Experience and reflection for nurturing sustainable leadership: The case of a leadership development programme in the higher education

This research analyses the effectiveness of a leadership development programme for graduate students in favouring a change in individual leadership behaviours aimed at promoting economic and social sustainability. The programme relies on an experiential learning approach and a series of learning techniques (self-directed development plan, journaling and peer coaching). A quasi-experimental research design with control group was implemented to assess the improvement in four leadership styles which rely on the emotionally intelligence leadership framework. Moreover, the influence of the learning techniques on the development of leadership behaviours was investigated. Results show that participants of the programme demonstrate a higher increase in the manifestation of the leadership styles in relation to the pre-test and compared to the control group. In addition, both the definition of a personal development plan and the frequency of personal reflections trough journaling seem to positively relate to leadership development.