My research will be in the general area of Leadership. Whilst this is a
well-worn path, there are a number of threads connected with how leaders
learn, that I am particularly interested in as I finalise my research
proposal. Having 'lurked' at this list for a few weeks now, I believe you
can help me greatly in finalising the focus of my research - I genuinely
want it to result in some valuable additional understanding about the
development of leadership and leaders. Insights from list members, ideas
for contemporary readings and guidance about the areas you believe would
prove most useful, would illuminate my path and help me determine my
project design. The ideas are:
1. Many small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) are founded by
entrepreneurs. Often they are managed through subsequent generations from
the founder's family. Also, even in mature SME's, additional employees
are often hired into management positions primarily for their technical or
professional expertise, rather than for their management or leadership
capabilities. In general, SME's invest less of their budget in management
development activities. If I chose this option, my enquiries would
investigate the extent to which the success of the enterprise is dependent
upon the leadership qualities of the managements of these companies, which
may lead to some analysis of charisma.
2. Having worked in large and (supposedly) sophisticated organisations, I
am well aware of the considerable investment many make in identifying and
developing managerial and leadership skills. In spite of this investment,
there still seem to be many examples of poor leadership in such companies,
at least from my experience in the UK. My enquiries in this area would
address questions about why this is so: whether there are significant
differences in the quality of leadership apparent amongst managers,
depending on the extent to which the organisation pursues a 'Learning
Organisation' model.
3. My third alternative approach to this topic is much more general, with
potential application to roles in any type of organisation. It was
prompted by discussions with colleagues and clients, over a number of
years, which suggested that some people seem to know far more about
leadership when they are followers, often characterising the qualities of
a good leader as 'common sense', but they somehow lose their common sense
once they become managers themselves! Based on no more than a hunch, at
this stage, I would like to take the hypothesis that openness to learning
is the single most important attribute in the development of good leaders,
and that this implies being prepared to take risks and be resilient
against the 'received wisdom' of more experienced managerial colleagues.
It is worth pointing out that I do not consider myself to be especially
well-read - if any of these threads have already been researched to death,
I'd appreciate knowing that before I start!
I look forward to your input, and to playing a part in the list's
discussions as my research develops. Please feel free to respond directly
to me at Tim.Douglas@dial.pipex.com
--"Tim Douglas" <Tim.Douglas@dial.pipex.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>