Building and sustaining leadership capability: a training college case study

This paper reports on case research undertaken at a training college located within Australia to identify the leadership capability of its managers, to determine if there were deficiencies that needed to be addressed and to consider how the College might respond with appropriate policies and action. In terms of the required management and leadership capabilities, the research found that the managers identified significant gaps in their required level of proficiency for leadership roles compared to their actual level of proficiency held at the time of research. In particular, the study found that all managers rated their actual level of proficiency as ‘low ’ under areas relating to business acumen, where they considered the required level as ‘high ’ to ‘very high’. It also identified that their management skill discrepancy can be linked directly to the lack of formal professional development in the area of leadership and management. A staff survey identified significant management and leadership actions that were contrary to the College’s Strategic Plan. The consensus was that the leadership style was inconsistent with the adult environment and often referred to as ‘school teacher ’ style.. This particular finding portrayed an authoritarian approach to leadership which may have evolved from their previous roles as teachers and trainers. This finding was not identified during the literature research and is an original finding in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET) leadership capability