Leader Life-Span Experience Management: A Practice-Oriented Approach

Abstract

Experiences accumulated over a life-time impact, form and shape a leader’s identity. Significant people, places and events influence individual leaders’ perceptions of how leaders should behave. By identifying and integrating his/her high-impact leadership relevant experiences, a leader gains a better understanding of who he/she is as a leader. This, in turn, can be used in optimizing his/her effectiveness. After reviewing some related literature, a practice-oriented framework is provided to help leaders arrive at a coherent formulation of who they are as leaders based upon relevant leadership experiences across their life span. An example application of the framework is provided. Some challenges in applying this approach are also offered.