It has been the implicit assumption of this study that the development of effective vocational education administrator-leaders depends not just upon raw talent and formal education, but also upon on-the-job experiences. The study has shown, moreover, that all on-the-job experiences are not perceived to be equal in their potential for developing leadership qualities. Further, it is apparent that the type of experience is related to the nature of the leadership quality improved.
It is instructive, therefore, to compare the results of this study with the outcomes of a major investigation conducted in business and industry by McCall, Lombardo, and Morrison (1988). Nearly 200 senior business executives were interviewed about the experiences that had the greatest impact upon their careers.
The essence of the conclusions drawn in the McCall et al. study was summarized by Ohlott et al. (1993):
. . . on-the-job learning is most likely to occur when managers are faced with challenging situations. Challenging situations place the manager in dynamic settings full of problems to solve and choices to make under conditions of risk and uncertainty. These situations are developmental for two reasons. First, they provide a motivation for learning. . . . Second, challenging situations provide the opportunity to take action and to learn from the effectiveness of the action. (p. 1)
These findings are completely consistent with the results of this study, which concludes that job changes and special start-up assignments are effective experiences when (and because) they present (1) the challenge of new and/or complex tasks or problems; (2) the chance to learn new ideas, practices, insights; and (3) the opportunity to apply and practice skills and knowledge. McCall et al. (1988) also recognize the impact of working with supervisors who can provide role models. They also reported a lasting effect of job challenge early in the manager's career. That was not the case in this study where it was revealed that only a minority of vocational education administrator-leaders felt the timing of their effective experiences was significant.
Finally, the qualities found to be developed by challenging experiences and a supportive supervisor were all among those reported by McCall et al. (1988). What stands out as relatively unique, however, is the great importance vocational education administrator-leaders placed upon improvement in their communication abilities as a result of the experiences.
Other current research also reports results similar to those presented in this study.
Kouzes and Posner (1995) submitted a Personal-Best Leadership Experience Questionnaire to over 2,500 persons in mid- to upper-level management positions in a variety of organizations. From asking the question, "How did you learn to lead?" Kouzes and Posner have summarized three opportunities for learning to lead: (1) trial and error, (2) observation of others, and (3) education. With regard to trial and error, Kouzes and Posner concluded, as did this study, that the benefits of trying are gained primarily when attempting challenging activities, not routine ones. Observations of others include negative role models as well as effective ones--another finding of the current project. These persons are generally mentors, immediate supervisors/managers, or peers. Education can be formal or informal, self-initiated or initiated by the employing organization. Its benefits are not only personal insights into how to practice the leadership role, but also the contacts that are made with other aspiring leaders and managers. The interviews in this project support similar important outcomes.
A previous study (Moss & Jensrud, 1995) has shown that male and female administrative-leaders need the same qualities to be maximally effective, but that, as department heads, women actually possessed slightly more team building skills and were significantly better at motivating others and using appropriate leadership styles than men. The present study revealed that more men than women thought they had improved these same qualities as the result of their on-the-job experiences. It might be hypothesized that the on-the-job experiences were perceived by men who were (now) chief vocational administrators to have strengthened some of their earlier deficiencies. By the same token, women may have used on-the-job experiences to further develop their networking and organizing skills and to improve their ability to be insightful.
When the vocational education administrator-leaders sampled by this study recommended experiences they believed would develop future leaders, they tended to place greater emphasis upon formal education programs such as leadership academies, than they themselves had experienced. This seems reasonable since formal leadership training programs have not been offered for very long. But the recommendations also appear to have underemphasized somewhat the opportunities for the same kinds of on-the-job experiences that respondents felt were most effective for them, that is, providing new or increased responsibilities, special start-up assignments, and handling personnel problems. Yet, when asked to indicate the most developmental aspects of their recommended experiences, the responding vocational education administrator-leaders reiterated those aspects that they had found most useful in their own experiences and which were consistent with on-the-job experiences. Perhaps respondents did not fully appreciate the many opportunities they controlled within their own institutions for developing future leaders, and need to be reminded about how they can provide those opportunities.