The development of a conceptual meta-leader development model

Abstract: Organisations strive to satisfy their need for effective leaders. Their efforts are focused on improved leader performance, aligned with what the organisation wants to achieve and their sustainability depends on the selection and development of their leaders. Large amounts of money is spend on leader development, however, most leader development programs fail to deliver and the reasons are that the focus of leader development is wrong because the focus is on the enhancement and introduction of skills, competencies and techniques. This paper, reports on the findings of a larger study. Two competency models and Bersin’s Leadership Maturity Developmental Model are used as parent theories to derive to a new conceptual Meta-Leadership Development Model relevant and applicable to a specific organisational context. Four core constructs emerged, character; caring; competence; and commitment. These constructs were operationalised and are presented in a holistic Meta-Leader Development Model. It formed the first phase of a larger study and it is argued, that it has the potential to create greater leader commitment with increased performance results that are measurable for the leader, the team and the organisation