Leader development: A pathway for social change?

Abstract

Critical leadership development scholars argue that leadership development programmes (LDPs) should be the setting where participant’s aspirations and struggle to be a good leader can be voiced and reflected upon. Integral to this prompt is the call for LDPs to offer alternative approaches to the conventional, individualistic, leader-centric modules through innovative programme design and delivery. In this article, we investigate the outcomes of one LDP where innovation, notions of good leadership and the power of the collective to create fundamental change for the betterment of society are sought by the facilitators. Through semi-structured interviews with alumni, we consider whether they, in the aftermath of the LDP, have taken steps to effect positive change across communities and society and secondly, whether they perceive that the LDP prepared them to meet this expectation. We argue existing societal power and leadership dynamics remain invisible and unchallenged. There was little acknowledgement of the wider role social structural forces play, both formal and informal, in reinforcing the status quo. Importantly, this research is a stark reminder of how, to varying degrees and levels of consciousness, advantaged groups prop up systemic processes that embed their privilege and further exacerbate social inequalities.