Leaders in the nonprofit sector: leader and organizational level predictors of leader engagement in self-development activities

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to better understand the individual and organizational antecedents of leader self-development in the nonprofit sector. Data were collected from 94 nonprofit leaders and 340 nonprofit employees and volunteers. Individual-level analyses revealed that three leader characteristics (developmental efficacy, learning adaptability, and propensity to self-develop) significantly predicted multiple indicators of leader engagement in self-development activities. Multi-level analyses failed to support the expected relationship between organizational-level characteristics (organizational support for development, organizational barriers to development, learning environment) and leader engagement in self-development activities. Finally, five interactions of leader and organizational characteristics significantly predicted leader self-development outcomes, but were in the opposite direction than expected. Implications and opportunities for future research on leader self-development are discussed.