Psychosocial development and leader performance of military officer cadets

Citation

Bartone, P.T. (2008), "Psychosocial development and leader performance of military officer cadets", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 22 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2008.08122bad.009

Psychosocial development and leader performance of military officer cadets

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 22, Issue 2.

Psychosocial development and leader performance of military officer cadets

Bartone P.T., Snook S.A., Forsythe G.B., Lewis P., Bullis R.C. Leadership Quarterly, October 2007, Vol. 18 No. 5, Start page: 490, No. of pages: 15

Purpose Looks at the social, psychological and experiential factors that contribute to positive leadership development among students in the armed forces. Design/methodology/approach Looks at the growing demands being made on US military personnel; highlights how there is awareness that a greater emphasis needs to be put on the development of effective leadership skills among future military officers. Drawing on Kegan’s theory of human development, outlines a longitudinal study undertaken of college students at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Describes the quantitative analytic tools used to assess the extent of developmental change among the cadet cohort and to evaluate the extent to which developmental levels are predictive of future leader performance. Findings Supported Kegan’s theory; puts forward that while college students are generally functioning at an earlier developmental level, significant psychosocial growth does occur during the college years; describes how cognitive-developmental level is associated with important leader performance outcomes. Research limitations/implications Explore the longer-term implications of development levels on future job performance. Practical implications Draws out the implications of the results for development programmes in the armed forces. Originality/value Presents a longitudinal study examining the leadership development of army cadets.ISSN: 1048-9843Reference: 36BC163DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.07.008

Keywords: Armed forces, Employee development, Leadership, Performance management