Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine both antecedents and consequences of high
quality leader self-development activities. Specifically, Study 1 sought to delineate
factors that impact the quality attributes of leader self-development activities and the
effect of those attributes on performance outcomes. Study 2 investigated the impact of a
training program to understand if leaders can be trained to make more effective decisions
regarding the attributes in their self-development activities. Leaders from a multilevel
marketing company completed two surveys over a period of three months with a training
intervention in between the surveys. Data from the first survey administration (Study 1)
demonstrated that engagement in high quality leader self-development activities is
important to growing two types of performance. Specifically, experiential variety and the
level of learner control in leader self-development activities positively impacted adaptive
performance. Experiential variety was also a significant predictor of the performance of
one’s team, indicating that engaging in a greater variety of leader self-development
activities helps to foster leader effectiveness. Further, Study 1 results showed additive
and multiplicative effects of motivational variables (leader self-identity and modeling
behaviors from the leaders’ own leaders) and individual skill variables (self-appraisal and
self-regulation skills) in the prediction of quality attributes. Study 2 examined the impact
of training and demonstrated that leaders can be trained to impact choices regarding their
self-development activities. Results showed that individuals who received training on the
processes associated with effective leader self-development were not only more likely to
engage in leader self-development activities, but those subsequent activities were more
challenging and allowed for more learner control and learner engagement.
