Leader self-awareness development: An intervention and test of a theoretical model

This study examined the effect of an online leader development intervention on implicit theories of leader developability, leader self-awareness, and authentic leadership. Through an experimental field study, participants completed online exercises designed to raise self-reflection and alter their implicit theory of leader developability such that those managers who tended to believe that leader qualities are fixed would come to see leaders and leadership as more developable. To design the intervention, a new theory for developing leader self-awareness was applied. Additionally, certain aspects of the developmental model were tested. Results regarding altering implicit theories were inconsistent in this study. Findings indicate initial support for aspects of the developmental model relating self-reflection with leader self-awareness, and leader self-awareness with leader identification. Lastly, implications for practice and future research are presented