Titel: Vägen till toppen; Vilka faktorer har betydelse för att nå en ledarposition? Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Ida Backman & Victoria Kurt Handledare: Stig Sörling Datum: 2012 - Maj Syfte: Syftet med detta examensarbete är att belysa faktorer som har betydelse för att nå ledande positioner inom företag och organisationer. Finns det exempelvis något samband mellan personer med ledarposition vad gäller personliga egenskaper och utbildning? Är det något som är medfött hos ledaren och är en del av dennes karaktär, eller något människan kan lära sig att utveckla? Vår strävan är att belysa olika metoder, utbildningar och bearbetade strategier/teorier som kan bidra till att en person lyckas gå långt som ledare. Finns det något recept att följa eller beror det helt på slumpen? Eller är det kanske så att människan under uppväxten formas till en framgångsrik ledare? Metod: Studien bygger på ett hermeneutiskt synsätt och vi använder våra tankar och intryck vi får tillsammans med den kunskap vi har för att förstå och tolka det vi studerar. I vår studie intervjuar vi fem personer med ledarbefattning, vi ställer öppna frågor för att få reda på så mycket som möjligt om deras bakgrund. Ämnet studerar vi även i litteratur, uppsatser och vetenskapliga artiklar. Utifrån dessa grunder drar vi sedan paralleller och slutsatser. Resultat & slutsats: Slutsatsen i studien är att personliga egenskaper är något som är av stor vikt. På denna punkt framträder ett tydligt samband mellan teori och praktik. Inre drivkraft är en personlig egenskap som i detta arbete identifieras som en viktig framgångsfaktor. Även utbildning är enligt vår slutsats av stor betydelse för att nå framgång som ledare. Slutligen konstaterar vi att det finns skillnader beroende på vilken generation ledaren tillhör. Den yngre generationen som idag är i 30 årsåldern har ofta en mer medveten karriärplan i förhållande till den äldre generationen. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det finns inte så mycket forskning kring hur människor konkret går tillväga för att nå en chefsposition. Ett förslag till framtida forskning är att djupare studera fenomenet inre drivkraft. Det är svårt att hitta vetenskapliga artiklar, litteratur och andra studier inom detta område. Inre drivkraft är ett område som enligt denna studie är av stor vikt för att nå en chefsposition. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien bidrar till en förståelse för hur viktigt det är med utbildning och kompetens för att nå ledande positioner samt att hårt arbete inte går obemärkt. Det krävs drivkraft och självförtroende och även "rätt" egenskaper för att nå toppen. Nyckelord: Utbildning, drivkraft, ledaregenskaper, självförtroende. / Title: The way to the top: what factors are significant to reach a leadership position? Level: C-essay in the subject of business Author: Ida Backman & Victoria Kurt Supervisor: Stig Sörling Date: 2012 - May Aim: The purpose of this essay is to identify what it takes to achieve leadership positions in organizations. For example, is there a relationship between education and leadership qualities? We also want to find out if good leadership is something that is inborn or can be developed. We want to examine methods, educations and theories that help a person to become a successful leader. Is there a certain recipe to follow or is it all about chance? Method: The study is based on a hermeneutic approach. We have in our study interviewed five people with leadership positions. We asked open questions to find out as much as possible about their background. We have also reviewed preview studies on the subject. On these bases, we have drawn parallels and conclusions. Result & Conclusion: What we have found in our study is that personal qualities are something that proves to be of great importance, we see a clear link between theory and practice on this point. Inner motivation is a personal attribute that we have identified as a key success factor. We have further concluded that education is vital for success as a leader. Finally, we note that there are differences depending on which generation you belong to. The younger generation around 30 years old has a more conscious career plan than the older generation. Suggestions for future research: There is not much research about how to concretely go about to reach a management position. A proposal for future research is to more deeply study the phenomenon of Inner motivation. It is difficult to find scientific articles, literature and other studies in this area. This is an area that we have found to be very important to reach managerial positions. Contribution of the thesis: The study has contributed to an understanding of the importance of education and skills to reach senior positions, and that hard work does not go unnoticed. It takes energy and confidence, and even the "right" personality to reach the top. Keywords: Education, motivation, leadership skills, self-confidence

The purpose of this study was to assess the self-perceptions of leadership skill development and attitudes of experienced collegiate sophomore student leaders who elected to take an undergraduate collegiate leadership course. Leadership attitude, for the purpose of this study, consisted of one's group or leader orientation. The five leadership skills studied were working in groups, positional leadership, communication, decision-making, and understanding self. A post-then methodology was utilized with self-reporting as the process by which data was collected following completion of an academic leadership course. The major findings of this study were as follows: After the semester course, there were no significant differences among sophomore student leaders regarding their attitude toward the construct leadership orientation and their attitude toward the construct group orientation. In addition, the sophomore student leaders who completed the academic leadership course displayed a self-perceived increase in their ability to work in groups, work in positions of leadership, communicate, make decisions, and in their awareness of self. No relationship was found between the self-reported attitudes on leader or group orientation of sophomore student leaders with the amount of high school leadership courses that were completed. No statistically significant relationship was found between the self-reported attitudes on group orientation of sophomore student leaders and the amount of leadership activities in which the subjects participated in high school. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between the self-reported attitudes on leader orientation of sophomore student leaders and the amount of leadership activity participation in high school. No statistically significant relationship was found between the post-class self-perceptions of the leadership skills of sophomore student leaders and their high school leadership education. A statistically significant relationship was found between the self-perceived communication skills of sophomore student leaders and the amount of leadership activities completed in high school. The more high school leadership activities in which students participated, the less confidence the students perceived in their communication skills. Statistical analysis failed to reveal a relationship between an attitude of group orientation and any one type of leadership skill.

Public health organisations of today are increasingly subject to the same market forces and competition as are private enterprises, and will inevitably have to go through the same transition towards a more professional leadership as they did a couple of decades ago. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the importance of the development of leadership competencies for leaders in professional bureaucracies, more specifically public health care organisations, and to find out if their members are prepared for the organisational change that is forcing its way to make these organisations more leadership efficient. An increasingly popular view is that there is a lot to be gained by encouraging leaders to either participate in a local leadership education program or to take a university course in leadership and administration. If clinician-leaders are to take an active part in forming their future, they will have to take leadership seriously and come to terms with the idea that leadership education is necessary in addition to academic merits.

While the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree is distinctively characterized by clinical leadership (O’Brien et al., 2012; Pierce & Peyton, 1999); there is a limited amount of literature regarding evidence-based, theory driven, outcome-oriented curricular practices that develop leadership skills in Entry-Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (EL-OTD) students. The occupational therapy (OT) profession would benefit from OT programs taking an empirical approach to implementing leadership development as there is currently a need to understand which approaches produce the most impactful and relevant changes for the profession. This project intends to fill the gap in empirical knowledge through the creation of an authentic leadership curriculum based on learning theories and learning science principles that can be assessed for impact and successful knowledge transfer among EL-OTD students. The proposed initiative involves the infusion of authentic leadership components in a leadership curriculum that will be nested into an EL-OTD curriculum. Specifically, this initiative consists of the inclusion of course learning objectives and course activities focused on the components of authentic leadership theory framework within each course in the OT program’s curriculum. The structured approach to construction and implementation of the leadership curriculum is based on Systems Theory and also relies heavily on Action Learning Theory, Leadership Development Theory, Conger’s Four Approaches to Leadership Development, and Authentic Leadership Theory. The elements of each theory build a conceptual model answering the questions what, when, and how leadership development will occur. The aim of this educational intervention is to increase authentic leadership in students. OT and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) programs are identified stakeholders who may benefit from the program evaluation research findings and evaluation of the students’ leadership skills, as these findings can impact future curriculum development and reporting on programmatic outcomes. The short-term program evaluation objectives include increased EL-OTD students’ self-awareness as leaders, understanding of the meaning of leadership in OT practice, and authentic leadership skills. Evidence supports that leadership development programs are effective at increasing leadership skills. Accordingly, this innovative curriculum draws from elements of multiple theories from various disciplines in order to address the content and methods needed for infusing leadership development within an EL-OTD program. Consequently, the development of and outcomes related to the authentic leadership curriculum have the potential to reach current, applicant, candidate or transitioning OTD programs. / 2022-09-25T00:00:00Z

Colleges and universities are focusing on graduating students who will succeed in careers (Braxton, Smart, & Thieke, 1991; Erwin, 1991; Quinn, 2004). Numerous skills have been identified as important to employers, including leadership skills (Gale, 2002; Gerber, 2003; Kerka, 1990; Stronge, 1998; Santosus, 2003). As a result, institutions have introduced programs designed to train students on those leadership skills (Freeman, Knott, & Schwartz, 1994; Posner & Brodsky, 1993; Riggio, Ciulla, & Sorenson, 2003). Despite the interest in leadership skills, very little research has been done to look at baseline leadership skills that students possess when they matriculate. The purpose of this study was to examine the pre-college leadership skills of first year students and examine differences by race and gender on eight distinct scales. These eight scales were defined by the Student Leadership Outcomes Inventory (SLOI) (Vann, 2000). A total of 550 participants of various racial and gender classifications were chosen to participate in the study from a population of all first-year students at a large, public, research institution in the United States. Participants reported moderately high levels of leadership skills on all eight scales. Differences by race were not revealed. However, differences by gender were found on the technology scale of the instrument. An interaction effect between race and gender was also revealed on the technology scale. Overall, it would seem that students matriculate with some intact leadership skills. Administrators might use this baseline skill level when designing leadership development opportunities for students. / Master of Arts

Researchers suggest that there are many outcomes associated with involvement in student clubs and organizations. Research also indicates that positive outcomes are associated with serving in leadership positions. Residence Hall Association (RHA) leaders are college students who are involved in a specific type of organization, based in the residence halls with specific aims to improve the quality of life and enhance leadership skill development. Studies to assess the outcomes associated with the RHA leadership experience, however, are limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the skills achieved by RHA leaders. Data were gathered by administering the Student Leadership Outcomes Inventory (SLOI) to all RHA Presidents and National Communications Coordinators (NCCs) of NACURH, Inc. during the spring of 2001. The SLOI is a 60-item instrument designed to measure the outcomes of leadership experiences on seven scales. Respondents rate items on a Likert-type scale with responses ranging from "Strongly agree" to "Strongly disagree." Data were analyzed to determine if outcomes associated with RHA leadership differed by: type of position (President versus NCC), age, sex, race (minority v. majority), status of advisor (professional versus graduate student), and size of on-campus population (< 900 v. 1000+). Additionally data were analyzed to determine if there were any interaction effects between the status of advisor and size of on-campus population. Results revealed significant differences by sex on six of the seven scales, status of advisor on the technology scale, and type of position on the self-confidence scale. The data provide information for Residence Education administrators, RHA leaders, and the national board of NACURH, Inc. regarding outcomes achieved by RHA leaders. Using the results of this study, these parties can work to further promote leadership development among RHA officers and members. / Master of Arts

By the year 2000 women will constitute more than 50 percent of the workforce in the United States, yet their representation in top management and executive-level positions continues to hover in the single digits. This “glass ceiling,” which is conceptualized as limiting women's advancement into these roles, has been the subject of much debate and research over the last fifteen years. As both an equal rights and key competitive issue, the topic of women and leadership is gaining ever-increasing emphasis and momentum in American corporations. Although leadership skills have been advocated as a key human capital/person-centered variable leading to managerial ascendancy for women, the empirical research directly investigating this link is virtually non-existent. This longitudinal study proposed to measure the strength of this relationship using a matched sample of male and female managers. Eighty-five subjects, from the same U.S. based health-care products corporation, had previously participated in a multirater assessment process where seven different facets of their leadership skills were evaluated. Time two data were collected on four objective measures of ascendancy: percent change in salary, number of promotions (job moves) either offered or accepted, change in number of direct reports, and change in number of indirect reports. Multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that perceived leadership ability did lead to increased ascendancy, specifically in terms of percent salary change, for the female managers, but not for the males. Multiple regressions indicated that the female managers were not rewarded, necessarily, for gender congruent behavior in this organization, while male managers did appear to be rewarded more so on that particular dimension. Implications of these findings for female managers in the workplace were discussed.

This study examines leader behavior in an independent school setting. Specifically, this qualitative phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of new heads of schools in independent schools located in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma and their conceptualization of the skills required for the headship. The study explores the knowledge and skills new heads say they use as leaders, how the knowledge and skills they developed in their careers prepared them for leadership, and the ways in which they feel they might have been better prepared for leadership. The study uses the skills-based model of leadership as its theoretical framework, and its methodological approach and discussion of findings are influenced by the framework’s three main areas: knowledge, social judgment skills, and problem-solving skills. The study revealed three main types of knowledge relevant to independent school leader preparation: knowledge acquired through terminal degree or other formalized programs, practical knowledge acquired through professional experience, and institutional knowledge, i.e. knowledge unique to a head’s work in a specific school. The study also discusses three distinct ways in which new heads utilize social judgment skills: how they communicate, how they work with school constituents, and how they delegate work. The study suggests patience, deliberation, and listening are key factors in how new heads of school execute their problem-solving skills. The study also discusses other findings of note that are also relevant to the experiences of new heads of school. These include the feelings of loneliness and stress the participants felt as new heads as well as the personal and professional sources of support they sought because of those challenges. The study may be used to inform leader preparation programs oriented towards independent school leaders.

This research explores the notion of outdoor leadership preparation in the context of the emerging outdoor profession in Australia. It explores the nature of outdoor leadership from a number of viewpoints and its relationship to the broader context. The research examines relevant literature through issue-based themes relating to an emerging paradigm, leadership, preparation, recognition and professionalisation. These themes are problematised in the context of the emerging outdoor profession. Issues of appropriate preparation pathways and the models of learning characteristic of each pathway are discussed throughout this research. The results of a mapping exercise covering outdoor leadership preparation courses offered throughout Australia in 2002 are used in conjunction with the contextual aspects to generate grounded mini-theories relating to the topic. This study uses a cross-sectional analysis of this data and by using descriptive statistics highlights the dominance of the learning pathways that offer a competencybased framework for learning leadership skills. The results are discussed in relation to both the current context and the literature. The argument that develops throughout the research is for a reconceptualisation of the learning pathways for outdoor leadership preparation in Australia, in light of the emerging professionalisation of the outdoor industry. Recommendations for changes to the currently accepted entry pathways into the emerging profession are discussed, as are the areas for further research.

<p>Enligt rapporten "Akademi eller Verklighet?" skriven av Svenskt Näringsliv saknar många akademiker en god kontakt med arbetslivet under sina studier. Rapporten poängterar att svenska universitets och högskolors samverkan med arbetslivet är bristande och är i behov av förbättring. Detta då bristande arbetslivskontakt under studier kan resultera i att akademiker inte anses vara lika attraktiva på arbetsmarknaden som de akademiker som anser sig ha haft god kontakt med arbetslivet under sina studier.</p><p>Att akademiker som upplevt en god samverkan under sina studier gör dem mer eftertraktade på arbetsmarknaden tyder på att en positiv förändring sker hos en person som har upplevt en god kontakt med arbetslivet och fått praktisk erfarenhet i ett yrke.</p><p>Denna uppsats ämnar analysera huruvida en förändring sker i studenters prioritering av ledarskapsfärdigheter efter att praktiskt fått utöva ledarskap i form av en yrkespraktik. Uppsatsen har vidare som ansats att analysera huruvida de eventuellt ändrade prioriteringarna kan härledas till specifika situationer som upplevts under praktikperioden.</p><p>Uppsatsen utgår från ett hermeneutiskt synsätt och är en fallstudie då uppsatsen har som avsikt att djupgående beskriva och analysera det generella undersökningsproblemet genom att kvalitativt studera studentorganisationen AIESEC. Detta genom att sex intervjuer med studenter som alla besitter ledarskapspositioner, i form av en yrkespraktik, inom organisationen genomfördes. Undersökningen har även en kvantitativ ansats då en enkätundersökning bland studenter som saknar erfarenhet inom ledarskap genomförts för att kunna jämföra prioriteringen av ledarskapsfärdigheter hos studenter som saknar och studenter som praktiskt utövar ledarskap i form av en yrkespraktik.</p><p>För att kunna analysera data erhållen genom undersökningen samt kunna besvara undersökningsfrågan valdes teorier inom området lärande genom erfarenhet samt en modell angående ledarskapsfärdigheter. David Kolbs teori</p><p>Experiential Learning och teorin Action-Observation-Reflection Model är två teorier som författarna av denna uppsats har utgått ifrån för att bättre kunna förklara den eventuella förändringen och härledningen av denna. Teorierna användes även när enkäten och intervjuguiden konstruerades. Vidare användes även ett antal ledarskapsfärdigheter som Hughes, Ginnett och Curphy beskriver i boken Leadership – Enhancing the Lesson of Experience som stöd för undersökningen.</p><p>Efter att undersökningens insamlade data analyserats kunde det tydas att en förändring i prioriteringen av ledarskapsfärdigheter tycks ske då en yrkespraktik inom ledarskap genomgås. Undersökningen tyder på att de studenter som saknar praktisk erfarenhet inom ledarskap prioriterar färdigheten lyhördhet högt medan de studenter som praktiskt utövar ledarskap i form av en yrkespraktik istället tycks prioritera färdigheten motivation. Trots att även likheter i prioriteringen av ledarskapsfärdigheter påträffades mellan studenter som saknar och studenter som praktiskt utövar ledarskap i form av en yrkespraktik tyder bland annat härledningen av prioriteringen av ledarskapsfärdigheter som studenter som praktiskt utövar ledarskap gör att deras prioritering har påverkats av erfarenheten som yrkespraktiken erbjudit. Undersökningen visade att studenters prioritering av ledarskapsfärdigheter tycks kunna härledas till situationer som upplevts eller upplevs i deras ledarskapsposition inom AIESEC samt till tidigare ledares bristande respektive lyckade ledarskap.</p> / <p>According to the report "Akademi eller Verklighet?" written by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise do many academics lack good contact with the working life during their studies which has resulted in the problem of academics not being desired by employers. The fact that academics that have had a good contact with the working life during their studies are more desired by employers than those academics who did not consider themselves to have a good contact with the working life during their studies shows that a positive change seems to occur when someone undergoes a practical experience within a profession.</p><p>This Bachelor thesis has the purpose to analyze whether a change occur in students prioritization of leadership skills due to a practical experience of leadership in terms of an internship. The thesis aims further to analyze whether one can derive the possible change in students prioritization of leadership skills to situations experienced during the internship in the field of leadership.</p><p>The thesis proceeds from a hermeneutic view and is a qualitative case study since the thesis has the purpose to analyze and describe the research question by studying the student organization AIESEC. The research consists of one questionnaire study among students that lack practical experience in the field of leadership and six interviews with students that practice leadership within the student organization AIESEC. This enables a comparison between the prioritization of students that lack ctical experience of leadership and students that practice leadership in terms of an internship.</p><p>The theories Experiential learning and Action-Observation-Reflection Model and a model regarding leadership skills were used when the questionnaire and the interview guide were constructed and when the information received from the research were analyzed. The theories where also used when the research question was answered.</p><p>After the information received from the research had been analyzed one could interpret that a change in the prioritization of leadership skills seems to occur due to an internship in the field of leadership. One could also interpret from the study that the prioritization of leadership skills derives from situations experienced during the practical experience of leadership and also from previous leaders lacking or successful leadership.</p>