Future Trends in Leadership Development Practices and the Crucial Leadership Skills

Leadership, in today's rapidly changing and unstable business environment, becomes critically important. However, leadership development practices have not proven adequate to meet the challenges of the new era. The present cross-cultural research aims to examine the crucial leadership skills for the 21st-century leaders, especially in times of crisis, and identify similarities and differences between five European countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, and Cyprus) and the U.S. In addition, the role of a leader in the 21st century and the leadership development methods needed for future leaders were investigated. The sample consisted of 65 leadership experts. The results revealed some similarities, but, also, specific differences between the five European countries and the U.S. in the essential leadership skills and the ones needed in times of crisis. A gap was also identified between the required and the observed leadership skills in the workplace in both European countries, and the U.S., implying the need for a paradigm shift in leadership development methods to prepare future leaders capable of navigating in an uncertain and complex world

The impact of emotional intelligence on effective human resources management in the field of education: the role of leadership

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to investigate the impact of teachers' emotional intelligence on leadership, commitment and effectiveness in their work and on the satisfaction they gain from it. The methodology included the use of questionnaires and interviews with teachers (n =332) and principals (n= 51) of primary and secondary schools of Attica and Piraeus. The results - using the method of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) - showed that emotional intelligence has a high direct positive effect on both leadership behavior (beta=0.48, p < = 0.01) and on teachers' effectiveness (beta=0.43, p < 0.01), explaining a relatively high percentage of variance. Especially for principals, it seemed that emotional intelligence has a high indirect positive effect on effectiveness through their leadership behavior. The results of this thesis could be used practically for more efficient human resource management in the field of education. In particular, emotional intelligence and leadership could be included in the selection, training and assessment of teachers and school leaders in Greece.Στόχος της διδακτορικής αυτής διατριβής είναι να ερευνήσει την επίδραση της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης των εκπαιδευτικών στην ηγετική συμπεριφορά, αφοσίωση και αποτελεσματικότητά στο έργο τους αλλά και στην ικανοποίηση που αποκομίζουν από αυτό. Η μεθοδολογία της έρευνας περιλάμβανε τη χρήση ερωτηματολογίων και συνεντεύξεων με εκπαιδευτικούς (n =332) και διευθυντές (n= 51) πρωτοβάθμιας και δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης των νομών Αττικής και Πειραιά. Τα αποτελέσματα - με τη μέθοδο της ανάλυσης δομικών μοντέλων (SEM) - έδειξαν ότι η συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη έχει μία υψηλή άμεση θετική επίδραση τόσο στην ηγετική συμπεριφορά (beta=0,48, p < 0,01) όσο και στην αποτελεσματικότητα (beta=0,43, p < 0,01) των εκπαιδευτικών, εξηγώντας ένα αρκετό υψηλό ποσοστό διακύμανσης. Ειδικά για τους διευθυντές φάνηκε ότι η συναισθηματική νοημοσύνη έχει μία υψηλή έμμεση θετική επίδραση στην αποτελεσματικότητα μέσω των ηγετικής τους συμπεριφοράς. Τα αποτελέσματα της παρούσας διατριβής θα μπορούσαν να αξιοποιηθούν πρακτικά για την αποτελεσματικότερη Διοίκηση Ανθρωπίνων Πόρων στο χώρο της εκπαίδευσης. Συγκεκριμένα θα μπορούσαν να συμπεριληφθούν οι παράμετροι της συναισθηματικής νοημοσύνης και της ηγεσίας, στην επιλογή, εκπαίδευση και αξιολόγηση των εκπαιδευτικών και διευθυντών των σχολείων της χώρας μας

The Development of an innovative leadership training programme for European young professionals in times of crisis

This paper presents the development of a leadership training programme for enhancing leadership skills in young business leaders. Following a survey conducted in four European countries (Latvia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Bulgaria) attempting to identify the needs for new leadership skills during the economic crisis, a leadership programme was designed to train young leaders in the leadership skills identified as the most crucial. Pilot testing of the training programme with the participation of the trainers from the four receiving countries revealed a significant level of satisfaction among most of the participants