Leader Self-Development: Why Do People Develop Themselves As Leaders?

Leadership development has long been a primary concern for businesses. In recent years, owing to the high cost of traditional leadership development programs, organizations have shifted attention to leader self-development initiatives to facilitate human resource development. This article examines why people develop themselves for leadership positions. Drawing from the subjective expressions of business practitioners from multiple countries, our study identifies variations in leader self-development patterns for leadership positions within the subjects' organizations. Our findings suggest that individual perceptions of leadership have a strong effect on leader self-development processes. We use the insights gained from our inductive approach to develop a four-factor leader self development model that provides useful developmental strategies and prescriptions for business practitioners and their organizations.(c) 2020 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.