Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Clive J. A. Fullagar / Leader self-development is being pushed by organizations today as a practical and cost-efficient strategy to develop leadership skills. However, the research on leader self-development is still sparse and there are questions that should be answered before much stock can be placed in self-development as a viable means to increase leadership capacity. This research attempts to address these questions in several ways. First, the first study outlines a theory and process to create a scale that measures the quality of self-development activities that leaders engage in. Furthermore, a nomological network is examined with dispositional constructs that were and were not be related to the quality of leader self-development activities. The results from these scale development efforts were generally positive with the exception of the challenge dimension of quality. Second, the second study builds on previous literature by examining the interactive effect of leader self-development quality and quantity in predicting leader effectiveness and finds that quality appears to play the more important role. Finally, the second study also addresses the lack of research examining situational factors that may affect leader self-development quality. This study found that transformational leadership was related to the quality of leader self-development activities and that quality mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and effectiveness. Overall, this research addresses several gaps in the leader self-development literature and creates a foundation for future research to build on.

MA Dramatic Art, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand / This study explores how contemporary performance, through a practice led process, can shift the consciousness of entrenched Ga cultural myths that silence the self. In doing so, this study attempts to reveal how cultural mythology plays an integral part in why the Ga people continue to make illness invisible even in the face of the growing crisis of HIV/Aids in Ghana. The study argues that continued silence rather worsens the condition of the victims, and posits that breaking the oppressive silence through contemporary performance’s deconstruction of cultural mythology offers a chance of liberation. This study employs qualitative research methodology within a practice as research paradigm and is achieved through a collaborative practice as research performance process. The performance process draws upon the personal experiences of the collaborators who use stories, games, dances and masks that emanate from the collaborators’ respective cultures in Ghana. The research data comprises photographs, journaling and informal dialogue. It also consists of interpreting phenomena brought to bear on the process. This research places emphasis on the process of exploration as opposed to a final product. In Chapter One the reader is introduced to the history and journey of the self. Chapter Two focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of this research while Chapter Three, an exploration of methodology, demonstrates how elements of the creative process form the base of contemporary performance. Finally, in Chapter Four the researcher draws a number of conclusions based on the outcome of the process oriented performance. This study concludes that the contemporary performance processes offer a constructive alternative towards inciting a shift in the consciousness of Ga cultural myths, without disregarding the ingenious indigenous knowledge of the Ga community. It also shows how the process of contemporary performance can become a means of self-development and change. The study demonstrates how in the midst of the constraints and fear that cultivate silence, often promulgated by the Ga communal ideal, the individual can still discover and give expression to his/her unique voice.

Thesis advisor: Micah Lott / The looming question about life’s meaning is more salient in our modern era of advanced technological developments and social structures. Søren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth-century author and philosopher, perceived this modern dilemma and provided a meaningful answer to the urgent existential struggle by developing an extensive understanding of selfhood and establishing a comprehensive method for self-development. This thesis argues that empirical evidence from contemporary neuroscience and psychology substantiates Kierkegaard’s explanation of the self and self-development. I explain in chapter one that, even with the vast amount of knowledge that modernity has brought, we cannot seem to reach the heart of the matter about life’s meaning, and deaths from despair are currently at an all-time high. In chapter two, I explain that Kierkegaard works out a detailed concept of selfhood that emphasizes the importance of self-conscious awareness, contemplative inwardness, and the power of transcendence. This requires that people know themselves and their character, which also creates significance in life through embracing the task of freedom. In chapter three, I argue that Kierkegaard’s conception of the self is teleological, and to guide self-development properly over time, a person must aim to become a single individual that imitates the intentions of Christ. I argue in chapter four that knowing the self as a single individual and imitating Christ’s intentions becomes easier when selfhood is structured in narrative self-identity. I establish the practice of narrative-self-talk as a tool to guide self-development towards the Kierkegaardian telos that focuses on maintaining explicit conscious awareness of the self as a single individual. Chapter five shows that the Kierkegaardian concepts of teleological selfhood and narrative self-development are supported by evidence from psychology and neuroscience. Furthermore, this evidence shows the method to be highly efficient and effective for shaping a person’s habits, schemas, and character. In chapter six, I conclude by showing that this empirically backed methodological approach ultimately provides meaning to life by generating belonging, coherence, and significance while also satisfying the human need for transcendence in life. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

<p>To have a functioning organization where there is a self-development for employees them selves, as well as between managers and employees, where employees are empowered and work for the organization and its goals. Feedback seems to be the main instrument to solve problems and create that organization. At the Military Academy Karlberg and the basic officers training there is a lot of discussions about feedback and how it is supposed to be carried out. This essay discusses the matter of how well we live up to the demands set by leadership classes at the Military Academy, what the platoon leaders do think about how feedback takes its expression. The questions about how feedback is used are to be answered by interviews with five platoon leaders and their thoughts about how feedback is communicated at the Academy. The results of the interviews have got differences but there are common points of view. All platoon leaders have the opinion that feedback is an instrument which is made for developing either the personell or the organization. Three of the platoon leaders use expressions when they give feedback, such as “i-expressions”:“When you act like this I feel like…etc”. How feedback takes its expression is in general manifested with big differences but all of the platoon leaders do agree that feedback is not used as much as it could be. With consideration to the differences in opinions, the conclusion, consist of how feedback takes its expression. It is important that everyone in the organization gets empowered and aligned with the common goals of the organization.</p>

To have a functioning organization where there is a self-development for employees them selves, as well as between managers and employees, where employees are empowered and work for the organization and its goals. Feedback seems to be the main instrument to solve problems and create that organization. At the Military Academy Karlberg and the basic officers training there is a lot of discussions about feedback and how it is supposed to be carried out. This essay discusses the matter of how well we live up to the demands set by leadership classes at the Military Academy, what the platoon leaders do think about how feedback takes its expression. The questions about how feedback is used are to be answered by interviews with five platoon leaders and their thoughts about how feedback is communicated at the Academy. The results of the interviews have got differences but there are common points of view. All platoon leaders have the opinion that feedback is an instrument which is made for developing either the personell or the organization. Three of the platoon leaders use expressions when they give feedback, such as “i-expressions”:“When you act like this I feel like…etc”. How feedback takes its expression is in general manifested with big differences but all of the platoon leaders do agree that feedback is not used as much as it could be. With consideration to the differences in opinions, the conclusion, consist of how feedback takes its expression. It is important that everyone in the organization gets empowered and aligned with the common goals of the organization.

<p>Coaching är ett verktyg som används för att ta någon annan från ett nutida läge till att nå ett framtida mål, utöka sina potentialer och utvecklas som person. Studiens syfte var att genom en kvalitativ ansats undersöka olika aspekter av coaching som resulterat i ett givande resultat för den enskilda individen. Syftet var även att undersöka vilka problem deltagarna stötte på i processen samt coachens roll. Åtta personer intervjuades och resultatet visar att de tyckte att coachingen resulterat i förbättrad självkänsla och självkännedom, ett förändrat tankesätt och en tydligare målbild. Relationen till coachen upplevdes betydande i form av stöd och feedback i processen. Att förändra och omstrukturera beteende och tankar upplevdes som svårast. I studien framkom att coaching som metod, bör anpassas och utformas efter individens behov för att gynna personlig utveckling. Samtidigt visade sig även målskapandet inneha en central och avgörande del i coachingprocessen.</p>

Coaching är ett verktyg som används för att ta någon annan från ett nutida läge till att nå ett framtida mål, utöka sina potentialer och utvecklas som person. Studiens syfte var att genom en kvalitativ ansats undersöka olika aspekter av coaching som resulterat i ett givande resultat för den enskilda individen. Syftet var även att undersöka vilka problem deltagarna stötte på i processen samt coachens roll. Åtta personer intervjuades och resultatet visar att de tyckte att coachingen resulterat i förbättrad självkänsla och självkännedom, ett förändrat tankesätt och en tydligare målbild. Relationen till coachen upplevdes betydande i form av stöd och feedback i processen. Att förändra och omstrukturera beteende och tankar upplevdes som svårast. I studien framkom att coaching som metod, bör anpassas och utformas efter individens behov för att gynna personlig utveckling. Samtidigt visade sig även målskapandet inneha en central och avgörande del i coachingprocessen.

Our society is changing, becoming a postmodern world with more attention paid to the emotional part of human beings. Organisations must develop new skills to enhance their members’ creativity and provide innovation in order to tackle new challenges. The transformation of our society provides also space for new thinking and new solutions; there is a need to be more open-minded. Organisational managers hence look into new directions to answer issues – one of them is the arts. One of arts’ manifestations in organisations is artistic interventions. Our study provides a presentation of this process, our understanding and reflection about this field and why we think it is relevant for the postmodern society in which we live. In this thesis we present our vision and theory of how a manager transforms themself into a leader through an artistic intervention and the impact on the organisational culture that the latter produces. We highlight the importance of the intervention’s follow-up and the way in which managers/leaders can lead this process to success. Our research is based on the existing literature in different fields that we have found relevant and that has enabled us to develop our own theory on the topic, with hope that it will interest other researchers to go further. In that sense, we give directions and reflections for future research.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah Jane Fishback / This exploratory phenomenological research study describes the experiences of U.S. Army soldiers going through the mandated Structured Self Development (SSD) online courseware. Multiple findings are presented covering soldier participants’ experiences with the process, content, and culture/environment of SSD. Additionally, findings dealing with soldiers’ motivations and self-described impediments while going through SSD are presented. Four Army enlisted soldiers (two male, two female) were purposefully selected for this study, each one representing a different level of SSD (Levels 1-4). Participant soldiers for this study were selected from throughout the Kansas National Guard and each one possessed a different duty military occupational specialty within the Army. The findings of the research study indicate that there are multiple aspects of SSD that soldiers experienced in a negative way. Areas such as frustration with the system, cheating, poor instructional technique, low retention of information, cognitive overload, and poor leader/peer perceptions were identified through soldier participant interviews. Motivational issues dealing with negative feelings of relevancy and boredom with the instruction were also acknowledged. Additionally, difficulty in accessing the SSD system by soldiers, and over assumptions of soldiers’ levels of self-directed learning were also identified. This research contributes to the ongoing research needed dealing with soldier improvement through online learning.

The final diploma thesis of Pedagogy Specialization studing programme, Education Management studing field deals with a Self-development issue and its tools in the context of personnel management. This thesis examines the applicability possibilities of individual tools, methods and techniques used as a standard in personnel management as another possible tool of self-development. The aim of this thesis is a self-development evaluation mean by managerial work in the context of personnel management, including the applicability of self-development in the form of personnel management tool itself and the subsequent of company development. There are real examples of self-development possible tools across scientific disciplines In the practical part. The work presents the introspection results leading to an active self-development and provides concrete examples of patterns handling with self-development tools. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)