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Leadership Training

Background

“Interventions systematically designed to enhance leader knowledge, skills, abilities, and other components. The intent of these programs is to ensure participants are able to act effectively in formally appointed leadership roles and engage in successful leadership behaviors” (Lacerenza et al., 2018, p. 521).

Leadership training is a structured program designed to help people become better leaders. It teaches leaders the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to effectively guide and support their teams.

Signs that a team could benefit from leadership training include lack of communication skills, difficulty with time management, goal setting, or teamwork, and low motivation or confidence.

  • Lacerenza, C. N., Marlow, S. L., Tannenbaum, S. I., & Salas, E. (2018). Team development interventions: Evidence-based approaches for improving teamwork. American Psychologist, 73(4), 517–531. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0000295

Relevant Readings

  • Kragt, D., & Guenter, H. (2018). Why and when leadership training predicts effectiveness: The role of leader identity and leadership experience. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(3), 406–418. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-11-2016-0298
    • Kragt and Guenter (2018) find that positive reactions to leadership training strengthen a manager's leader identity, which in turn boosts their effectiveness. However, this effect is weaker for more experienced leaders who already have a developed leader identity.
  • Sadowski, B., Cantrell, S., Barelski, A., O’Malley, P. G., & Hartzell, J. D. (2018). Leadership training in graduate medical education: A systematic review. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 10(2), 134–148. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-17-00194.1
    • Sadowski et al. (2018) review leadership training in graduate medical education. They find that current curricula are diverse and not very effective. The authors suggest that small group teaching, projects, mentoring, and longitudinal programs show promise for developing physician leaders.
  • Sogunro, O. A. (1997). Impact of training on leadership development: Lessons from a leadership training program. Evaluation Review, 21(6), 713–737. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X9702100605
    • Sogunro (1997) examines a leadership training program's impact, finding it increases participants' leadership knowledge and skills and positively changes attitudes. The study shows the program leads to improved on-the-job leadership behavior and concludes that training enhances leadership competency.
  • Straus, S. E., Soobiah, C., & Levinson, W. (2013). The impact of leadership training programs on physicians in academic medical centers: A systematic review. Academic Medicine, 88(5), 710–723. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e31828af493
    • Straus, Soobiah, and Levinson (2013) review leadership training programs for physicians in academic medical centers. They find modest effects on outcomes like academic rank and publications. The authors conclude that despite significant investment, more rigorous evaluation of these programs is necessary to determine their effectiveness.