Leadership & Organization Development Journal

Leadership-shaping experiences: a comparative study of leaders and non-leaders

Karin Amit Micha Popper Reuven Gal Tammy Mamane-Levy Alon Lisak
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Karin Amit Micha Popper Reuven Gal Tammy Mamane-Levy Alon Lisak, (2009),"Leadership-shaping
experiences: a comparative study of leaders and non-leaders", Leadership & Organization Development
Journal, Vol. 30 Iss 4 pp. 302 - 318
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LODJ
30,4
302
Received June 2008
Revised September 2008
Accepted October 2008
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Leadership & Organization
Development Journal
Vol. 30 No. 4, 2009
pp. 302-318
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-7739
DOI 10.1108/01437730910961658
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7739.htm
Leadership-shaping experiences:
a comparative study of leaders
and non-leaders
Karin Amit
Ruppin Academic Centre and The Centre for Outstanding Leadership,
Emek Hefer, Israel
Micha Popper
Department of Psychology, University of Haifa and
The Centre for Outstanding Leadership, Haifa, Israel
Reuven Gal and Tammy Mamane-Levy
The Centre for Outstanding Leadership, Zikhron Yaakov, Israel, and
Alon Lisak
The William Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management,
University of Haifa and The Centre for Outstanding Leadership,
Haifa, Israel
Abstract
Purpose By comparing leaders with non-leaders the current research attempts to shed light on
the impact of early experiences on leaders development.
Design/methodology/approach The study is presented in two parts, quantitative and
qualitative. In the first (quantitative) part, a group of soldiers perceived as leaders was compared
with a group of soldiers perceived as non-leaders, in order to examine the hypothesis that leaders have
had more leadership experiences than non-leaders. Confirmation of this hypothesis led to the
qualitative part, in which the sense in which the reported experiences had contributed to leadership
development was explored.
Findings The leaders proved to have had more leadership experiences than non-leaders in their
youth. Such experiences impact on self-perception as a leader, the development of self-efficacy in
leadership, and the accumulation of psychological and behavioral knowledge related to the
manifestation of leadership.
Practical implications Conceptually, the study adds knowledge regarding leadership
development via natural experiences, particularly experiences that occur in early periods of life.
Practically, the study adds knowledge that can improve selection processes of leaders, as well as
knowledge that can be applied to leaders development, particularly reflective methods.
Originality/value The contributions of this study are methodological, conceptual, and practical.
The study offers methods and instruments to assess leadership and distinguish leaders from
non-leaders..
Keywords Leadership, Leadership development, Experiential learning, Youth
Paper type Case study
This study is part of a larger research project dealing with potential, motivation and
development of leaders, funded by the United States Army Research Institute (ARI).
 Introduction Leadership-
A review of the extensive psychological research on leadership conducted over a century shaping
(e.g. Bass, 1990; Rost, 1991; Yukl, 1989) shows that it has been mainly concerned with
examining how leadership as an independent variable affects followers attitudinal and experiences
performance variables. Studies on leadership as a dependent variable are less common
(Day et al., 2004; Judge and Bono, 2000; Popper et al., 2004), and the notable absence of
comprehensive and methodical discussion and research on developmental 303
psychological aspects of leaders leaves a vacuum in leadership literature (Avolio,
1999, 2005; Avolio and Gibbons, 1988; Klonsky, 1983; Kuhnert and Lewis, 1987; London,
2002; Popper, 2000; Popper and Mayseless, 2002; Zacharatos et al., 2000).
Most writing on the development of leaders is characterized by a:
.
focus on outstanding leaders; and
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.
mainly psychoanalytic viewpoint of leaders development (Burns, 1978).

Such studies are clearly limited with regard to the possibility of generalization.
The last two decades have witnessed a steady stream of books about successful
managers of organizations, marking an attempt to discover some law governing their
development as leaders. Most of these books are based on managers personal memoirs,
anecdotes, and outlooks (e.g. Bennis, 1989; Bennis and Nanus, 1985; Kotter, 1982).
Considerable literature also reports on experiences, models, and evaluations in the field
of leadership training and development (for a comprehensive review of the literature see
Day, 2000). Practices such as coaching, feedback, and workshops are emphasized. Such
findings as are reported generally refer to data before and after the intervention or
training, in most cases reported by the people investigated themselves (Day, 2000).
The accumulated knowledge on leaders development apparently stems mainly
from various forms of biographies and self- reports. Although these writings have
anecdotal value, which occasionally provides meaningful insights, they lack a coherent
generalized conceptual framework. A few attempts have been made to formulate a
theoretical framework of leader development (e.g. Avolio and Gibbons, 1988; Gibbons,
1986; Kuhnert and Lewis, 1987; Popper, 2000; Post, 1993). But most of these works
either lack an empirical endeavor (based on living subjects) to support the theoretical
arguments (Atwater et al., 1999; Popper and Mayseless, 2002; Schneider et al., 1999) or
present overly general arguments based on universal theories (e.g. psychoanalytic or
humanistic theories) without relating to sufficiently defined factors and conditions that
might shed light on specific aspects of leaders development.
This article deals with leaders development via experiences. We chose to focus on
this aspect because many leaders deem it the most important avenue in their
development as leaders (Akin, 1987; Bennis, 1989; Bennis and Nanus, 1985; Chan and
Drasgow, 2001; Kotter, 1988, 1990; London, 2002; McCall et al., 1988).
First we discuss the major models of development via experience that we believe are
highly relevant to leaders development, then we present the research questions
derived from this review.

Leaders development via experiences

Most if not all major theories dealing with learning and developmental psychological
processes explicitly or implicitly place experience at the center of the learning process.
 LODJ For example, the learning theories generally identified with Skinner (1989) are based on
30,4 the law of effect, according to which behavior is guided by past results. If a certain
behavior was rewarded in the past, thereby receiving positive reinforcement, the
probability of that behavior appearing in the future is higher; while behaviors that are
not rewarded will probably appear less and less and may even disappear. Aspects such
as self-efficacy also develop on the basis of experience. Bandura (1977, 1986), for
304 example, showed that the sense of success based on experiences in certain areas led to
the strengthening of self-efficacy in those areas. These principles proved relevant and
applicable in the area of leadership development. Successful experiences in leadership
roles, whether in the family framework or in educational or social frameworks, show
the individual that he or she is perceived by others as a leader, but they also strengthen
the individuals own belief in his/her ability to be a leader (Akin, 1987, Bennis, 1989;
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Kotter, 1988, 1990, Avolio, 2005). Atwater et al. (1999), seeking predictors of leadership,
examined a large number of mental and physical characteristics of freshmen at a
military academy. They found that past leadership experiences differentiated levels of
leadership most clearly: students with a rich background of leadership experiences
belonged to the highest level of leadership. Similarly, Hall et al. (2004) found in a
longitudinal study of leadership that West Point cadets who had more leadership
experiences at high school achieved higher initial leadership performance at West
Point. Lord and Hall (2005) argue that leadership development via experiences can be
described in terms of qualitative changes in both process and knowledge as skills
develop from the novice to the expert level (e.g. Ericson and Charness, 1994). These
changes involve development of a large repertoire of more targeted, domain-specific
productions rather than the general heuristics that are applied to all superficially
similar situations.
In addition to guiding behaviors and social perceptions, experience-based
knowledge of leadership becomes over time inextricably integrated with the
development of ones self-concept as a leader. Similarly, Sternberg (1981) highlights
the notion of tacit knowledge (TK) a form of implicit knowledge that helps the
individual to solve real-world, practical problems. To acquire tacit knowledge,
however, an individual must be exposed to it through experience. Experience-based
knowledge facilitates performance by allowing individuals to define the novel
problems that they face in an environment that functions similarly to the one in
which they acquired the knowledge. Sternberg et al. (1995) found that TK
distinguished between more and less successful performers in several domains,
including sales, bank management, and clerical work. TK was recently applied to
research in the domain of military leadership (Hedlund et al., 2003). The results
indicated that domain-specific TK could explain individual differences in leadership
experiences. In fact, Cianciolo et al. (2004) suggest that an experience can be used as
a mentor, facilitating the creation of meaningful new knowledge based on past
experiences.
These arguments are compatible with the centrality attributed by researchers such
as Argyris (1982; Argyris and Schon, 1996) to what they call knowledge for action,
which is largely generated on the basis of experience. McCall et al., 1988) argue that
accumulated experience is the most critical key to the development and functioning of
leaders in organizations. As they express it in the introduction to their book: The
 world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation (p. ix). However, not the Leadership-
actual experience alone is important; its timing has differential developmental shaping
importance. This point, which was presented by developmental psychologists (e.g.
Erikson, 1959), has also been found relevant to the development of leaders in experiences
organizations. Some studies show that managers, in retrospect, view early experiences
involving performance of tasks and motivating people to act as the most formative in
creating their self-identity as leaders (Akin, 1987; Kotter, 1988; McCall et al., 1988; 305
Zakay and Scheinfeld, 1993).
The underlying assumption of the present study is grounded in the arguments
and findings presented, namely that early experiences of leadership largely shape
an individuals leadership (the immediate expression of which is others perception
of him or her as a leader). The attempt is twofold: to examine this argument
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empirically, that is, to examine, first at the statistical level, whether individuals
perceived as leaders have more leadership experiences; and since great weight is
attributed to early experiences, to examine through comparative in-depth interviews
the developmental psychological significance of these experiences at an early age.
(We emphasize the comparative aspect comparing leaders with non-leaders
because, in our opinion, without such a comparison it is hard to pinpoint the
uniqueness assumed to characterize leaders more than other populations who do not
belong to this category.) This explorative part of the study can add another tier of
knowledge to the theory and practice of leadership development an aspect, as
pointed out, that is largely missing in the psychological literature on leadership
(Day, 2000; Popper, 2000; Popper and Mayseless, 2007). Therefore, the study is
presented in two parts, quantitative and qualitative. In the former we examine the
hypothesis that leaders have had more leadership experiences than non-leaders.
Confirmation of this hypothesis leads to the qualitative part, in which we explore in
what sense the reported experiences have contributed to persons self-perceptions as
leaders. This methodical observation will also facilitate examination of the possible
applications of leadership development.

The quantitative study

Research method
Participants. The research (based in its initial phase on self-report questionnaires) took
place in infantry and armored units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Participants
were 286 male soldiers (only males serve in the infantry and armor) out of 470 soldiers
from four companies: two from the armored corps (169 soldiers 65 percent from the
armored companies) and two from the infantry (117 soldiers 55 percent from the
infantry companies). The soldiers were nearing the end of their basic training and
volunteered to participate in the study (after being assured that no personal
information would be conveyed to their commanders). New immigrants who had
language difficulties (about 15 percent) and soldiers who were absent for technical
reasons (on duty, sick leave, etc.) were excluded. (It is assumed that their exclusion was
random.)
Research instruments. Two questionnaires were used: a leadership evaluation
questionnaire, and a questionnaire on leadership experiences (LEQ).
 LODJ Leadership evaluation questionnaire
30,4 We used a sociometric questionnaire for evaluation of the soldiers leadership by peers
and commanders. The questionnaire was composed by the research team and is partly
similar to the various sociometric questionnaires used in the IDF. The questionnaire,
which is anonymous, examines peers and commanders perception of the soldiers
leadership potential at a stage when they already know each other well. We emphasize
306 that unlike many armies (such as the US army), in which the differentiation between
officers and other ranks is determined institutionally (mostly through military
academies), differentiation in the IDF occurs naturally through a selection process
out of the entire cohort. Starting on an equal footing, all Israeli conscripts undergo an
ongoing selection process during their initial training period. This situation is a unique
laboratory for examining leadership (e.g. Gal, 1986).
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Every soldier in the platoon was evaluated on two questions: the extent of his
influence on the platoon and the extent to which he could be a good commander, on a
five-point scale ranging from very little to very much. The questionnaire yielded four
scores: two continuous mean scores on the soldiers leadership based on peers rating
(influence in the platoon and suitability for command), and two parallel scores based on
commanders rating. An examination of the relationships between these continuous
leadership variables indicates significant positive relations. A correlation of 0.79
(p , 0:01) was found between peers and commanders ranking on influence, and also
between the two groups rankings of a good commander. Correlations between the
two variables (influence and good commander) within each group were also found to be
strong: 0.87 (p , 0:01) for peers and 0.79 (p , 0:01) for commanders. These findings
reinforce our understanding that leadership is a type of influence, and they also show
that commanders and peers defined the soldiers leadership similarly.
From the leadership evaluation questionnaire we formulated a distinction between
two polar groups: leaders and non-leaders. This kind of examination is less
common in leadership studies, which generally, as mentioned, focus solely on leaders
or examine correlations between leadership variables and other independent variables
(Bass, 1990). Since our study deals with the development of leadership and argues for
differential development of leaders, the comparison with a polar group of non-leaders
can demonstrate effectively the uniqueness of the group of leaders. The group of
leaders consisted of 50 soldiers who received a mean score of four or above on at least
one of the questions (degree of influence or suitability for command) from their peers
and commanders alike. The group of non-leaders was composed of 30 soldiers who
received a mean score of two or below on at least one of the questions from their peers
and their commanders (in no case did soldiers obtain contradictory scores on the two
questions). A distribution cutoff determined by the possible answers and not by the
distribution of the answers in practice ensured a clear distinction between the groups.
Since this questionnaire served as the basis for an absolute, not relative, sociometric
evaluation (each soldier received a leadership score regardless of the other soldiers in
the platoon), this cutoff ensured that those classified in the group of leaders or
non-leaders were those who received an absolute high or low score (respectively), and
not just a score relative to the other participants. (In fact we used different forms of
distribution. This was the strictest way, stricter than distribution into quartiles, which
we also examined.)
 Construction of the leadership experiences questionnaire (LEQ) Leadership-
The LEQ questionnaire was composed on the basis of Avolio and Gibbons (1988) shaping
measure semi-structured interviews conducted in a pilot study. It comprised six
questions related to leadership experience in childhood and adolescence. The experiences
respondent was asked the following two questions on a dichotomous scale (yes/no): In
junior high school and high school, did you have roles that included certain
responsibilities (class committee, student council)? Did you have any experience of 307
leadership roles in other social frameworks? He was also asked to answer the following
four questions on a Likert scale from 1 (very little) to 5 (very much): To what extent
were you popular among your friends at high school? To what extent did you like to
undertake organizational tasks at school? To what extent did you try to change things
in your school? How would you define the amount of experience you accumulated?
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Findings
After administering the quantitative questionnaires and analyzing the responses from
the 286 soldiers, we identified a group of 50 soldiers who were perceived by their peers
and commanders as leaders, and a group of 30 soldiers who were perceived as
non-leaders.
Before comparing the two groups we examined the correlations between the
variables. The correlation between the two dichotomous variables, had responsibility
in school and had leadership roles in other social frameworks, was tested by
Cramers V test for nominal variables and was found positive and significant
(V 0:41, p , 0:01). The correlations between the five categorical variables were
examined by Spearmans R for ordinal variables and are presented in Table I.
The correlations shown in Table I are positive and significant. Of particular interest
is the correlation between assuming organizational roles and attempting to change
things in the school (r 0:65, p , 0:01). Significant correlations were also found
between the respondents assuming organizational roles and his social status at school
(r 0:32, p , 0:01), and between social status and the attempts to change things at

Social Liked to assume Tried to change Accumulated Took

status in organizational things in the leadership responsibility
high school roles school experience at home
Variables (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Social status in
high school (1) 1 0.32 * * 0.38 * * 0.17 * 0.25 * *
Liked to assume
organizational
roles (2) 1 0.65 * * 0.23 * * 0.27 * *
Tried to change
things in the
school (3) 1 0.30 * * 0.23 * * Table I.
Accumulated Correlation matrix
leadership between the categorical
experience (4) 1 0.29 * * (1-5) leadership
experiences variables
Notes: * Significance level p , 0.05; * * significance level p , 0.01 (n 286)
 LODJ school (r 0:38, p , 0:01). The respondents cumulative leadership experience was
30,4 found less related to social status at school, although the correlation was positive and
significant.
The differences between the soldiers perceived as leaders and those perceived as
non-leaders are presented in Tables II-III. Table II presents the differences in the two
variables with dichotomous scales (by Chi-square test and Cramers V), and Table III
308 presents the differences in the other four variables (by t-test and Cohens d ).
The tables reveal significant differences in all questions examining leadership
experiences. A higher percentage of leaders had experienced leadership roles at school,
and also in other social frameworks. The differences between the groups are more
salient in experiences in other social frameworks. The leaders were more popular than
the non-leaders at high school, liked to assume organizational roles at school, and tried
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to change things at school. The differences between the groups were more dominant in
their preference to assume organizational roles in school.
Thus, the quantitative findings suggest that leaders, more than non-leaders,
remember themselves as experiencing more leadership roles at high school, enjoying
higher social status at school, and trying more to change things in the school
framework.

Leaders Non-leaders Chi-square

Questions (percent) (percent) (df 1) Cramers V

Roles carrying responsibility at junior high and high

school (dichotomous variable, 1 had roles, 2 did
not have roles) 58 28 6.06 * * 0.288 *
Table II. Experience of leadership roles in other social
Leadership experiences: frameworks (dichotomous variable,1 experience,
differences between 2 no experience) 71 33 10.36 * * * 0.369 * *
leaders and non-leaders
(dichotomous scale) Notes: * Significance level p , 0.05, * * significance level p , 0.01

Leaders Non-leaders t-test Effect size

Questions mean SD mean SD value Cohens d

Social status at high school (1 not

popular, 5 very popular) 4.20 0.68 3.80 1.03 2.02 * 0.469
Extent to which they liked to assume
organizational roles in the school
(1 very little, 5 very much) 3.43 1.21 2.15 1.16 4.42 * * 1.08
Extent to which they tried to change
things in the school (1 very little,
5 very much) 3.51 1.23 2.81 1.13 2.42 * * 0.596
Table III. Accumulated experience of
Leadership experiences: leadership (1 hardly any, 5 a
differences between great deal) 4.06 0.83 3.20 1.40 1.85 * 0.769
leaders and non-leaders
(1-5 scale) Notes: * Significance level p , 0.05; * * significance level p , 0.01
 The qualitative study Leadership-
To further understand the meaning of the accumulated leadership experiences, we shaping
conducted semi-structured interviews. (Following Smiths (1995) methodological
recommendation, we used semi-structured interviews. These allow the researcher and experiences
the interviewer more flexibility than the structured interview or questionnaire,
affording much richer information.) Owing to time-table constraints the army limited
us to 30 interviews. We selected 58 names that were most repeatedly nominated 309
(mentioned more than five times): 36 leaders and 22 non-leaders. After reviewing the
30 transcripts, with the help of three organizational psychologists (who teach
qualitative research methods at the University of Haifa), we selected 16 interviews:
eight with soldiers defined as belonging to the group of leaders, and eight with soldiers
defined as belonging to the group of non-leaders. The final number of interviews was
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determined according to the richness of the information obtained (it was agreed that
the remaining interviews were either not sufficiently informative or simply repetitive).
On analysis, the 16 interviews yielded the salient contents recurrently. In consultation
with the aforementioned external experts we also extracted the codes and categories
from the interview transcripts using methods suggested by Strauss (1987) and
Hutchinson (1988). This process is conducted in three stages (stages two and three
were done in consultation with the experts).

Stage 1
Coding of the transcripts of the interviews by themes. Themes that recurred in the
various interviews were located and coded through a meticulous reading of the texts
by the research team. This coding enabled us to develop theoretical categories obtained
from within the test, and not imposed on it (Charmaz, 1995).

Stage 2
In level 2 coding (Strauss, 1987) or axial coding (Hutchinson, 1988) the axis of the
themes is analyzed for the purpose of constructing broader categories.

Stage 3
Creating core categories: categories are identified according to content that is
particularly rich or theoretically interesting to the researchers. The core categories
chosen were:
.
experience in tasks and roles perceived as related to enhancing self-perception as
a leader, that is, as a person with influence);
.
self-efficacy as a leader (development of belief in ones ability successfully to
perform leadership roles; and
.
development of behavioral psychological knowledge related to leadership.

Analysis method
As stated, the research aim was to examine possible differences in the meaning and
implications of leadership experiences between soldiers perceived by their peers and
commanders as leaders and those perceived as non-leaders.
Citations from the semi-structured interviews were embedded in the findings
section in order to demonstrate the differences between the groups. These citations
 LODJ were carefully selected from the interviews using, as mentioned, a content analysis
30,4 method following the recommendations of Strauss (1987) and Hutchinson (1988).

Experience in tasks and roles that are perceived as being relevant to the formation of a
leader identity
Analysis of the interviews indicated that the leaders reported typical childhood
310 experiences different from those reported by the non-leaders, and they reported many
more experiences perceived as relevant to the development of leader identity. An
interviewee from the leaders group reported, My family had a guest-house business.
My parents always gave me more tasks than they gave my brothers. I organized a lot
of things, and my parents asked my advice about almost everything, even about things
like buying a car. Others presented similar themes: When my parents went out or
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away on holiday, they always made me responsible for taking care of my brothers and
making sure that everything went smoothly. The typical stories presented by the
non-leaders were very different. My mother always said to me, Devote yourself to
your studies, the most important thing is to excel in them, thats the key to success.
She always excused me from tasks and responsibility. Similarly another interviewee:
I joined a youth movement with my friends, but when we were old enough to become
leaders, my parents said, It takes up a lot of time. The most important thing is to
devote yourself to your studies. And sure enough, I left the youth movement and
focused on doing well at my studies.
Reports such as these may explain why more individuals in the population of
leaders found themselves in organizational and leadership roles at school and in youth
movements. When I was small, when something needed to be done I always
volunteered, and I was prominent at school if something had to be done, or organized. I
was on the Students Council, on the class committee, things like that at elementary
school. At the end of 12th grade the students have to decide what to do; to produce a
class year book? Throw a graduation party? What form will they take? I remember that
I was always involved in all these things. There were meetings, open to everyone, but
not many came. I remember that I always arrived and undertook to lead things. After
belonging to a youth movement I went on to become a leader in the class. I liked it, I
liked being a powerful formative factor.
Among the population of non-leaders the reports were the reverse: I always
followed others . . . and I was very comfortable with that. I was always one of those
who like to join in . . . That saves me all the paperwork. I prefer to stay on the sidelines
and wait for things to happen.
Experiences in the family, at school, among friends, and in youth movements that
entailed responsibility, centrality, and organization also had an impact on self-efficacy
in the domain of influence on others (as will be specified below). But they impacted
above all on the formation of a kind of identity that may be described as a leader
identity, which combines the self-concept of one who wants to influence the milieu with
the ability to do so. This is clearly evident in the leaders expression of the wish to enter
an officers track in the army (in a framework where military service is compulsory, but
embarking on an officers track involves volunteering and prolonging compulsory
service by a year), which is recognized as tougher and more demanding. A typical
description by one of the soldiers in the group of leaders was: I always took the lead
 and I ended up as outstanding recruit in basic training . . . I expected it [to be a leader Leadership-
and in the center] and I worked to achieve it. I want to be an officer. shaping
Self-efficacy as a leader
experiences
As stated, Bandura (1986) argued that the major source of the individuals knowledge
about his ability to function in various spheres is his experience of success or failure in
the past. Success in a certain sphere generates belief in ones ability in that sphere 311
(self-efficacy), and this belief is internalized and strengthened following repeated
experiences of success. Hence, people with high self-efficacy do not fear occasional
failures. On the other hand, individuals with low self-efficacy are characterized by fear
of failure, to the extent that they may avoid acting in the given sphere. In this study, the
interviewees in the group of leaders spoke a great deal about experiences of success
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that they had accumulated in various leadership roles. The non-leaders, on the other
hand, expressed fear of failure in large measure. The statements cited in the previous
section were taken from reports testifying to the building of self-efficacy in the sphere
of leadership. I learned from the responsibility that my parents gave me (when they
went away on holiday, for example) that I was capable of taking care of things, making
decisions, not panicking. It helped me a lot later on. When I was a leader in a youth
movement I recruited new members, contacted sponsors, organized things from A to
Z. It was very successful, a great experience. I saw that I had a lot of influence in the
Students Council and we did many successful things. I liked that feeling very much.
I was captain of the handball team. I felt that I was able to influence the morale of the
team.
Such experiences of success were also manifested in the way the interviewees in the
leaders group related to their own leadership ability in the military at the beginning of
their service. For example, a soldier said that his developmental history included many
experiences of leadership in his school and youth movement: I wanted to be duty
recruit (a task rotated weekly, in which a recruit liaises between the command staff and
the soldiers, and is responsible for ongoing administration). I asked for it and I really
think I succeeded. We were always on time. I made sure that the guys carried out all the
assignments properly. Most of the interviewees in the population of leaders reported
that their successes gave them a sense of satisfaction, of appreciation, that they were
doing important things. Most of them stated that they enjoyed this, and far from being
afraid of assuming leadership roles, they loved it. As opposed to this, many of the
descriptions given by interviewees in the non-leaders group reflected fears resulting
from lack of experience or from experience of failure (as revealed in the unfolding of
their personal stories). Im afraid of criticism, it makes me feel really bad and I dont
know how to go on after failing. To a question that all interviewees were asked: Have
you ever been or do you want to be duty recruit? a typical answer of the non-leaders
was I havent, and I hope it wont happen to me. Some typical explanations were Im
not comfortable being in the center. I dont know how I can go on after this failure (a
soldier who had served as duty recruit).

Acquisition of psychological and behavioral knowledge on influence

The detailed interviews with the soldiers elicited the exposure and formulation of the
knowledge they had acquired on influence (particularly personal influence) based on
 LODJ their accumulated experiences. The overt expression of this knowledge was in the
30,4 realm of behavioral skills, which are manifested in influence on people. But there were
also expressions of more covert knowledge, particularly in aspects of self-awareness
regarding influence on others. When you get the task of duty recruit, you understand
afterwards how you have to stand in front of people, how to look. Other knowledge
that is improved by experience may be called diagnostic knowledge related to
312 improving ones ability to identify peoples strengths, weaknesses, and motivations,
and to respond accordingly to persuade them to do their best. Some typical testimonies
of soldiers who had experienced the role of duty recruit were: I learned who needed
more attention. . .whom you had to speak to firmly and keep on a short rein, who you
didnt need to say much to and you could give a longer rein . . . Situational awareness
also develops as a result of experience. I learned that when situations arose of
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difficulty and tiredness you had to pacify them, speak quietly, display calm, not
pressure them. Situational awareness is also translated into other knowledge that is
an important component in processes of influencing people: transmitting messages
through informal channels: When I radiated calmness I really felt that the guys saw
that I was not afraid of facing an audience, that I was in control, that I was
authoritative. You learn what you have to convey to them and what you dont.

Discussion
In our search for the possible existence of unique features in the developmental process
of leaders, we compared a group of individuals who were perceived as leaders with
another group distinctly perceived as non-leaders. Significant differences emerged
between members of the two groups regarding early experiences. In all the aspects that
were examined, the leaders ranked higher than the non-leaders.
Based on the questionnaires, the leaders ranked notably higher than the non-leaders
in the categories referring to actual experience of leadership roles (guiding and
organizational roles) as well as in their perception of their social status and their
tendency to assume organizational roles at school. On the methodological level this
finding further validated our original division into leaders and non-leaders. The leaders
had experienced more leadership roles, and remembered themselves as liking to use
influence and as having high social status. The findings on concrete experiences of
leadership, the high correlation of these experiences with the perception of the
tendency to undertake leadership roles, and certainly the fact that a particular kind of
memory was shared more by one group (leaders) while other memories were shared
more by another group (non-leaders) all these seem largely to negate the possibility
that the differences are simply random recollections.
The findings that the leaders had more experiences of influencing people than the
non-leaders, and that these experiences enhanced self-perception as a leader,
strengthened their self-efficacy in the ability to influence people, and gave them
knowledge about their personal leadership, can serve as a basis for deeper
understanding of the development processes of leaders in everyday life (in
organizations, the community, etc). The evidence collected seems to indicate that
theory and research in the psychology of learning, and social and developmental
psychology, can provide a firm conceptual base for institutionalized processes of leader
development.
 For example, the knowledge and awareness arising from some of their experiences Leadership-
that others see me as a responsible person able to influence others is fundamental to, shaping
and congruent with theories and research on development of possible self (Markus
and Nurius, 1986) in general, and development of the self in leadership in particular experiences
(Shamir and Eilam, 2005; Shamir et al., 1993). These experiences facilitate the
individuals internalization of the leadership image and role, and this in turn impacts
the motivation to be a leader in the future as well as self-efficacy in leading. These two 313
aspects are especially important, as noted, during adolescence the age when the
self-identity is a focal issue (Erikson, 1959).
Beyond the aspects related to leadership self-concepts, experiences, to judge from
the reports, contribute substantially to the development of knowledge on leadership;
which is applicable in reality. For example, diagnostic knowledge, acquired through
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analysis of ones own experiences, affords sensitivity to persons and situations, and
facilitates reading people and their feelings. This quality is highly relevant to the
so-called transactional leadership (Bass, 1985), a style based on the leaders skills in
identifying peoples feelings, motivations, inclinations and expectations. The
assumption is that when the followers expectations and inclinations match the
leaders ability to set appropriate goals, and give suitable feedback and rewards, an
effective motivation deal ensues. The effective transactional leader is one able to
diagnose his or her followers needs and expectations and to motivate them to act
accordingly. Prominent models in leadership literature (e.g. LMX or the concepts of
transactional leadership: see Graen and Uhi-Bien, 1995, Bass, 1985) are based on the
assumptions of motivational deals between the leader and his or her followers based
on diagnostic assumption, meaning that the leader can diagnose accurately
himself/herself, his/her feelings, his/her tendencies and biases. This knowledge enables
him/her to execute the terms of the effective deal. These skills are cardinal in the
widening discussion on emotional intelligence and its connection with effective
leadership. For example Salovay and Mayer (1990) enumerate five aspects in the
definition of emotional intelligence:
(1) Self-awareness awareness of ones feelings while they are being felt.
(2) Management of ones emotions so that ones responses will be appropriate
(based on self-awareness).
(3) Creating self-motivation enlisting emotions in the service of a goal.
(4) Recognition of others emotions empathy.
(5) Dealing with relationships skill in management of others emotions.

These aspects, by their nature develop to great extent out of experiences, particularly
those involving reflective processes that permit precise and reliable learning. The
realistic and authentic dimension of such experiences works to turn them into learning
material more powerful than any simulative experience (McCall et al., 1988). Therefore,
the research process presented here extracting experiences and reflecting on them
can be developed into a methodology of leadership development. This idea has a
history and broad support in the literature: for example, Schon (1987) argued that
reflective learning is especially relevant to learning from experiences that are complex,
happened then and there (,that is in a realistic situations in the past) and not
 LODJ necessarily here and now (in a simulated situation). Indeed, their reflection on
30,4 crucible experiences forced the leaders interviewed to engage in meaning making of
learning experiences. Bennis and Thomas (2002) interviewed more than 40 top leaders
in business and the public sector over a three-year period and stated that all of them
were able to point to intense experiences that had become the sources of their
distinctive leadership capabilities.
314 The advantage of methodical reflection processes is that they uncover a persons
tacit knowledge and give it open and formal expression (Sternberg, 1981). Yet when
this process takes place in a group it can stimulate the discovery and formulation of
principles (of leadership, in this case) beyond the individuals experience. The group,
therefore, can serve as a tool both for generalization of principles and for their
empirical verification based on the repertoire of experiences that are exposed in the
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group (Janson et al., 2008).

These approaches underlie learning processes that are perhaps different in practice
but have common theoretical foundations of sense-making processes (Weick, 1995) or
methodologies of reconstruction and construction of the personal story (Shamir and
Eilam, 2005). The main advantages of these methods is that they create a link between
the present, the past, and the future, rather than focusing on drawing conclusions
which may be partial and overly specific. Moreover, the integration, the analysis of the
story can serve various developmental functions, from the development of specific
behavioral skills in the realm of impression management relevant to leadership (e.g.
dramaturgical skills: see Gardner and Avolio, 1998), through development of
self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1986) in certain spheres, to the formation of a conception
and messages (Shamir and Eilam, 2005; Shamir et al., 1993).
The main didactic benefit underlying the approach suggested here can be
characterized by the old proverb Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life; the emphasis is on developing
concepts and methods that permit self-examination of leadership. The reflective
ability that is acquired through this type of practice fosters the development of
leadership. In any place and at any time the only platform required for this
reflection is experience.
Future studies can broaden our knowledge in this domain by applying more diverse
methods of extracting knowledge from leadership experiences (London, 2002; Janson
et al., 2008). Also, the generalizability of this study is limited since it was conducted in
the military and the subjects were all young male soldiers. More empirical works
should address differences in ages, gender and settings. Variety of such studies can
yield:
.
clearer distinctions, descriptions and definitions of leadership experiences
(particularly at early ages);
.
better understanding of how learning from leadership-oriented activities occurs;
.
better understanding of sense-making processes (Weick, 1995) regarding past
leadership experiences; and
.
the formulation of more focused contingency leadership learning models.
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Corresponding authors
Karin Amit can be contacted at: karina@ruppin.ac.il and Micha Popper can be contacted at:
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mpopper@psy.haifa.ac.il

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