A Methodology for Developing Global Leadership Power

• In Event: Leadership Education for a Global World: Expanding Students' International Capacity

Short Description

This presentation will examine the veracity of a model for the teaching of leadership at the graduate level to produce global leaders. The model engages the findings of Kouzes and Posner (2012) on the most admired qualities of leaders and inserts a content framework and pedagogical strategy to stimulate the process of leadership development.

Detailed Abstract

Across the globe, and in all spheres of social life, it is generally accepted that there is a crisis of leadership. Moreover, in an increasingly global world, the impact of leadership in one society is felt across many others, often with negative implications. Although there appears to be little consensus across societies regarding what is leadership, there is consensus on the values that attract respect, admiration and trust of people from diverse settings. These values however, are often considered distal from the individual and seen as idealistic and unattainable. Yet, those who have attained global leadership have had success in this journey often without external teaching interventions. The question arises as to how teaching interventions can elicit the power or courage demonstrated by admired leaders to enable participants to undertake a continuous process of development of shared values, ultimately attaining global leadership.

The study was designed to test the veracity of a model for the teaching of leadership in graduate education in business schools. Graduate students in business schools are located at the interface of business and society and have significant impact on their organisations and societies. In recognition of this fact, accreditation agencies such as AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS have highlighted the importance of developing responsible leadership within the business school and assessing the impact of graduates on society.

The model for responsible leadership development was constructed on the assumption that leadership characteristics are shared across societies (Kouzes and Posner, 2012) and can be developed in the academic setting. Key elements associated with global leadership were distilled and formed the basis of what should be taught. The pedagogy or methodology was defined by determining the connection between the values of the individual and the key elements that represented the shared values of the global society. The proximity of participants individual values to shared values presented an opportunity for learning and leading. Where values are positive the process of leadership development requires stimulation along that path. Where values are negative, the process of leadership development requires challenging the individual’s values.

The process of leadership development is a journey of accepting shared values and moving individual values to shared values and the objective of the pedagogy is to reduce the distance between individual and shared values.

The research was conducted by building and delivering a graduate level leadership course consisting of the key elements as its central content and a pedagogical process that required introspection and reflection. Data was collected at two points in a longitudinal design. The first set of data included students’ reflections upon completion of the course. The second set of data was collected from students’ experiences with respect to the key elements three months after completion of the course. The data was analysed using content analysis. The study found that the closer the elements are to the participants, the greater is the opportunity for learning and leading. The study has important implications for the development of a robust method for responsible leadership education among graduate students in business schools.

Participant

• Kamla Mungal, The University of the West Indies