The Role of Self‐Attention in Leader Development

Abstract

The ability to identify emerging leaders and to facilitate their leader development, is paramount for maintaining sound leadership within organizations, across time. However, research into the proximal antecedents of leader development remains in its infancy. The current longitudinal study sought to broaden current perspectives on the role of self‐attention in promoting leader development, namely growth in leader self‐efficacy and self‐reported emergence into leader roles. The leader development of a sample of 81 managers at an Indian IT company was tracked over three time periods, across approximately 12 months of employment. Random coefficient modeling was employed to model participants’ leader development as a function of their methods of self‐attention. As predicted, reflective self‐attention and ruminative self‐attention were shown to differentially relate to the leader development process. Obtained results have implications for identifying the most effective methods to assist individuals in leveraging their leadership potential.

On Purpose: Leader Self‐Development and the Meaning of Purposeful Engagement

“…Purposefully engaged leaders are dedicated to and absorbed in activities and are invigorated by their pursuit. Some research indicates that leader development is helped by reflective self‐attention, a way of thinking about oneself that creates a positive spiral of self‐discovery (Steele & Day, ). There is a sense of positive energy and possibility as a leader work toward his or her ideal self.…”

Follower‐rated leadership styles, leader behaviours, and leaders' thinking styles: A test of the cognitive experiential leadership model

“…Cerni et al (2014b) argue that thinking adaptively will allow leaders to better select and apply effective, rather than ineffective, styles of leadership and leadership behaviours. Indeed, Steele and Day (2018) have demonstrated that reflective thinking, much like that described as rational thinking in CET, is related to leaders' ability to develop their leadership practices. Second, rational thinking should relate to specific ‘rational’ effective leader behaviours such as ‘intellectual stimulation’, which is a component of transformational leadership, ‘rational persuasion’, an effective influence tactic, and to general problem‐solving, which is needed in order to manage conflict.…”

“…Indeed, this possibility has been demonstrated by Cerni, Curtis, and Colmar's (2010) study, which found that coaching leaders to improve their thinking styles significantly increased their other‐rated transformational leadership scores. In addition, Steele and Day (2018) have recently found that how leaders think is an important antecedent to the effectiveness of development that they undertake in their roles. To date, thinking styles have only been measured via self‐reports in the organisational psychology literature, and so the present study suggests that an alternative method that overcomes social‐desirability bias concerns may have some utility.…”

Are Individual Differences in Information-Processing Styles Related to Transformational Leadership? A Test of the Cognitive Experiential Leadership Model

“…Several studies have suggested that promoting reflective thinking about leadership, and leaders’ meta-cognition more generally, is related to improved leader performance and development ( Cerni et al, 2010a ; Steele and Day, 2018 ). Cerni (2015) , in particular, has argued for the use of CET in guiding leaders’ reflection through coaching to better understand how their thinking is related to their behaviors as a leader.…”

“…Second, rational thinking is associated with several other psychological variables that are related to good leadership per se and transformational leadership specifically. Rational thinking is positively associated with intelligence, adaptability, and conscious self-awareness, all of which are associated with transformational and/or effective leadership ( Epstein, 1998 ; Van Vugt, 2006 ; Yukl and Mahsud, 2010 ; Steele and Day, 2018 ).…”