Faculty Mentor(s)
Jonathan Bartling, PhD
Project Type
EdD Colloquium - ONU
Scholarship Domain(s)
Scholarship of Discovery
Presentation Type
Presentation
Abstract
Rapidly changing environments force organizations to adapt quickly to remain relevant. However, a given organization’s ability to adapt depends largely on its leaders’ ability to guide and direct their subordinates in the use of the organization’s resources. Research has identified self-directed professional development (SDPD) as a critical component of leaders’ ability to meet the challenges of adaptation, but notably absent from the literature are explorations of how leaders’ self-perception relates to the degree to which they engage in SDPD. The purpose of this quantitative study was to deepen current understandings of the interplay between self-perception and individual behavior in the organizational setting, specifically through administration of the Leader Efficacy Questionnaire and assessment of SDPD participation and attitudes of 120 organizational leaders with a view to exploring the relationship between leader self-efficacy and engagement in SDPD as well as any variables that could moderate such a relationship. Multiple regression analysis of participants’ responses produced the statistically significant finding that leader self-efficacy had no bearing on participation in SDPD activities, but that positive attitudes toward SDPD could predict high levels of leader self-efficacy. Highly efficacious leaders are thus more likely to believe in the value of lifelong learning, but self-reported participation in SDPD may fall outside the scope of individual behaviors that can predict perceptions of self-efficacy. Accordingly, the study’s findings call for further exploration of how leaders’ self-perceptions can be channeled for the benefit of their organization.
Permission Type
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Leader Efficacy Perceptions and Engagement in Self-Directed Professional Development
Wisner Auditorium
Rapidly changing environments force organizations to adapt quickly to remain relevant. However, a given organization’s ability to adapt depends largely on its leaders’ ability to guide and direct their subordinates in the use of the organization’s resources. Research has identified self-directed professional development (SDPD) as a critical component of leaders’ ability to meet the challenges of adaptation, but notably absent from the literature are explorations of how leaders’ self-perception relates to the degree to which they engage in SDPD. The purpose of this quantitative study was to deepen current understandings of the interplay between self-perception and individual behavior in the organizational setting, specifically through administration of the Leader Efficacy Questionnaire and assessment of SDPD participation and attitudes of 120 organizational leaders with a view to exploring the relationship between leader self-efficacy and engagement in SDPD as well as any variables that could moderate such a relationship. Multiple regression analysis of participants’ responses produced the statistically significant finding that leader self-efficacy had no bearing on participation in SDPD activities, but that positive attitudes toward SDPD could predict high levels of leader self-efficacy. Highly efficacious leaders are thus more likely to believe in the value of lifelong learning, but self-reported participation in SDPD may fall outside the scope of individual behaviors that can predict perceptions of self-efficacy. Accordingly, the study’s findings call for further exploration of how leaders’ self-perceptions can be channeled for the benefit of their organization.