Experiential Development and Mentoring Processes for Leaders for Innovation

Abstract

Leading creative people is particularly challenging. Leaders of creative people must have the expertise and skill set required for creative endeavors to understand and communicate with this specific group of people. Yet, to lead, they must also have additional skills that often contradict the first set of skills. An integrative literature review was conducted to identify what responsibilities and skills are needed from these leaders, what types of experiential development could best develop them, and specific strategies that Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals might employ to develop leaders for sustained innovation in their organizations. HRD professionals are asked to perform a particularly challenging feat by developing these unique leaders of innovative efforts. HRD professionals, or scholars and practitioners engaged in training or leader development may find interest in this article.

Learning to Lead

“…Furthermore, the stronger the view that one holds of self as a leader, the more likely he or she will seek developmental experiences to strengthen his or her personal LEARNING TO LEAD 7 foundation as a leader (Day & Harrison, 2007). This suggests that individuals who view themselves as leaders may eventually come to think like leaders (Ligon, Wallace, & Osburn, 2011). This identity as a leader guides a person's actions and aids the development of goals and objectives for the leader during times of practice (Fredricks et al, 2002).…”

A Decade of Reviews on Leadership: A Conceptual Perspective and Direction

“…Training pedagogy seems important as well. Gen Xers and Gen Yers were found to absorb leadership development better in an experiential fashion, using role-modeling and sensemaking activities (Ligon, Wallace & Osburn, 2011). The transfer effect of training is stronger for low-level leadership development (Lacerenza et al, 2017).…”

Setting the stage for innovation: towards a conceptual model of the HR-innovation link

“…Regarding how the work is led, many studies highlight the importance of leadership infacilitating innovation and developmental learning in organisations (Ligon et al, 2011;Wallo, 2008;Wallo et al, 2013). For instance, Jung et al (2003) argue that transformational leadership encourages employees to think creatively.…”

“…Naturally, mentoring relationships can occur informally, but HR's role would be to formalise and facilitate the mentoring process (Field, 2003;Ligon et al, 2011). As noted in the IN phase, the link between mentoring and innovation may be problematic, and van Maanen and Schein (1979) warn of the risk that mentors do not sufficiently stimulate and challenge their protégés.…”

“…As noted in the IN phase, the link between mentoring and innovation may be problematic, and van Maanen and Schein (1979) warn of the risk that mentors do not sufficiently stimulate and challenge their protégés. Thus, HR should help mentors fully understand what their roles are and how to execute them in a manner that is consistent with the organisation's expectations (Ligon et al, 2011).…”