While there is an abundance of empirically based information on the broad subject of executive leadership and executive leader development, opportunity for further research is driven by complexity of the executive’s world and the related need to function at high levels of learning agility. In fact, learning agility has been identified by Korn/ Ferry (Korn/Ferry, 2011) as the single most important predictor of executive success. This study seeks to explore non-traditional forms of executive leader development based on an integrated theoretical lens, including learning and executive development theories as they relate to learning agility. Executive Coaching is of primary interest as an executive development theory, with a diagnostic element designed to provide insight about development issues, particularly those around leadership pipeline cross points. The Competing Values Framework, as applied here for individual executive growth and development constructs, offers an additional theoretical lens as well as a structure for practical application. Using an engaged scholarship approach through Action Research, this is explored with a focus on executive development options that go beyond traditional leadership training models, and with research, insights analyzed through the CVF assessment and structured interviews. Among the findings are insights which confirm the learning agility construct claims that it is a key predictor to executive success as executives traverse career transitions. More specifically, the insights which proceed from this study also support the reasons that self-discovery learning interventions impact learning agility for senior executives. They include: The Participants in this study demonstrated Learning Agility Development as defined for this research, providing evidence that Learning Agility can be developed Executive Coaching and Related Self-Discovery Constructs contribute more to Learning Agility Executive Development when the executive coach offers a fluid approach which includes significant engagement and mutual dialog as well as inquiry. Learning Agility Development is related to one’s ability to manage Competing Values, especially Competing Values that are unique to the individual. Individual Awareness, its connection to reflexivity, and the movement of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is a key finding related to senior executive learning agility development. A Systems Approach to Learning Agility Executive Development which includes a systemic framework, a defined process/structure, and individual customization is indicated for senior level executives. The study offers extensions to existing theories as well as a practical theory-and-findings-based executive development methodology.

The COVID-19 pandemic wiped off decades of educational gains in the developing world and added 24 million more children to 775 million illiterates in the world. To counteract such a huge predicament, human learning agility comes into action. This human characteristic of knowing what to do when one does not know what to do, invokes the Soft System Methodology (SSM) approach to analyze illiteracy as the worst of all pandemics since it infiltrates into generations. After evaluating different effective teaching methods and utilizing the SSM approach, this paper proposes suitable pedagogies to educate deprived students. It examines Massive Online Open Courseware (MOOC) as a viable solution for K-12 students and compares it with a more robust educational technology model of Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). Using artificial intelligence, the ITS tailors the instructional content framework and teaching strategies after evaluating students' pre-existing knowledge, learning habits, & styles. The ITS engages the student with the lesson with a two-way dialog while providing customized instruction and immediate feedback. An ITS requires no human intervention and could be a suitable replacement for an inadequately qualified teacher or no teacher. Hence it could be a practical tool in tackling the global literacy catastrophe. A comprehensive literature review followed by a meta-analysis reveals the effectiveness of ITS as a feasible intervention. The major purpose of this study is to define the application of educational pedagogy behind AI-based tutoring and cognitive science in this learner-centered approach.

This study examines if a relationship exists among three rich research streams, specifically the behavioral science of motivation, adult learning and leadership. What motivates adult professionals to continue learning and how is that connected to their style and efficacy as leaders? An extension of literature to connect Andragogy, Self-determination and Transformational Leadership Theory is explored. Responses to questions adapted from the Carré Model of Adult Orientation and Implication on Learning and Training Activities (Carré, 1997) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass, 2000) are compared among a sample of adult professionals in leadership positions. Results indicate that learning motivation orientation is predictive of and positively correlated with leadership style. How learning motivation can be used as a tool to predict leadership style, enhance leader selection, development and succession is discussed along with further implications of the “learner-leader” for the purposes of research, practice and higher education initiatives. This quantitative study can offer important insights into how the attribute of an intrinsic motivation to learn can act as an antecedent to Transformational leadership behavior, and the impact that Transformational leaders have upon their teams and organizations.

This dissertation consists of two studies examining the utility and distinctiveness of learning agility in the workplace. The first study examines the nomological networks of two proprietary measures of learning agility in sample of 832 individuals. The learning agility simulation is designed to be an objective measure of learning agility ability. The learning agility indicator is a self-report measure designed to measure the preference towards learning agile behaviors. The results of study one indicate two different nomological networks for the learning agility simulation and the learning agility indicator. Specifically, the learning agility simulation was related to cognitive personality variables (i.e., tolerance for ambiguity and cognitive flexibility) and cognitive ability, and the learning agility indicator was more strongly related to personality variables. The second study explores the work-related outcomes associated with the learning agility simulation, and the incremental validity of the learning agility simulation over traditional predictors of performance (i.e., Big Five personality variables, cognitive ability). The second study was performed with a sample of early career employees with supervisor rated performance/potential measures in a sample of 89 paired responses. The results of study two indicated that the learning agility simulation was significantly related to two areas of employee potential (learning from experience and speed-to-competence) and provided incremental validity over traditional predictors of performance/potential for these areas of performance.

I en omvärld i konstant förändring ställs det höga krav på individer, framför allt i kunskapsintensiva företag. Studien undersöker upplevelser och resonemang kring ansvar och lärande, hos individer som arbetar inom en konsultverksamhet. Att belysa hur en konsult ser på ansvar och livslångt lärande, i en kontext i ständig förändring. I studien genomfördes intervjuer med åtta konsulter i ett konsultföretag. Materialet spelades in, transkriberades och analyserades genom kodning och tematisering, först utan en teori, för att hitta de naturligt förekommande rösterna. I ett nästa steg analyserades teman utifrån begreppet agilt lärande med fyra huvudsakliga faktorer: Mental Agility, Results Agility, People Agility och Change Agility. Resultatet visar på att det finns ett omfattande ansvarstagande och tydligt eget uppfattat ansvar för lärande. Med ökad erfarenhet nyanseras bilden och oftare ser individen att mer ansvar ligger på henne själv, än omgivningen. De fyra övergripande teman som framkom var kultur, medskapande, bekräftelse och självreflektion som har tydlig överensstämmelse med faktorerna för agilt lärande. Resultatet visar på att det verkar finns en hög förmåga till ett agilt lärande hos konsulter i ett kunskapsintensivt företag, där vardagen innebär att kunna anpassa sig till konstant förändring. / In a constantly changing environment, high demands are placed on individuals, especially in knowledge-intensive companies. The study examines experiences and reasoning about responsibility and learning, in individuals working within a consulting business. To shed light on how a consultant looks at responsibility and lifelong learning, in a context of constant change. In the study, interviews were conducted with eight consultants at a consulting firm. The material was recorded, transcribed and was analyzed by coding and thematizing, first without a theory to find the naturally occurring voices. In a next step, themes were analyzed based on the concept of agile learning with four main factors: Mental Agility, Results Agility, People Agility and Change Agility. The result shows that there is a comprising sense of responsibility and clearly self-perceived responsibility for learning. With increased experience, the picture is nuanced and more often the individual sees that more responsibility lies with her, than with her surroundings. The four main themes that emerged were culture, co-creation, acknowledgement and self-reflection, which are clearly consistent with the factors of agile learning. The result shows that there seems to be a high ability for agile learning by consultants in a knowledge-intensive company, where everyday life means being able to adapt to constant change.