Det uppfattas idag som en självklarhet att fortsätta lära och utvecklas genom hela livet. Årligen spenderas stora summor på ledarutveckling, vilket har väckt ett intresse att undersöka denna form av utbildningsaktiviteter. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vad som kan ligga till grund för valet att delta i ledarutvecklingsaktiviteter utifrån en fallstudie hos Stelena, samt hur deltagarna uppfattar att dessa aktiviteter bidrar till lärande och praktisk användbarhet. Fyra frågeställningar formulerades; Vilka motiv framkommer för deltagande i dessa aktiviteter? På vilket sätt uppfattar deltagarna att kompetenser och verktyg genereras i aktiviteterna? På vilket sätt uppfattar deltagarna att ledarutvecklingsaktiviteterna influerat deltagarna och bidragit till ett lärande? Hur uppfattar deltagarna möjligheterna att kunna använda genererade kompetenser och verktyg i sitt dagliga arbete? För att få en ingång till våra frågeställningar tog vi inledningsvis del av tidigare forskning inom området ledarutveckling. För att insamla vårt empiriska material genomfördes sju intervjuer. Därefter analyserades materialet med inspiration av pragmatisk diskursanalys, samt med hjälp av utvalda teoretiska utgångspunkter; aktivitetsteorin, proximala utvecklingszonen, samt reflekterande handling. I detta analysförfarande urskildes en norm, att individers problemformuleringar i aktiviteterna kunde ses som ett dialektiskt spel mellan det individuella och kollektiva. Resultatet visar att motiv till att delta ofta grundade sig i ett behov av stöd.  Således har det visat sig att kommunikation och reflektion i ledarutvecklingsaktiviteterna tycks generera redskapen. Likväl som kommunikation ligger till grund för verktygsskapandet uppfattades kommunikativ kompetens och ett reflekterande förhållningssätt viktigt i rollen som ledare. Ledarutvecklingsaktiviteterna har vidare bidragit med redskap vilka lärt individer hantera situationer utifrån nya perspektiv. Det har framkommit hur aktiviteterna gett en ökad förståelse för betydelsen av att lära känna sig själv, medarbetares olikheter och således hur dessa lärdomar bidrar till ett mer effektivt ledarskap. Resultatet visar hur individer upplever att de haft nytta av flera av de verktyg som genererats, både för egen del och för organisationen i stort. / Present conception is that individuals are under constant development and learning during their entire life. Every year a large amount of money is spent on leadership development. There has been an increasing interest to such educational activities. The aim of this study is to examine, what the basis beyond participation can be in leader development activities, through a case-study at Stelena, and how participants perceive that the activities contributes to learning and practical use. Four questions were framed; which motives for participation in these activities appear? In which way do participants perceive that competencies and tools generates in the activities? In which way do participants perceive that the leader development activities have influenced them and contributed to learning? How do participants perceive the ability to use acquired competencies and tools in their daily work?   In order to find answers to our questions, we took part of recent science connected to leader development. Seven interviews were done in order to collect our empirical material. With inspiration from pragmatic discourse analysis and with theoretical base, the material was analysed. Our theoretical bases are activity theory, the zone of proximal development and reflective action. In the analysis work we did distinguish a norm, that problem formulations in the activities could be seen as a dialectical game between the individual and the collective.  The result shows that motives beyond participation many times were based on a need of support. It has been shown how communication and reflection in Stelena leader development activities appear to generate tools. As well as communication and reflection is underlying the creation of tools, communicative competence and a reflective approach are seen as very useful in the role of a leader. Stelena has also provided tools, which have taught individuals to manage situations from new perspectives. The study shows how the activities increased the understanding of the importance to get to know oneself, differences of co-workers and in what way such learning contributes to more effective leadership. The result shows how individuals experienced great usefulness of those tools, both for themselves and for the organisations.

The post-9/11 security environment is one that confronts the United States, and specifically the U.S. Army, with complex problems that require development of leaders with improved knowledge, skills, and attributes to meet the challenges of defending the nation. The problem confronting the U.S. Army is that Army leaders lack a learning environment or methodology that enables effective self-development throughout their career. Research suggests that PLNs (PLNs) and a connectivist approach may address that problem, but these have been limited to civilian educational environments. This qualitative case study explored the use of PLNs with a connectivist approach for leader self-development in Army organizations. The case in this study was that of a cohort of 22 officers in a U.S. Army unit. Each officer developed a PLN and then employed a connectivist approach to connect, curate, create, and share knowledge. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and analyzed with a focus on themes that could inform future decisions by Army senior leadership on the self-development of leaders, and that could enable decisions that will reduce loss of life and destruction in wartime. The major themes developed in this study account for the approach and challenges to Army self-development, the motivation for and execution of connected learning, and the structuring and desired characteristics of self-development that employs PLNs and connectivism. Recommendations included integrating a semistructured approach to self-development into emerging educational approaches to Army leader development. More prepared Army leaders can respond to crises more effectively, reducing adverse effects, damage, and loss of life

Leader self-development, as an approach to leader development, is defined as autonomous, self-regulated behaviors focused on developing one’s leadership capacities. Leader development, as a function, is purposeful engagement in the development of human capital, often in the form of formal training programs or on-the-job assignments. It has been theorized that leaders can only learn from such structured investments if they are motivated to self-develop as leaders. For this reason, self-development is a foundational element of leadership development in general. Previous research has found that certain leader characteristics such as feedback seeking, achievement seeking and mastery orientation predict an individual’s motivation for self-development. The current study examines whether matched perceived group-norms interact with leader characteristics to impact motivation to self-develop. 134 male and 33 female leaders who manage people within structured organizations completed an online self-report survey to assess participants’ leader characteristics, perceived group norms and motivation to self-develop. Results replicated previous research using a new sample, thus establishing the importance of leader characteristics of feedback seeking, achievement seeking, and mastery orientation in predicting motivation to self-development. Although results failed to support the predicted interactions between leader characteristics and matched group level norms, for the first time, group level norms of goal-setting and learning were found to have a direct effect on motivation to self-develop. Implications of increased leader self-development under specific, advantageous group norms are discussed.

The post-9/11 security environment is one that confronts the United States, and specifically the U.S. Army, with complex problems that require development of leaders with improved knowledge, skills, and attributes to meet the challenges of defending the nation. The problem confronting the U.S. Army is that Army leaders lack a learning environment or methodology that enables effective self-development throughout their career. Research suggests that PLNs (PLNs) and a connectivist approach may address that problem, but these have been limited to civilian educational environments. This qualitative case study explored the use of PLNs with a connectivist approach for leader self-development in Army organizations. The case in this study was that of a cohort of 22 officers in a U.S. Army unit. Each officer developed a PLN and then employed a connectivist approach to connect, curate, create, and share knowledge. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and analyzed with a focus on themes that could inform future decisions by Army senior leadership on the self-development of leaders, and that could enable decisions that will reduce loss of life and destruction in wartime. The major themes developed in this study account for the approach and challenges to Army self-development, the motivation for and execution of connected learning, and the structuring and desired characteristics of self-development that employs PLNs and connectivism. Recommendations included integrating a semistructured approach to self-development into emerging educational approaches to Army leader development. More prepared Army leaders can respond to crises more effectively, reducing adverse effects, damage, and loss of life

It is no secret that the North American church has seen a decline over the last twenty years. This is especially pronounced in the younger generations. Significantly fewer people walk through the doors of a church each week. There are a myriad of factors that are driving this decline. One area that needs to be explored is the disengagement of young adults in church leadership. Engaging young adults in leadership is a proven way to engage them in the church. By listening to the voices of Canadian young adults, this dissertation offers a starting point for leaders. Making space for young adults to serve in leadership will both strengthen the church and reengage a lost generation.

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[pt] O desenvolvimento da liderança envolve a identidade de líder, que pode ser analisada a partir de diferentes perspectivas e abordagens teóricas. Uma delas, utilizada nesta tese, assume o desenvolvimento da identidade na construção social, ou seja, na reflexividade do indivíduo e, sobretudo, nas constantes interações com os outros. Para essa perspectiva, são aspectos centrais ao desenvolvimento do líder o autoconceito e a identidade. Considerando que é fundamental compreender como tal processo ocorre em contextos de desenvolvimento da liderança, e assumindo que tais contextos são campos férteis para a observação das dinâmicas identitárias do líder, esta tese tem como objetivo compreender tais dinâmicas em um contexto de coaching para desenvolvimento da liderança. Uma vez que o fenômeno é pouco explorado pela literatura, utilizou-se o método da Grounded Theory com orientação construtivista, capturando assim as representações de coaches, líderes e liderados entrevistados. A partir dos dados analisados, esta tese apresenta um framework teórico que busca compreender e explicitar as dinâmicas identitárias no desenvolvimento de líderes, explorando elementos nos níveis intrapessoal, interpessoal e contextual. / [en] The development of leadership involves the identity of leader, which can be analyzed from different perspectives and theoretical approaches. One of them, and that used in this thesis, assumes the development of identity in social construction, that is, in the reflexivity of the individual and, above all, in constant interactions with others. For this perspective, they are central aspects to the development of the leader, the self-concept and the identity. Considering it is critical to understand how such a process occurs in leadership development contexts and assuming that contexts are fertile grounds for the leader s identity dynamics, this thesis aims to understand such dynamics in a context of coaching for leadership development. Since the phenomenon is little explored in the literature, we used the Grounded Theory method with a constructivist orientation, thus capturing the representations of coaches, leaders and interviewed followers. Based on the data analyzed, this thesis presents a theoretical framework that has been developed allowing to understand and explain the identity dynamics in the development of leaders, exploring elements at the intrapersonal, interpersonal and contextual levels.

New technologies are continuously emerging, and as technology advances new applications are explored. One such application is in leadership development, an extension of leader development with a key differentiation being an inclusion of the collective as a dimension. Currently, organizations as well as their environment are increasing in complexity, emphasizing a requirement for better equipped leaders able to collectively face the consequential challenges incurred. Virtual reality is an emerging technology that has existed for some time, allowing both the hardware and software to become refined. This thesis explores the potential of this technology, i.e. virtual reality in a leadership development context, mapping out current uses and identifying potential areas for application. Furthermore, the thesis explores how virtual reality could be applied to enhance leadership development in organizations and what enablers and barriers this would entail. This was done by conducting a literature review and by gathering qualitative data, interviewing 6 researchers in the field and 5 practitioners from companies related to virtual reality and leadership development regarding their views and uses of this technology. The data was then utilized in two frameworks, the Dialogue map, categorizing methods of leadership development into 5 distinct categories, and the Multi-level perspective, defining three levels of a socio-technical system and the interactions between them. The findings of the thesis suggest that the technology indeed has potential in a leadership development context, with education and developmental relationships being the two most apparent areas of application of the technology. Furthermore, implementation of virtual reality in an organization should not replace existing leadership development methods such as instructor-led sessions or e-learning, but instead exist as a complement. Lastly, factors such as culture, demographics and the specific leadership development application should be considered. / Genom uppkomsten av ny teknologi uppstår även nya möjligheter för appliceringar av den. En sådan applicering är inom ledarskapsutveckling, vilket är en utökning av ledarutveckling som även inkluderar en kollektiv dimension. I nuläget genomgår både organisationer och det yttre landskapet en ökning i komplexitet, vilket har belyst ett ökat behov på mer kompetenta ledare som kollektivt kan hantera utmaningarna till följd av den ökade komplexiteten. Virtuell verklighet är en framväxande teknologi som har utvecklats både inom hårdvaran och mjukvaran den senaste tiden. Denna uppsats utforskar potentialen av denna teknologi inom ledarskapsutveckling genom att kartlägga nuvarande användningsområden och identifiera framtida områden lämpade för applicering av teknologin. Vidare utforskar studien hur virtuell verklighet kan appliceras i en organisation genom att se på vilka möjliggörare och barriärer detta skulle medföra. Detta gjordes genom utförandet av en litteraturanalys, samt genom att intervjua 6 forskare inom fältet och 5 utövare från företag relaterade till virtuell verklighet och ledarskapsutveckling angående deras uppfattning och användning av teknologin. Empirin var sedan utnyttjad inom två ramverk, nämligen Dialogue map för att kategorisera ledarskapsutveckling i 5 kategorier av processer, samt Multi-level perspective som definierar tre nivåer av ett socio-tekniska system, och beskriver interaktionen mellan nivåerna. Resultatet från uppsatsen föreslår att teknologin besitter potential inom ledarskapsutveckling, med kategorierna “education” och “developmental relationships” som de mest uppenbara appliceringarna av teknologin. Vidare borde inte implementeringen av virtuell verklighet ersätta nuvarande metoder för ledarskapsutveckling såsom lärarledda sessioner och e-lärande, utan komplettera dessa. Slutligen bör faktorer som kultur, demografi och specifik tillämpning övervägas.

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