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Such effects changed significantly depending on the rating source e. Research on the effects of leadership development has shown mixed findings, reporting both positive and negative effects. A non-trivial point here is that there may be within-individual variation as well. The same individual may have experienced some interventions as helpful and others as less so. This tendency can cause irritation because the activity does not address the needs of the individual and the organization.
Thus, it may be perceived as a distraction or waste of resources. We therefore formulate our first hypothesis, which will be explored empirically:. Short- and long-term adverse effects Most professionals working in close relationships with clients lawyers, medical doctors, psychologists, clergy, nurses and social workers to facilitate important life challenges have recognized the need for ethical guidelines since the occupational role of these professions also opens up the possibility for abuse e.
Taking part in leadership development programs is an offer that is difficult to turn down for managers. That is because the invitation to such programs signals career opportunities for the invited. When participants choose to disclose personal information and commit themselves to the processes of such programs, they may assume that this is for their own good. However, employers, other participants, and external consultants alike may use personal information about the participants in ways that run counter to their interests and even violate their personal integrity.
This may involve blocking promotions, disclosing personal matters, or using personal information for other purposes in ongoing power struggles within the organizations. The most common risk is probably that none of these byproducts occurs and the event passes as unimportant, but the situation may backfire on participants who become involved but also exposed and possibly feel betrayed or outcast if the process fails to meet their expectations. While the ability to learn from stressful events is partly dependent on personality factors Cooper, , we have rarely heard of leadership development programs that match learning approaches to individual stress-coping diagnostics, and such mismatch is therefore likely to appear in larger samples of participants.
This leads to our second hypothesis, which will be examined in Study Lack of evaluation Proper evaluation of leadership development is possible but methodologically challenging. Moreover, there is no guarantee of improved organizational performance.
We also suspect that facilitators from within the organization are more sensitive to the local needs and more accountable to their organizations than externally hired consultants are. Moreover, we believe that an interest in evaluation will signal that the organization is following a reflected and informed approach to leadership development as a way to reach defined targets.
Conversely, we assume that lack of evaluation co-exists with less focus on the design of activities, hence increasing the likelihood of unwanted outcomes. We therefore formulate the following two hypotheses:. We know from initial pilots of this study that there are widely different practices and understandings of how leadership development may be evaluated in various organizations.
Within this study, we are more concerned with the intentions to evaluate than to explore the specific methods being used. The true prevalence of negative LDI outcomes is probably difficult to assess. For one, employers most often initiate and pay for LDIs. Managers take part because they want to improve their career chances and thus will be reluctant to criticize or expose their vulnerability.
Complaints are therefore likely to be futile. Furthermore, those responsible for the activity may be reluctant to criticize openly, lest they undermine an already disappointing investment. Lastly, a lack of evaluation competence among practitioners may block exchange of experience and render the whole issue obscure. For such reasons, there is no easy and direct way to estimate the prevalence of possible negative effects. To handle this problem, we explore the field by employing a triangular empirical approach in three studies:.
Study 1 is a qualitative set of interviews with people who share first-hand experiences with cases of negative effects. This study was conducted to explore the question of how such negative effects appear and are perceived by the affected, with no claims about how frequently such incidents occur. Study 2 is a survey of a wide range of managers from different companies and businesses in Norway that are trying to establish the prevalence of such experiences, as examined in the interviews in Study 1.
Study 3 is a similar survey on the evaluation practices in companies that conduct leadership development. In order to obtain a balanced set of data, we have some overlap among the companies in studies 2 and 3, such that some managers have responded only in study 2, some have responded only in study 3, and some have responded in all three studies. In this way, we establish an estimate of evaluation practices. We also link these practices to the negative outcomes that are central to our study. Methods First, we sought to qualitatively explore clear-cut cases of malpractice where the participants were obviously experiencing harmful effects from the LDI experiences.
We therefore sought to find people who could substantiate claims about problems related to somatic and mental health as well as social relationships and the context where such claims arise. Procedure — We browsed a broad range of library databases such as PsychLit, Web of Science, and Internet search engines to look for documentation of harmful effects of leadership development.
We also contacted professional organizations such as the Norwegian and the American Psychological Associations to find out if they had been discussing or addressing complaints about such topics, but we found no systematic sources documenting negative or harmful effects of leadership development. As far as official sources are concerned, it seems as if leadership development never implies any risks other than having no effect.
The search for legal cases, both nationally and abroad, also yielded no results. We contacted legal professionals in case they knew about potential cases that had been framed as bullying or had been handled internally in the organizations as breaches of their code of conduct. We also spread the message via our social collegial networks.
Finally, we posted an advertisement in leading Norwegian newspapers asking for information from people who had first-hand experience with negative effects of LDI. Sample — This approach yielded a sample of 14 participants. Of these, seven were clients who had been negatively affected by leadership development. Another seven were professionals who had treated people with negative reactions after such activities clinical psychologists , law professionals, or union leaders who have been giving advice to clients and who felt they were subject to unethical practices at work.
Two persons actually appeared in both roles. They were themselves practitioners of leadership development who had entered into activities they felt a need to warn others about. The structure consisted of us presenting our general ideas about the topic—also the reason for conducting the interview—whereupon we asked the subjects to describe their experiences as richly as possible.
The subjects not only answered our questions and elaborated on them, but they also gave us access to notes taken and actual formal reports handed in to authorities to warn about certain practices. The preliminary categorization resulted in three overarching categories of events: A psychological distress or psychopathology connected with the activity; B abuse of advisor-client relationship; and C unethical use of information.
These categories were coded with four levels of impact: 1 negative but relatively harmless spoiling positive benefits that may have been reached by other approaches ; 2 creating a transient painful experience with no beneficial effect; 3 leaving painful after-effects; and 4 having detrimental consequences such as suicide, permanent health damage, or loss of job. Results from the interviews In the following passages, we quote and list findings from the sources described above.
These are all statements from individuals except from some media excerpts. Such instances are noted as sources. A Addressing or eliciting distress or psychopathology — Several statements illustrate this category. It was a very difficult workplace. I started crying: this I cannot take. Woman completely shutting down and withdrawing herself from the seminar. B Abuse of advisor-client relationship — Statements of unethical relationships with abuse of power were reported too.
Was not sure life was worth living. C Unethical use of information — The category Unethical use of information contains three sub-categories. And then we got the papers handed out… quoting specific people on specific issues and so on. Mental strain and anxiety.
Massive sick-leaves and calls for psychiatric help. According to the interviewees, many of the theoretical possibilities for negative incidents had actually occurred. They expressed concern for the competence of the consultants they had come across, often experiencing that processes had gotten out of control.
In addition, the use of group pressure and therapeutic elements led participants to feel as though the consultants did not seem to be aware of the implications and contingencies of such experiences. Our subjects described some consultants as both psychologically and physically intrusive and as having shared confidential information with others in the organization most notably employers while manipulating those who raised doubts about the value of the ongoing activities.
Thus, we think our interviews show that professionals engaging in leadership development are susceptible to the same ethical and technical risks other professionals who are engaged in close relationships with clients face. Hypotheses 2 and 3a are thereby supported. Methods Procedure — A total of questionnaires were distributed to a diverse convenience sample consisting of 99 managers participating in executive education and participants in an HR conference.
The age range was 18 to 66 years. Age was listed in intervals of 10 years, a tendency that did not allow for exact statistics, but both mode and mean were in the age group of 36 to Instruments — The questionnaire was designed to ask about the prevalence of the experiences explored in Study 1. Our numbers were obtained by counting the number of respondents who rated their experiences for each alternative.
Results As shown in Table 2, almost all participants had experienced leadership development activities as positive. Interestingly, two-thirds of the same group had experienced such activities as wasted, and almost half the sample reported negative experiences with such activities.
Hypothesis 1 is thereby supported. The results showed that activities including a larger number of people e. Table 3 shows the reasons for wasted experiences and indicates that the respondents seemed to blame the wasted time on low-quality facilitators. Here, the common denominator seems to be that participants are exposed to situations they feel are embarrassing or intrusive and those for which they did not feel prepared.
Of those who reported negative experiences, a small majority put this negativity quickly behind them. Still, 25 respondents felt the effects for a while, affecting both their private life and their relationships in the workplace. Hypothesis 3a is thereby supported. Methods A questionnaire was sent to training professionals who were working with leadership development in organizations, yielding 50 complete responses.
The framework increases in complexity according to levels, requiring more competence for higher levels of evaluation Kirkpatrick, :. Four items addressing evaluation measured the prevalence of evaluation practices on Levels 1 and 2. Prevalence of Level 4 evaluation was measured by asking if and how frequently the responding companies were calculating return on investment ROI for leadership development or were using other objective performance indicators.
Additionally, we asked the respondents to rate their perceived competence of the evaluation, their degree of decision-making authority in initiating programs and evaluations, and the approximate sums of money spent on leadership development and evaluation. All items were measured on seven-point Likert scales and were constructed solely for this project. Alpha reliabilities for all scales ranged between.
Results The results from the survey evaluation practices are summarized in Table 5.