Until recently, the specific characteristics and impact of effective on-the-job experiences have been largely unexplored (Kotter, 1988; McCauley, 1986). Beginning in the 1980s, researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) conducted a series of studies directed toward on-the-job learning. One of these studies (McCall, Lombardo, & Morrison, 1988) focused on interviews with nearly 200 senior business executives to determine experiences that had the greatest impact on their careers and what had been learned from them. Findings of this study were used to create an instrument capable of assessing developmental opportunities in diverse management jobs. The instrument's manual and trainer's guide (Ohlott, McCauley, & Ruderman, 1993) states that the fundamental conclusion of the McCall et al. (1988) study and the basic premise of the instrument are that
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)
The McCall et al. (1988) study results also revealed that what was learned from challenging on-the-job experiences was not technical in nature, but consisted of leadership attributes such as handling relationships, temperament, basic values, and personal awareness. These results were confirmed by Valerio (1990) in her study of New York Telephone Company managers.
The results of several CCL studies support the notion that persons' on-the-job experiences can have a positive impact on managers' leadership development. McCall (1988) prepared a report that summarized a series of studies focusing on successful, high-potential executives. Sixteen developmental experiences were described, as well as the elements that made them developmental, and what executives stated they learned from the experiences. A report written by Lombardo and Eichinger (1989) documented five broad categories of experience that research has shown executives indicate are potentially developmental: challenging jobs, other people (mostly bosses), hardships, coursework, and off-the-job experiences. The authors then detailed 88 developmental experiences that executives can use to help them have a greater variety of leadership challenges and to assist them in learning from these challenges. In a companion report, Eichinger & Lombardo (1990) recommended 22 ways that staff managers could develop leadership skills and, thus, close the leadership gap between staff jobs and careers.
Thus, research conducted in business settings has shown that the timing and type of on-the-job experiences (e.g., use of mentors, cross-organizational experience opportunities) are relevant variables in the study of on-the-job leadership development. Further, the extent and nature of the challenge an experience presents to an individual are of significance in its developmental effectiveness. Researchers have also identified a number of ways that on-the-job experiences can be used to improve and enhance executives' and staff managers' leadership capabilities. Unfortunately, little is known about the ways on-the-job experiences contribute to public educators' leadership capabilities. Research related to leadership development in public education settings has traditionally tended to focus on the study of formal leadership programs and their impact on participants with little consideration given to how leadership may be developed on-the-job (Griffiths, Stout, & Forsyth, 1988).