Coping with changing environments: the development of competent leadership

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to explore how leaders learn and develop competent leadership through a qualitative examination of middle managers in a large Norwegian financial institution. This study investigates how leaders learn through leadership development initiatives, and found that such initiatives may yield effective learning outcomes when combining practices and adapting to organisational context. In particular, leaders appear to learn and develop through formal acquisitions of tools and methods, cooperation, and networks that allow for reflective thinking. Additionally, the study illuminates aspects of competent leadership and propose that leadership development initiatives may contribute to the development of competent leader characteristics. Hence, the study provides insight to the understanding of how leadership development initiatives may target skills, knowledge and expertise that can lead to competent leadership.