Learning-Oriented Leadership in Organizations: An Integrative Review of Qualitative Studies

Abstract

Recent societal challenges highlight the importance of learning in organizations. Nurturing employee learning requires leaders who prioritize learning-oriented leadership. While many studies have used qualitative methods to study how this leadership is performed in daily work, there have been no previous attempts to synthesize this body of research. This paper presents a framework based on a review of 38 qualitative papers on how leaders facilitate workplace learning. The framework identifies two elements of leadership: direct leadership behaviors, which involve supporting, educating, making demands, and role modelling, and indirect leadership behaviors, which facilitate learning through building a learning climate, influencing work organization, freeing up resources for learning, and encouraging knowledge dissemination. The review finds that situational factors shape learning-oriented leadership, and that this leadership involves the deployment of activities located on a planned-spontaneous continuum to facilitate learning. Longitudinal studies across professional groups and contexts will deepen our understanding of this concept.