faculty and industry need to work together to clarify exactly what soft skills students need to successfully compete for employment in the retailing and tourism management field.

As the work world continues to change, employers seek workers who have soft skills that support their knowledge base. While technical skills are a current part of educational curricula, soft skills need to be emphasized at the university level so that students gain expertise that prepare them to be successful in this changing workplace.