Mastering a profession : a multiple case study on how authentic leadership theory drives organizational leader development in the U.S. Army.

While the Army has invested time in its leader development doctrine, less than 50% of Army units report that leader development is a high priority (Riley et al., 2018). Leader development has been a top priority for the Army, but there has been an uneven application of leader development at the leader level. The Army will benefit by paying close attention to leader development to prepare leaders for the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment of the 21st century and large-scale combat operations (Hodne, 2013). While the Army's continued focus on leader development has improved, there is still a void for organizational leader development for success in large-scale combat operations (Cotter, 2015; Department of the Army, 2013, 2015, 2017a, 2019d, 2020c, 2023). This multiple case study research draws from combat-tested organizational leaders' experiences to understand the use of the four pillars of authentic leadership theory for their self-development. This study addressed one research question: How do successful leaders within the U.S. Army implement the four pillars of the authentic leadership theory to effectively lead their units to organizational advantage? I used purposeful and convenient sampling to collect different perspectives on organizational leader development in the Army. Before the data collection began, the participants completed a pre-data collection questionnaire to share socio-demographic data. Then, the participants completed semi-structured interviews, a reflection questionnaire, and a focus group where they shared their experiences as organizational leaders. The findings of this study confirm the use of authentic leadership theory to improve organizations' performance, the lack of formal training on leader development in the Army's education system, and the lack of a standard leader professional development program for Army leaders' use. The participants' experiences provided insight into using authentic leadership theory to lead their organizations. Participants reported their thoughts and actions about self-awareness, balanced processing, internal moral perspective, and relational transparency. The results of this study have the potential to shape curriculum for leader development impact training in a uniform manner across the Army.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Jones, Kelly S., 1972-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Howell, Leanne.

• United States Army.
• Leadership development.
• Authentic leadership theory.
• Self-development.
• Self-reflection.
• Internalized moral perspective.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/12921

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/12921