What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process Evaluation

This study investigated how contextual circumstances, managers’ mental models, and intervention design and implementation facilitated or hindered the development of leadership performance during leadership training. Managers (n = 59) in local government municipalities participated in managerial beha...

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Main Authors: Anders Pousette, Martin Grill
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Stockholm University Press 2025-07-01
Series:Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology
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Online Access:https://account.sjwop.com/index.php/su-j-sjwop/article/view/268
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author Anders Pousette
Martin Grill
author_facet Anders Pousette
Martin Grill
author_sort Anders Pousette
collection DOAJ
description This study investigated how contextual circumstances, managers’ mental models, and intervention design and implementation facilitated or hindered the development of leadership performance during leadership training. Managers (n = 59) in local government municipalities participated in managerial behaviour training over a period of three months. Leadership performance was assessed by subordinates of these managers before (n = 406) and after (n = 377) the training period. The participating managers reported on contextual circumstances and their mental models before the training started. Data on implementation was collected from the participating managers and the trainers at the end of each of the six training sessions. Transfer of leadership training was facilitated by managers’ support from their superior management and managerial colleagues and hindered by taxing job demands in terms of role stressors. The participating managers’ readiness for change improved the transfer of the training. Participants’ and trainers’ assessments of intervention activities showed that the training worked very well throughout; that is, the average ratings of the intervention activities were very high. Thus, there was no opportunity to detect any impact on the transfer of specific intervention activities. This study shows the importance of managers’ working conditions in providing managers with good opportunities to develop as leaders.
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spelling doaj-art-ca048f4de38340448ac5d1e4b8fae4f42025-08-21T12:31:35ZengStockholm University PressScandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology2002-28672025-07-01101121210.16993/sjwop.268268What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process EvaluationAnders Pousette0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2146-9396Martin Grill1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6185-9992University of Gothenburg, Department of Psychology, GothenburgUniversity of Gothenburg, Department of Psychology, GothenburgThis study investigated how contextual circumstances, managers’ mental models, and intervention design and implementation facilitated or hindered the development of leadership performance during leadership training. Managers (n = 59) in local government municipalities participated in managerial behaviour training over a period of three months. Leadership performance was assessed by subordinates of these managers before (n = 406) and after (n = 377) the training period. The participating managers reported on contextual circumstances and their mental models before the training started. Data on implementation was collected from the participating managers and the trainers at the end of each of the six training sessions. Transfer of leadership training was facilitated by managers’ support from their superior management and managerial colleagues and hindered by taxing job demands in terms of role stressors. The participating managers’ readiness for change improved the transfer of the training. Participants’ and trainers’ assessments of intervention activities showed that the training worked very well throughout; that is, the average ratings of the intervention activities were very high. Thus, there was no opportunity to detect any impact on the transfer of specific intervention activities. This study shows the importance of managers’ working conditions in providing managers with good opportunities to develop as leaders.https://account.sjwop.com/index.php/su-j-sjwop/article/view/268leadership trainingtransfercontextprocess evaluation
spellingShingle Anders Pousette
Martin Grill
What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process Evaluation
Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology
leadership training
transfer
context
process evaluation
title What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process Evaluation
title_full What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process Evaluation
title_fullStr What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process Evaluation
title_full_unstemmed What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process Evaluation
title_short What Makes Leadership Training Work? – A Process Evaluation
title_sort what makes leadership training work a process evaluation
topic leadership training
transfer
context
process evaluation
url https://account.sjwop.com/index.php/su-j-sjwop/article/view/268
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