In line with its mission to promote public leadership in Africa, the UCT Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance (NMSPG) implements the Emerging African Leaders Programme (EALP). With the use of an intensive two-week residential workshop in Cape Town, integral coaching and an EALP alumni network, the programme endeavours to enhance the leadership capacity of emerging African leaders. The purpose of the EALP alumni network is to keep EALP alumni connected, enable them to have an ongoing dialogue and facilitate collaborations with the ultimate objective of making a contribution to addressing Africa's wicked challenges. A mixed method formative outcome evaluation of the networking component of the EALP was conducted. Data was collected by means of a document review, an online survey, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions involving the main stakeholders. The findings showed that the EALP alumni network had created, albeit in a suboptimal resource-constrained context, positive outcomes at individual, network, organisational and policy-making levels. The network helped to increase the self-confidence, connectivity, networking ability, networking, problem-solving and decision making capacity, learning, social capital and career prospects of EALP alumni. Furthermore, most of the EALP alumni expressed above average trust and commitment in the EALP alumni network, and, opined that efforts were made to ensure effective inclusion of all network members. On the other hand, on average, EALP alumni, were generally connected and interacted with others within their respective cohort, with mutual support and exchange of information and other resources only occasionally taking place among them. Of the sample, fifty percent of the EALP alumni experienced network cohesion. On average, EALP alumni, reported that it was easy to collaborate on the network but they had developed few productive collaborations with others. Slightly more than half of EALP alumni were satisfied with the management of the EALP alumni network and one fifth of them had fully internalised the network goal. Some positive outcomes were also noted at organisational and policy-making levels. With a view to strengthening the EALP alumni network, ensuring its sustainability and improving its effectiveness, the following recommendations have been made: formulation of a strategy and plans for the network, introduction of a monitoring, evaluation and learning system, formalisation of the network, appointment of a dedicated network manager to engage and support EALP alumni, and ongoing capacity-building.

As leadership theory continues to develop and change, so do the attempts to enhance experiences for women in higher education. Women face many obstacles, which include lack of role models in student and institutional leaders (Astin & Leland, 1991). Traditionally, institutions offer no specific leadership programs or curricula and pay minimal attention to the leadership development of their students (Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001). This study was a case study with an in-depth analysis of the establishment of a women's leadership education and training program at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Six students, four administrators, and one intern were interviewed to illustrate the process of the planning of the program, its implementation and current operations, and the complexities involved. Document analysis and observations were utilized as well. The study was focused on the impact of the program on the students and administrators involved in the development of the program during this period. The researcher also described how the Batten Leadership Institute has evolved over the past five years with a focus on how it came into being, what it was like, then and now, and changes that have occurred. The findings are organized by three phases: 1) conceptualization, 2) implementation, and 3) refinement and expansion. The phases are based on a chronological framework and resulting categories and themes emerged. Results indicate the participants' described their leadership skills improved because of their participation and experience in the BLI. The Communication Skills Group and its interpersonal component as well the presence of positive female role-models created the most personal transformation for the student participants. The students' previous ideas and definitions of leadership became more comprehensive. As a result of their personal transformation, their perceptions of the BLI changed from initial uncertainty and hesitation to admiration and support. The program expanded significantly over the first five years. Programmatic challenges have been addressed and many positive changes have occurred. Hollins administrators embraced the BLI and fully supported future expansions within Hollins University and in the Roanoke community. / Ph. D.

Men and masculine qualities stereotypically define leadership. Role Congruity Theory explains that women leaders may experience a double discrimination. First, because leadership roles are stereotypically male, a woman may not have the necessary qualities. Second, because leadership qualities are stereotypically masculine, when women do exhibit agentic qualities, they are perceived negatively and not feminine (Eagly and Karau, 2002). Further, adopting a masculine style is perceived as an inauthentic leadership style. However, an androgynous style can blend feminine expectations with corporate needs, creating advantage and perceptions of authenticity (Tzinerr and Barsheshet-Picke, 2014). The leadership development training described in this thesis was held for female volunteer counselors of Girls Rock! Roanoke, an empowerment camp for young girls. The appreciative pedagogy included individual reflections, group discussions, and working through simulations. The evaluation of the training sought to identify: if discussion of leadership increased awareness of feminine and masculine leadership; if discussion of personal leadership experiences increased empowerment to self-identify as leaders; and what impact the experience had on participants' ability to improve and employ leadership. After participants completed the training, awareness of feminine and androgynous leadership increased; whereas, it is unclear if awareness of masculine leadership increased. Challenging participants to reflect on their leadership increased their self-identification as leaders, while those who already identified did so in androgynous terms. The training impacted participants' knowledge of themselves as leaders, how they planned to use leadership in camp and in real life, but it is unclear to what degree it impacted their ability to improve and employ leadership beyond the training. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Leadership development programs provide many positive outcomes for college students (Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001; Striffolino & Saunders, 1989; Zimmerman-Oster & Burkardt, 1999). Leadership programs aid students in their academic achievement (Striffolino & Saunders, 1989), and leadership skills (Zimmerman-Oster & Burkardt, 1999). A specific type of leadership development programs are first-year leadership programs, or FYLPs. With similar goals as general leadership programs, FYLPs are created with the special needs and interests of first-year students in mind (Peraza, 2004). These programs encourage higher retention rates (Striffolino & Saunders, 1989), leadership skills such as teamwork and self-awareness (Outcalt, 2001), and ethical leadership (Peraza, 2004). As important as FYLPs are to the development of first-year students, though, there has not been sufficient enough research on their effectiveness in achieving their purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess the short and long-term effects of a particular FYLP on its participants as measured by the Student Leadership Outcomes Inventory (SLOI) (Vann, 2004). Participants included both FYLP and non-FYLP students at a midsized Midwestern institution. Results showed little difference in the improvement of leadership skills between FYLP and non-FYLP participants, and little change between each class of FYLP. Results did show that students who participated in the FYLP their freshman year went on to engage in more leadership activities than students who did not complete the FYLP. / Master of Arts

The paper explores the complex nature of the postmodern world in which leaders find themselves and questions the appropriateness of the current discipline-based structure of MBA education in terms of its usefulness to develop effective postmodern leaders. What is called for is an approach to problem solving that is heuristic and also a tolerance for the temporal nature of solutions, flexibility, and multiple perspectives and inputs. Transdisciplinarity, which focuses on bringing together these different perspectives, provides a useful platform where developing leaders can engage with the dynamic and complex environment of a postmodern era. The nature of transdisciplinarity, from the perspective of a number of theorists, is presented. Furthermore, synergies between the transdisciplinary approach and the nature of postmodern leadership are identified and analysed. The paper examines synergies between transdisciplinarity and other scientific paradigms such as social constructivism, critical management theory, postmodernism, social cognitive theory, critical pedagogy, systems theory, complexity theory, cybernetics, narrative psychology, critical reflexivity, and others. The methodology is qualitative and involves the observation of a number of lecturing sessions at Business Schools in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa, with the objective of noting whether any elements of transdisciplinary learning are evident. These observations are followed up with individual interviews with selected lecturers. The paper concludes with an analytical discourse on the value that a transdisciplinary andragogy can add to leadership development, particularly in relation to assisting students with embracing the complex challenges of leading in a postmodern era. The paper concludes that there is a significant lack of alignment with the prevailing approach to learning methodology in MBA programs and the nature of the postmodern world. The research recommends that a transdisciplinary learning methodology has a great deal to offer in terms of providing a learning environment for an emerging leader, that will equip him or her to be effective in a postmodern environment. Tools and methodologies for implementing a transdisciplinary approach to leadership development are suggested and outlined in some detail. / Psychology / (Ph. D. (Industrial and Organizational Psychology))

In leadership development, an established literature and a fertile praxis fall short of clarifying how individuals may develop the many and varied capabilities that contribute to leadership processes. Literature promoting personal growth tends to reduce personal development to cognitive development or rely on broadly defined and under-evidenced notions. The adult development literature offers to this research a conceptualization of personal development as systemic qualitative change in individual sensemaking. As sensemaking develops, it progresses toward greater integration (of interdependent cognitive, emotive, purposive, and conative dimensions), sophistication, and self-determination. The research aimed to examine how changes in the sensemaking of individuals may result in developmental outcomes relevant for personal and leadership development. This inquiry moves from a perspective idealist ontology and a social constructivist epistemology, selects philosophical hermeneutics as a research paradigm, and embraces exploratory qualitative longitudinal research. Purposive sampling guided the selection of research context, a leadership program focused on personal growth. Transcripts from 32 semi-structured constructivist-phenomenological interviews, collected from nine participants across fourteen months, were analyzed through constructivist grounded theory. Development was assessed ipsatively according to a literature-based framework. Contributions, in terms of substantive theory, are not generalizable beyond research context and sample. This research advances the differentiation of developmental context, process and outcomes. Context is found to transcend holding environment—to be ideally conducive to a specific type of change in virtue of a distinctive emerging quality. While vector processes facilitate development, core processes (individual sensemaking) are development. In terms of outcomes, the research supports an association between personal development and development of leadership capabilities, but questions whether self-awareness or personality adjustments per se constitute authentic personal or leadership development. This research exposes a pattern of seeking affirmation, associated with disproportionate identity salience of external image, which is potentially capable of hindering personal development by triggering maladaptive rather than adaptive self-reflection.

The paper explores the complex nature of the postmodern world in which leaders find themselves and questions the appropriateness of the current discipline-based structure of MBA education in terms of its usefulness to develop effective postmodern leaders. What is called for is an approach to problem solving that is heuristic and also a tolerance for the temporal nature of solutions, flexibility, and multiple perspectives and inputs. Transdisciplinarity, which focuses on bringing together these different perspectives, provides a useful platform where developing leaders can engage with the dynamic and complex environment of a postmodern era. The nature of transdisciplinarity, from the perspective of a number of theorists, is presented. Furthermore, synergies between the transdisciplinary approach and the nature of postmodern leadership are identified and analysed. The paper examines synergies between transdisciplinarity and other scientific paradigms such as social constructivism, critical management theory, postmodernism, social cognitive theory, critical pedagogy, systems theory, complexity theory, cybernetics, narrative psychology, critical reflexivity, and others. The methodology is qualitative and involves the observation of a number of lecturing sessions at Business Schools in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa, with the objective of noting whether any elements of transdisciplinary learning are evident. These observations are followed up with individual interviews with selected lecturers. The paper concludes with an analytical discourse on the value that a transdisciplinary andragogy can add to leadership development, particularly in relation to assisting students with embracing the complex challenges of leading in a postmodern era. The paper concludes that there is a significant lack of alignment with the prevailing approach to learning methodology in MBA programs and the nature of the postmodern world. The research recommends that a transdisciplinary learning methodology has a great deal to offer in terms of providing a learning environment for an emerging leader, that will equip him or her to be effective in a postmodern environment. Tools and methodologies for implementing a transdisciplinary approach to leadership development are suggested and outlined in some detail. / Psychology / (Ph. D. (Industrial and Organizational Psychology))

Intern interior designer leadership skills, expected by practitioners in Canada, were explored in this thesis to identify implications for interior designer education. Employment of a 16 question quantitative, online survey, examined National Council of Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) certified practitioners beliefs about intern leadership skills. A majority of the 116 participants agreed a leader skill set, that includes authentic and design leadership skills, is valuable for interns to have in practice. Six authentic leadership skills: self-improvement, self-monitoring, goal-commitment, openness, positivity, and composure alongside four design leadership skills: adaptability, professional, building-relationships and collaborative rank as the top ten skills. Respondent practitioners also hold post-secondary interior design educators, interior designers, and interns most accountable for leadership education. Recommendations for interior designer education include increasing authentic leadership development opportunities and practitioner involvement. Further, unification of leadership perceptions and consistent leadership language, along the full interior designer education path, is encouraged for programmatic success. / October 2016

In leadership development, an established literature and a fertile praxis fall short of clarifying how individuals may develop the many and varied capabilities that contribute to leadership processes. Literature promoting personal growth tends to reduce personal development to cognitive development or rely on broadly defined and under-evidenced notions. The adult development literature offers to this research a conceptualization of personal development as systemic qualitative change in individual sensemaking. As sensemaking develops, it progresses toward greater integration (of interdependent cognitive, emotive, purposive, and conative dimensions), sophistication, and self-determination. The research aimed to examine how changes in the sensemaking of individuals may result in developmental outcomes relevant for personal and leadership development. This inquiry moves from a perspective idealist ontology and a social constructivist epistemology, selects philosophical hermeneutics as a research paradigm, and embraces exploratory qualitative longitudinal research. Purposive sampling guided the selection of research context, a leadership program focused on personal growth. Transcripts from 32 semi-structured constructivist-phenomenological interviews, collected from nine participants across fourteen months, were analyzed through constructivist grounded theory. Development was assessed ipsatively according to a literature-based framework. Contributions, in terms of substantive theory, are not generalizable beyond research context and sample. This research advances the differentiation of developmental context, process and outcomes. Context is found to transcend holding environment—to be ideally conducive to a specific type of change in virtue of a distinctive emerging quality. While vector processes facilitate development, core processes (individual sensemaking) are development. In terms of outcomes, the research supports an association between personal development and development of leadership capabilities, but questions whether self-awareness or personality adjustments per se constitute authentic personal or leadership development. This research exposes a pattern of seeking affirmation, associated with disproportionate identity salience of external image, which is potentially capable of hindering personal development by triggering maladaptive rather than adaptive self-reflection.

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