Citation:
Joana Probert and Kim Turnbull James, Leadership
development: Crisis, opportunities and the leadership concept, Leadership, May 2011 Volume 7, Number 2, Pages 137-150
Abstract:
In this paper, we address two different types of crises. The first one refers to
a crisis in the leadership development literature. We suggest that its
resolution lies in focusing on the leadership concept - the schemata that
organizations have embedded in their culture about leadership. We believe that
the role of leadership development is to renew these assumptions, so that they
reflect the new challenges organizations face. The second type of crisis refers
to the pragmatic challenges facing organizations. We suggest that the context of
crisis provides ideal circumstances for promoting changes in the leadership
concept, as schemata are then more malleable. In addition, we argue that
sensemaking may be a possible mechanism for renewing the leadership concept due
to its role in schemata changes during times of ambiguity and uncertainty, such
as those of crisis.