Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations

This paper focuses on leadership development of successful leaders via informal workplace learning in several Malaysian organizations. Leadership development, which involves a life-long process of learning beginning from childhood and one’s early educational experiences, often continues with experie...

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Main Authors: Abdul Wahat, Nor Wahiza, Krauss, Steven Eric, Othman, Jamilah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Canadian Center of Science and Education 2013
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/1/30766.pdf
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author Abdul Wahat, Nor Wahiza
Krauss, Steven Eric
Othman, Jamilah
author_facet Abdul Wahat, Nor Wahiza
Krauss, Steven Eric
Othman, Jamilah
author_sort Abdul Wahat, Nor Wahiza
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper focuses on leadership development of successful leaders via informal workplace learning in several Malaysian organizations. Leadership development, which involves a life-long process of learning beginning from childhood and one’s early educational experiences, often continues with experiential learning in the workplace. Though many previous studies have explored leadership development via formal programmes in workplaces, there have been limited studies that narrate the contribution of informal learning in workplaces. Hence, we conducted in-depth interviews with five top management team members (TMT) of organizations in the Malaysian higher education, banking and service industries to understand their leadership development experiences. The results included the overarching theme that leadership development should never be separated from organizational priorities, as leaders are the ones who define an organization’s future. The three sub-themes which emerged in relation to leadership development in the context of workplace learning were: (a) the role of informal mentoring in leadership development; (b) observation and reflection during leadership development; and (c) developmental, challenging assignments in leadership development. The findings are presented along with implications for leadership development research and practices in organizations.
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spelling upm-307662017-10-20T05:21:11Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/ Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations Abdul Wahat, Nor Wahiza Krauss, Steven Eric Othman, Jamilah This paper focuses on leadership development of successful leaders via informal workplace learning in several Malaysian organizations. Leadership development, which involves a life-long process of learning beginning from childhood and one’s early educational experiences, often continues with experiential learning in the workplace. Though many previous studies have explored leadership development via formal programmes in workplaces, there have been limited studies that narrate the contribution of informal learning in workplaces. Hence, we conducted in-depth interviews with five top management team members (TMT) of organizations in the Malaysian higher education, banking and service industries to understand their leadership development experiences. The results included the overarching theme that leadership development should never be separated from organizational priorities, as leaders are the ones who define an organization’s future. The three sub-themes which emerged in relation to leadership development in the context of workplace learning were: (a) the role of informal mentoring in leadership development; (b) observation and reflection during leadership development; and (c) developmental, challenging assignments in leadership development. The findings are presented along with implications for leadership development research and practices in organizations. Canadian Center of Science and Education 2013 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/1/30766.pdf Abdul Wahat, Nor Wahiza and Krauss, Steven Eric and Othman, Jamilah (2013) Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations. Asian Social Science, 9 (5). pp. 298-306. ISSN 1911-2017; ESSN: 1911-2025 http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/view/26990 10.5539/ass.v9n5p298
spellingShingle Abdul Wahat, Nor Wahiza
Krauss, Steven Eric
Othman, Jamilah
Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations
title Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations
title_full Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations
title_fullStr Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations
title_full_unstemmed Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations
title_short Leadership development through workplace learning in Malaysian organizations
title_sort leadership development through workplace learning in malaysian organizations
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/30766/1/30766.pdf