Understanding your Developing Leadership Identity
Analysis and Critique of Literature
A review of the article entitled “
Developing a Leadership Identity: A Grounded Theory”,
written by Komives, Mainella, Owen, Osteen, and Longerbeam (2005).
In their research, Komives, et al (2005
) began by making distinctions
between the old and new definition of leadership.
They referenced the old
definition which is described as an industrial era definition which looks at traits and behaviors. It is then stated that there
is a new definition that is knowledge based and post industrial. This definition of leadership deals more with
collaboration, ethical actions, moral purpose and transformational
processes. The relational leadership
model is the grounded theory used in this study. The relational process is defined as “people
coming together with the attempt to accomplish change or make a difference to
benefit the common good” (Komives, et al, p. 594). It is believed that in order to produce an
effective leadership development program, one must first understand the process
of becoming a leader or how one creates a leadership identity.
Summary
of the Research
This article
outlines a case study in leadership identity.
“A case study investigates a leadership phenomenon within its real –life
context especially when the boundaries between the phenomenon and the context
are not clearly defined” ( Klenke, 2008, p. 59).
The study in this
article was conducted using 13 college students. The students who were invited to participate
in the study were extremely diverse.
There were different races, ages, sexual orientations, religious
affiliations and different college majors involved. Next the students were
required to engage in three series of one to two hour interviews using a
structured interview protocol. During
the interview process, students were asked to reflect on their early life
experiences as a leader and how they felt that they have changed. The interview team then sought feedback on
the interpretations of the data and conducted constant comparative analysis of
the data so that they could better understand the meaning. In order to analyze the data, a coding process
was used to categorize and organize the concepts. Through this process of data collection,
there were found to be four developmental influencers’ that fostered the
development of leadership identity.
The first was adult influences. Parents, family members, teachers, community
leaders and other adults help to mold and influence the lives of young
people. One participant indicated that
her family helped her to build character.
Another indicated that teachers and schools created safe places where
communication was fostered. Another
indicated that it was important to have several combinations of influencing
adults and that drawing different qualities from different people was
important. It was also recognized that
adults are the first ones to recognize leadership potential and abilities and
to help set high expectations for those individuals. Role modeling is also very important as
leadership identity is formulating. With
all of these external affirmations in place, eventually this ability becomes intrinsic;
however adults continue to be important at different stages of the development
process.
The second
influencer is peer influences. Peers and friends can serve as motivators on
the path to early leadership identity.
They can be a valuable source of influence and support. Older peers were cited as being an especially
great source of affirmation. In the
abstract, Tapping Youth as Agents for
Change: Evaluation of a Peer Leadership HIV/AIDS Intervention, a Quasi-experiment
was conducted on 235 adolescents. The
results of the experiment showed that those who participated
as peer leaders gained knowledge and skills that allowed them the ability to
develop a view of themselves as individuals who could make a change in their
community (Pearlman, et al, 2002).
The next
influencer is meaningful involvement. Being involved in different groups and organizations
help to clarify ones values, interests and new skill levels. The opportunity to relate and interact with
diverse groups of peers also served to be helpful. It was also indicated that being part of a
team, such as sports teams, teaches one to understand the importance of team
work and that what one person can affects others. It also helps youth to understand that it’s
not just about them. Being involved in
groups provided rich opportunities for the participants to learn the importance
of developing relationships with their peers and adults outside of their
family.
Finally, reflective learning was indicated as
being an influence of leadership identity formation. Being able to reflect through writing and
conversations was indicated as being key in helping to grow as a leader. An example of earlier experiences could be at
home with family around the family table.
Some prefer to use journaling as a way of writing their thoughts on
paper and sharing those thoughts with others as a way of reflecting. A couple of
participants remembered having this reflective learning experience while
taking part in training or courses. Through this training and or coursework,
they were able to be exposed to various languages and theories pertaining to
leadership that was found to be helpful. One participant even felt that taking
part in this study helped to support their reflective learning experience.
This
study also found that there are five properties of personal or self growth
development that change throughout the leadership development process. The first is the deepening of self-awareness. “Self -awareness
is not a destination point, but rather an emerging process where one
continually comes to understand his or her unique talents, strengths, sense of
purpose, core values, beliefs and desires. It can include having a basic and
fundamental awareness of one’s knowledge, experience, and capabilities” (Douglas, 2011). Participants
recalled that family and peers helped them to identify areas of themselves that
needed growth and also those areas where they saw strengths. After growing and maturing they were then
able to identify those areas on their own.
Students of color identified race as being a factor in how they were
able to see themselves in the developing process. Gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation also
played a role in how some approached the leadership process. Some tried not to think about it too much,
some thought it was an advantage and some felt that it could be a barrier based
on other people’s perception. Several of
the white participants were able to identify that they indeed held a position
of privilege when it came to how they were perceived as emerging leaders. Personal values and integrity were other
aspects of deepening self-awareness that were discussed by the participants in
this study. “Becoming aware of who we are,
both our strengths and weaknesses, as individuals is key to personal
development. To effectively lead others,
one must first be able to lead themselves” (Neck & Manz, 2007).
There was
a research study focused on the dimension of developing self with reference to leadership
identity. Personal Growth Project (PGP)
was used to help students develop their sense of self through experiential
learning activities. This method gives learners
an opportunity to reflect on and observe experiences. Students are
provided with developmentally appropriate experiences and activities to help
and guided them through the complexities of their leadership identity (Odom,
2012).
Building Self-confidence was the second
of the five properties of personal growth.
Having the approval and support of family, friends, and teachers was
also viewed as part of helping one to develop their leadership identity. Hearing encouraging words and receiving that gentle
push from those who really cared, helped to make them feel that they mattered
and boosted the self-confidence that was needed. Once self-confidence was built, they were
able to take risks and try new things. Having self-confidence enables an
emerging leader to take a stand regardless of the opposition.
Establishing Interpersonal Efficacy is
another contributor to the process.
Being able to communicate and interact with different types of people
was listed as being very important to developing a leadership identity. By doing so one begins to create an
understanding and appreciation for other groups of people. Being able to relate to people has a huge
effect on the level of influence with people.
Most of the participants viewed themselves as being “people persons”
that love and appreciate relationships with others.
What was also
important in this process is the ability to Apply
New Skills. The participants agreed
that as they grew in the leadership identity, they saw the need to develop and
hone the skills that were necessary to accomplish their jobs. Skills that were noted were; learning to
trust others, diversity skills, team-building skills and learning to
listen.
Finally, Expanding Motivations is also important
to the process. Participants had a need
for something meaningful that motivates them beyond themselves.
Group influences was also important in
building leadership identity and includes three categories. The first of which is Engaging in Groups. Group
engagement is important because it allows individuals to feel that they are
part of something and that they have a place to belong. Participants referenced being part of camps
and church groups as making them feel that they were in a safe place where they
could identify with others that experienced the same issues and struggles and
where they could come to learn how to practice in shared leadership. Being part of groups also helps to build
trusting relationships. The participants also made it clear
that there comes a time when you can grow out of a group because your values
and/or objectives may change and are no longer aligned with the make-up of the
group. In a study of the influence of
fraternity and sorority membership, Cory (2011) found that Active participation
in campus organizations was an integral component of the undergraduate student
experience. When students were
meaningfully involved in serving in these groups, they were able to build healthy
relationships with peers, and it also fostered their development of leadership.
At some point it
becomes important to narrow down efforts and commitment to only one or a few membership
organization. In the category of Membership Continuity, Students felt
that it was important to have a “core group” to work within. With this group, over time, you learn to work
with those who you initially found hard to get along with. Because you continued to work with and
identify with this group, you are able to build morale and create bonds with
those individuals. With this continuity
one could also find that working together with a group is more effective. One participant initially felt that she had
preferred to complete tasks on her own but then learned an important lesson
about the power of teamwork. She found
that she was more productive when she worked on projects with others.
The last category
involved Changing Perceptions of Groups. Initially the participants did not realize
that groups had purpose and were not just a conglomerate of friends and people
they knew. They began to realize that
groups have structure and purpose, a place where they were able to develop
their leadership identity. They were
able to understand and gain new views of organizational structure and dynamics.
After describing
the process that the participants went through to develop their identities
though self and group influences, the article goes on to describe the six stages
or periods of advancement that one goes through in the process of leadership
identity.
The first stage
was Awareness of who leaders
were. As youngsters growing up, many
thought of leadership as being external to themselves. They thought about their parents, the
president and other public figures as being leaders but did not understand their
personal identity as a leader.
The Exploration/Engagement stage is the
stage where one realizes that perhaps they could be like one of these leaders. There
is an immersion in group experiences for the sake of making friends but in the
process becomes a time of learning to engage with others.
The third stage, Leader Identified, was when the
participants viewed leadership as being positional. If you had a position that made you a leader
and as a leader one was singlehandedly responsible for the results and outcome
of the objectives. This person was also
perceived as the person who does most of the work and who is in charge. John C Maxwell, (2011) describes this
perception in his book “The 360 Leader”
as the position myth. Just because you have a position doesn’t mean
you are a leader and you don’t have to have a title/position to be a
leader. Leadership is about influence.
During the fourth
stage, Leadership Differentiated,
participants were able to understand that leadership was a process that involved
a group of people. They understood that
the group successes depended on all members working together to share
responsibilities with the leader. Leadership
is a process where you could be both followers and leaders at the same time. They
began to understand that leaders are those who facilitate and motivate the
members to support and reach the group goals and objectives.
During the state
of Generativity, students were
interested in reaching back, after being mentored themselves, they are willing
to offer the same benefit to others who were developing in their leadership
identity. They began to see the larger
picture and became committed to promoting and helping the success of future
groups and people. This state reminds me
of someone growing to be a transformational leadership which was addressed in
our textbook, Leadership Theory and Practice. This type of leader was defined as being
“attentive to the needs and motives of followers and tries to help followers
reach their fullest potential” (Northouse, 2013, p. 186)
Most, but not all
of the participants in the study showed that they had also entered the last
stage of Integration/synthesis. Being confident that they could adapt and
work with diverse people in different context as leader or not. They wanted to continue to actively engage
in the daily process of leadership.
Researchers’ Conclusions
What we had
labeled as leadership in the past was actually good management. The definition of leadership has changed from
an industrial era perception to more of a knowledge based ideal that considers
advancements in technology, globalization, collaboration and transformation.
Leadership is a
stage process.
As the students navigated
through all of the stages, they experienced a changing view of themselves and a
broadening view of leadership.
How we
grow and learn as leaders has much to do with not only personal awareness but individual
and group interactions and influences.
Leadership
identity is a unique process that is developed over time and is discovered
through a process of observation and reflection.
Tina Oliver, M.Ed.
Networx LLC
Early Childhood Training, Resource and Consulting
References
Cory,
A.J., (2011) The Influence Of Fraternity Or Sorority Membership On The
Leadership
Identity Development Of College Student Leaders. Retrieved
from
Klenke, K. (2008) Qualitative Research In The
Study Of Leadership.Bingley, West Yourkshire:
Komives, S.R.,
Mainella,F.C.,
Owen, J.E.,
Osteen,L,
Longerbeam, S.D. (2005).
Developing
a Leadership Identity: A Grounded Theory (vol 46 no 6)
Journal of college student development. Retrieved from
http://nclp.umd.edu/include/pdfs/LIDjcsd1105.pdf
Maxwell, J.C. (2005)
The 360 leader: Developing Your Influence
From Anywhere In The Organization.
Nashville, TN. Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Muir, D.K. (2011) Leader Identity Development Through
Mentoring: A Case Study. ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses. Retrieved from
http://udini.proquest.com/view/leader-identity-development-through-pqid:2386308431/
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th
Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.
Pearlman, D., Camberg L, Wallace LJ, Symons P, Finison L. (2002) Tapping youth as agents for change:
evaluation of a peer leadership HIV/AIDS intervention. Medical Foundation,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12090963
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