Experience the Swedish Buffet: Lessons from a Holistic Leader Development Program

Abstract

Abstract<br> <br> Title:<br> Experience the Swedish Buffet: Lessons from a Holistic Leader Development Program<br> <br> Seminar Date:<br> May 29th- 30th, 2012<br> <br> Course:<br> BUSN49 Degree Project Master Level in Managing People, Knowledge & Change<br> <br> Authors:<br> Liga Lagzdina & Kalliopi Christopoulou<br> <br> Advisor:<br> Sverre Spoelstra<br> Department of Business Administration<br> School of Economics and Management<br> Lund University, Sweden<br> <br> Keywords:<br> Leader development program, experiential learning<br> <br> Thesis Purpose:<br> The purpose of this research is to explore the construct of leader development through the experiences of participants in a youth non-profit leader development program.<br> <br> Methodology:<br> This research is a qualitative explorative case study that is conducted based on semi-structured open-ended interviews and review of documentation. Our analysis is guided via a hermeneutic methodology and is established from an interpretative and constructive disposition.<br> <br> Theoretical Perspective:<br> The theoretical framework of this study is based on a consideration of different perspectives regarding the development of leaders following their participation in leader development programs. More specifically, the theoretical base under which our empirical data was analysed examines previous research on leader development programs which are oriented around the didactic classroom-based approach as well asliterature on leader development programs which support learning through experiences.<br> <br> Empirical Findings:<br> Our empirical findings are derived from 16 semi-structured interviews with participants from a youth non-profit leader development program. Additionally, documentation has been reviewed relevant the organization‘s vision; mission; values and achievements.<br> <br> Conclusion<br> The paper‘s findings are that the learning outcomes in an integrative pattern leader development program are richer for the participants than the ones gained in referenced segregated frameworks. This is because the combination of the two conventional leader development program designs into an integrated LDP provided the combined benefits of the two separate designs, while partially mitigated the limitations of both referenced LDP conventional types.