Developmental Readiness: Accelerating leader development – Avolio & Hannah, 2008

The authors of this article aim to create a framework for understanding how the level of developmental readiness impacts the process of leader development. The authors propose a way to accelerate leader development by clearly understanding developmental readiness of the leader and the organization.  Not taking this into account may offer an explanation as to why some developmental programs are more or less successful. They propose that development efforts should first focus on assessing and building the developmental readiness of the leaders themselves, as well as the developmental readiness of the organization as crucial factors for effective leader development. They identify 5 constructs in their model of developmental readiness:

1. learning goal orientation
2. developmental efficacy
3. self-concept clarity
4. self-complexity
5. meta-cognitive ability.

The major contribution of this article is that to offer effective leadership development, we have to first set the stage for the development to occur.  Namely, that the individual has to be ready to embark on the process of change (with the right resources and motivation), and the organization has to remain fertile ground for the growth to occur.

This article fits in with the concepts of change, in that development efforts are typically successful when interacting with the conditions that can support it.  For example, leaders tend to have a wide array of experiences on an ongoing basis, yet depending on the developmental readiness of the leaders, they might each see the same situation quite differently.  One might work to just get by, while the other is interested in learning, testing new skills, reflecting on progress, and integrating it into the self-concept going forward.  This is clearly vital in the workplace as it allows greater clarity, accuracy, and ROI on LD interventions.