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Effective Executive Journal

Developing Leadership Maturity: Ego Development and Personality Coaching

Article Details

Pub. Date	: March 2022
Product Name	: Effective Executive
Product Type	: Coaching and Mentoring
Product Code	: EECM03032022
Author Name	:Jay Pillay and Kurt April
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Management
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 34

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Abstract

This study seeks to evaluate how interventions exposing leaders to ego development models and personality coaching could cultivate leadership maturity. The intervention targeted two levels of adult and leadership development. The first level involved basic understanding of differences in individual and other personalities and preferences. The aim here was to open up an individual's perspective, fine-tune their behavioral repertoire and help them deal with people and situations more successfully. The second level aimed to provoke the individual to see the world through multiple sets of lenses and change their interpretations and meaning of experience. The research revealed that maturity interventions were the first stage in sparking the process of maturity development for leaders. The intervention created a level of tension and disharmony that was necessary for participants to question their beliefs and assumptions about both the inner and outer worlds. The study highlights that the program had been successful on the first level; however, success on the second level was contingent on individuals taking the initiative and embracing their development needs. Only then could transition to post-conventional maturity be realized.

Introduction

Organizations are always challenged with sourcing knowledgeable, wise, complex and decisive leaders. These leaders go beyond just competency and positional power but have a high degree of maturity. For organizations to be really successful, they must have both mature leaders and a mature and effective leadership system (Armitage et al., 2006). In order to achieve maturity, the leader needs to know where they are currently and take proactive strides to improve their level of maturity (Pfaffenberger, 2005). It is important to note that it is not always true that the highe