Leadership Learning: From the Classroom to the Boardroom

Learning can be classified into four approaches: behavioral, cognitive, social, and humanistic. These approaches offer a broad but often conflicting view about what constitutes learning. An alternative approach to learning focuses on practices rather than theoretical assumptions. Drawing on the emerging international field of management learning, we propose a pragmatic approach. Practices of learning are identified that constitute the foundation of learning-directed leadership. Over the last few decades, a new understanding of how leaders learn has emerged. Systematic research, the latest ideas on leadership learning, and observation of leaders in practice appear to confirm that learning is a key, if often overlooked, factor in successful leadership. This chapter outlines developments in learning that can inform leadership. Although much of what we present in this chapter comes from systematic academic research, we present these ideas using nontechnical terms and try to avoid academic jargon when possible. This chapter paves the way for a deeper understanding of the evolution of learning research and leadership practice that are presented more fully in subsequent chapters.