Impact of training on leadership development - Lessons from a leadership training program

The study examined the impact of a 19-year-old leadership training program on the participants. Both qualitative (interviews, document analyses, and direct observations) and quantitative (preworkshop, end-of-session, poshworkshop, and follow-up questionnaires) research techniques were combined in the study. Data were collected from four groups of stakeholders-namely, the participants, the sponsoring organizations the instructors or facilitators, and the administrators of the program. In all, 234 respondents were involved in the study The increase and/or changes in participants' leadership knowledge, skills, and attitudes constituted the criteria used for determining the impact of the program. The participants perceived that, because of the training, their knowledge and skills increased and their attitudes changed om preworkshop to postworkshop. Significant differences in mean response values were found in the leadership behavior of the participants on the job after the training. Implications of the findings for organizations. programmers, and future research are discussed.