Academic Journal

Knowing but Not Enacting Leadership: Navigating the Leadership Knowing–Doing Gap in Leveraging Leadership Development.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Knowing but Not Enacting Leadership: Navigating the Leadership Knowing–Doing Gap in Leveraging Leadership Development.
Authors: Ahmadi, Amal1 (AUTHOR) a.ahmadi@henley.ac.uk, Vogel, Bernd1 (AUTHOR) bernd.vogel@henley.ac.uk
Source: Academy of Management Learning & Education. Sep2023, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p507-530. 24p. 2 Diagrams, 2 Charts.
Abstract: What managers know about leadership (e.g., conceptual and procedural knowledge) does not necessarily predict what they do (applied knowledge) in organizations. This research explores the leadership knowing–doing gap, which we define as a discrepancy between managers' leadership knowing and the extent to which they transfer it into leadership doing. Taking a phenomenological approach, we explore how and why managers experience the leadership knowing–doing gap, analyzing 65 critical incidents from interviews with 22 managers in leadership roles across various organizational levels in the United Kingdom. We present the leadership knowing–doing gap as a multifaceted, dynamic, and complex experience involving cognitive, affective, and behavioral elements. We discuss how these elements interplay in influencing the dynamics of creating or widening the gap on the one hand, and preventing or closing the gap on the other hand. We shed light on factors that influence the leadership knowing–doing gap: motivation, prioritization, and confidence to enact leadership. We also highlight the role of context in leadership knowing–doing discrepancies. Our definition and proposed framework offer a conceptualization that advances understanding of the leadership knowing–doing gap. We end with our theoretical contributions and practical implications for both management learning and leadership development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Subject Terms: *Leadership, *Organizational learning, Phenomenology, Leadership training, Achievement gap
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
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ISSN: 1537260X
DOI: 10.5465/amle.2020.0534
Database: Business Source Complete
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