A phenomenological study on leadership development

A consistently effective and proven leadership development methodology has yet to be developed (Alvesson & Jonsson, 2016; Beer, Finnstrom, & Schrader, 2016; Rowland, 2016). Moreover, the variety of methodologies used for leadership development are numerous and the experiences that influence leadership development are vast (Allio, 2005; Guskey & Yoon, 2009; McCall, 2004; McCall, Lombardo, & Morrison, 1988). The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to discover the most salient methods of leadership development, the significant people, and life experiences that influenced the leadership development of seven organizational leaders. The question that guided this study was: How do leaders, who have been in a senior leadership role for at least 10 years, make-meaning of their leadership development experiences? The data gathered from this study lead to the development of the following significant themes: 1. Passion for one's industry or field is a prerequisite for leadership success; 2. Life experiences including those during childhood, enduring hardships and interacting with influential people are foundational experiences that fundamentally influence one's leadership development; and 3. Progressive work experience along with personal and leadership developmental activities significantly impact one's leadership development. An unexpected theme that emerged from the study was the lack of a leadership identity of five of the seven participants. These findings will contribute to the strategies and methods used by those who are developing leaders and by those who want to become leaders. Keywords: leadership development, leadership development methodology, leadership development and life experiences, leadership development and influential people, leadership development and hardships, leadership development and childhood, leadership development and work experience, leadership development and passion, leadership identity, lack of leadership identity, leadership development and CD theory