Abstract
M.Phil. (Personal & Professional Leadership)
“Why should we pay for leaders to find themselves?” is a question that has been
posed to the researcher numerous times in her career as an executive coach. The
link between self-awareness and leadership is at best ignored and more often
dismissed by organisations as irrelevant. The problem posed by this study was that
all too often organisations focus on leaders’ performance and tangible results only.
Instead, it is important to take a holistic leadership approach that integrates who the
leader is with what the leader does. By looking at leadership learnings from a
catalytic experience, the research connects the concepts of catalytic experience with
self-awareness, personal leadership and leadership in an organisational context.
The objective of this study was to explore the learnings derived from personal
catalytic experiences in a leadership context. Identifying themes related to these
learnings enabled leaders to gain a deeper understanding of personal leadership and
its importance in organisations. Personal leadership is a pillar of leadership that
focuses on who the leader is, including concepts such as personal mastery, selfawareness,
meaning and purpose. Together with performance, personal leadership
creates a holistic view of leadership in an organisational context.
The key focus of the study was to draw leadership learnings from leaders’ catalytic
experiences. The research paradigm utilised was qualitative. Narrative inquiry was
used as a research strategy. The research method was unstructured interviews and
a thematic analysis of the data. This method enabled leaders to first tell their stories
and then gain learnings. The learnings were analysed by identifying the emerging
themes, using thematic analysis, that could be related to various aspects of personal
leadership and then linking these to the discoveries from the literature review.
Most of the leadership learnings related to aspects of personal leadership,
highlighting the reality that personal leadership is at the heart of leadership as a
whole, even in an organisational context. Leaders found that taking time to reflect on
their catalytic experiences helped the draw learnings and turn often challenging
catalytic events into opportunities for learning, growth and meaning-making. Based on the findings and conclusions, it was determined that personal leadership
grows through catalytic experiences and through having an opportunity to reflect on
these. Specific leadership qualities emerged when a person had adverse
experiences and managed to get through them in a way that turned these adverse
experiences into opportunities for learning and growth. Leaders sought meaning from
catalytic experiences and were often shaped by them. In a sense this helped to
create true leaders since they lead from within.
Catalytic experiences were first defined and then described based on the themes
emerging from the leaders’ stories in terms of their type, number and emotional
value. Survival came up as a strong thread in each leader’s telling of their story. In
terms of the leadership learnings from the catalytic experiences, these were able to
be categorised, as follows: the ‘doing’ of leadership; the ‘being’ of leadership; interpersonal
relationships; and meaning and purpose. Factors enabling leaders to get
through the experiences meaningfully were also discussed.
The study concluded by making recommendations that can be used by organisations
in designing leadership development programmes. The contribution of the study is in
enabling organisations to use the findings to help leaders derive learning and
experience personal growth without necessarily having to go through the experience
of a challenging catalytic event. Offering leaders opportunities to reflect on
challenging experiences and then sharing those experiences and reflections can
contribute to a holistic approach of developing leaders in organisations.
The key learning for the researcher, as a result of embarking on this research study,
is to recognise the internal treasure chest that resides within each individual. In order
to be a good leader, a level of self-awareness and understanding is required together
with the recognition of the importance of purpose and meaning. Each individual’s
unique qualities and experiences contribute to their leadership journey and it is
through life experiences and challenges that people develop and grow. Even a small
learning can have a far-reaching impact. The research journey has been a journey of
learning for the researcher on a personal level and was illustrated by the use of the
butterfly metaphor throughout the writing.