An overview of adult cognitive development research and its application in the field of leadership studies.

Abstract

The field of leadership development has suffered from a behavioral training approach. Bringing an adult cognitive developmental perspective to the field offers new possibilities. However, proponents of this approach often still find themselves on the margins of research and application in the field. This article provides an overview of how research and practice at the intersection of these two fields has progressed with some discussion of how it appears in relation to the larger field of leadership discourse. There is a brief survey of some of the more well-known approaches to applying adult development models to leadership development. To illustrate this, an example from client work done from this approach is highlighted in terms of some preliminary research on the impacts on leadership skills from utilizing an adult developmental model for leadership development programs. Concluding remarks identify the need to take advantage of more widespread practitioner application to further research in the field.