ON LEADERSHIP

Insights from Dr. O’Connell

We need practical tools for continuous improvement

Human resource development can be a complex task, with unpredictable results. Many training efforts are intermittent and sporadic, leading to little change in leader or follower behaviors. Multi-generational teams need to understand and practice key competencies in effective and productive work. Leaders must model the way, inspire shared vision, challenge the process, and encourage the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). Learning to lead must be both simple and sustained over time.

We need skills we can easily learn and always use

The Simplified Framework for 21st Century leader development was first published in The Leadership Quarterly (the #1 international leadership academic journal) in 2014. Even before the framework was finalized and published, I was asked to teach the Web of Belief framework to emerging leaders in Hungary and to leadership scholars in Italy. The research I completed (and continue) to develop this framework is extensive and stands the test of time. It includes a comprehensive review of competencies required for 21st century leaders from the study of several leadership theories, including complexity leadership, adaptive leadership, transformational leadership, servant leadership, crisis leadership, and authentic leadership. These are the theories leadership scholars continue to develop and study for the 2020’s and beyond. I have been invited and selected to present this framework to the international leadership community and academic forums dozens of times over the past decade.