Human-Centered Leadership Development: A Communication-Based Approach for Promoting Authentic and Transformational Leadership

Abstract

Leadership development (LD) has been shown to deliver significant value in both professional and academic settings. However, scholars of leadership communication and LD have argued for a need to recognize LD as a highly social, co-creative, and communicative process in which followership and larger organizational and social contexts play a significant role. Recent research has also argued for self-directed and experiential learning approaches to promote learning mindsets and psychological resources for long-term growth. The present study addresses these challenges by developing a holistic theoretical model and an applied design for LD comprised of evidence-based communication interventions that address intrapersonal, interpersonal, and strategic communication contexts in order to promote both authentic leadership and transformational leadership capacities. The model employs human-centered design methods to complement established experiential learning models and facilitate co-creative engagement with situated organizational challenges.