Explore the leadership training background from 19th-century Great Man theory to modern adult learning principles. Discover how evidence-based methods transformed development.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Mon 24th November 2025
Leadership training possesses a background far richer than most executives realise. The field has evolved from 19th-century assumptions that leaders were born, not made, to sophisticated adult learning frameworks grounded in decades of empirical research. Understanding this evolution isn't merely academic—it reveals why some approaches consistently fail whilst others transform organisations.
When social scientists in the 1930s first determined that leadership is something people do rather than something people are, they fundamentally shifted the premise of development. Leadership could be learned. This insight launched nearly a century of research into how adults acquire leadership capabilities, producing frameworks that distinguish effective programmes from expensive failures.
The Great Man theory, popularised in the 19th century, argued that leaders possessed innate qualities—intelligence, charisma, courage—that ordinary people lacked. This perspective dominated Victorian thinking, exemplified by Thomas Carlyle's assertion that "the history of the world is but the biography of great men."
Under this paradigm, leadership training made little sense. You either possessed the requisite traits or you didn't. Organisations focused on identifying natural leaders rather than developing them. The British Empire's administrative class, selected through rigorous examinations testing classical education, embodied this approach: find the right people, place them in positions of authority, and let inherent qualities emerge.
World War II shattered this comfortable assumption. The sheer scale of military mobilisation required developing leadership capacity far beyond the pool of "natural" leaders. Organisations discovered that ordinary soldiers could, through systematic training and experience, become effective leaders. This empirical observation forced a theoretical reckoning.
The behaviour theory emerged in the early 20th century, proposing that effective leadership could be learned through observation and practice rather than inheritance. Researchers at Ohio State University and the University of Michigan identified specific behaviours distinguishing effective from ineffective leaders.
This shift proved revolutionary. If leadership comprised learnable behaviours, organisations could develop leaders systematically. Training programmes proliferated throughout the 1950s and 1960s, teaching communication techniques, decision-making frameworks, and team management strategies.
However, early behavioural approaches encountered a persistent problem: behaviours that worked brilliantly in one context failed spectacularly in another. A directive leadership style might drive results in a crisis whilst undermining morale during stable periods. The search for universal leadership behaviours gave way to more nuanced frameworks.
Contingency and situational leadership theories emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, proposing that effective leadership depended on matching communication style to followers' needs and specific circumstances. Fred Fiedler's Contingency Theory and Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership model exemplified this evolution.
These frameworks introduced critical sophistication to leadership training. Rather than teaching a single "correct" approach, programmes now developed diagnostic capabilities—helping leaders assess situations and adapt their behaviour accordingly.
| Era | Dominant Theory | Training Implication |
|---|---|---|
| 19th Century | Great Man Theory | Selection over development |
| 1930s-1950s | Trait Theory | Identify and cultivate specific characteristics |
| 1950s-1970s | Behaviour Theory | Teach observable leadership behaviours |
| 1960s-1980s | Contingency/Situational | Develop adaptive leadership approaches |
| 1978-Present | Transformational Leadership | Focus on inspiration and vision |
| 2000s-Present | Authentic/Servant Leadership | Emphasise values and follower development |
In 1978, James MacGregor Burns introduced transformational leadership, theorising it as a process where leaders interact with followers to inspire collective advancement. Burns distinguished transformational leadership (elevating both leader and follower) from transactional leadership (exchanging rewards for performance).
Bernard Bass expanded Burns' framework in the 1980s, identifying four components of transformational leadership: idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration. These concepts dramatically influenced leadership development.
Training programmes shifted from purely technical skill-building to developing capacities for inspiring vision, challenging assumptions, and fostering individual growth. The British notion of "servant leadership," with historical roots in military tradition where officers ate last, found renewed relevance in transformational frameworks.
Malcolm Knowles' andragogy—the art and science of helping adults learn—provides foundational principles for effective leadership development. Adults learn differently than children, requiring approaches that honour these differences.
The five core principles of adult learning include:
Conger's 1992 work Learning to Lead applied these principles specifically to leadership development, identifying four key elements: skill-building, feedback, conceptual understanding, and personal growth. Effective programmes integrate all four rather than emphasising one dimension.
Modern leadership development draws from five adult learning orientations: cognitivist, behaviorist, humanist, social cognitive, and constructivist. The most effective curricula blend all five rather than privileging a single approach.
Cognitivist approaches focus on mental processes—how leaders perceive situations, process information, and make decisions. Training emphasises frameworks, mental models, and decision heuristics that improve cognitive processing.
Behaviorist methods emphasise observable actions and reinforcement. Simulations, role-plays, and structured practice with feedback represent behaviorist principles in action.
Humanist perspectives, drawing from Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, prioritise self-actualisation and personal growth. Executive coaching often employs humanist principles, helping leaders clarify values and align behaviour with authentic self-concept.
Social cognitive theory recognises that people learn through observation, modelling, and social interaction. Action learning sets and peer coaching networks embody social cognitive principles.
Constructivist approaches emphasise that learners actively construct knowledge rather than passively receiving it. Case study methods and experiential learning reflect constructivist foundations.
David Kolb's experiential learning cycle—concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation—provides a powerful framework for leadership development. Adults don't learn leadership primarily through instruction but through cycles of experience and reflection.
The 70-20-10 model, developed at the Centre for Creative Leadership, codifies this reality: approximately 70% of learning comes from challenging experiences, 20% from developmental relationships, and 10% from formal coursework and training.
This distribution challenges the "training tourism" model where leaders attend occasional workshops disconnected from daily challenges. Effective development integrates formal learning (the 10%) with developmental relationships (the 20%) and, most critically, challenging experiences that force application and adaptation (the 70%).
Jack Mezirow's transformational learning theory addresses how adults develop greater cognitive and affective capacities to manage leadership complexity. Unlike informational learning (acquiring new knowledge within existing frameworks), transformational learning challenges and reshapes the frameworks themselves.
Leadership development that achieves transformational learning helps participants question assumptions, examine alternative perspectives, and reconstruct meaning-making systems. This deep change proves essential for senior leaders navigating strategic complexity and ambiguity.
Transformational learning typically requires: disorienting dilemmas that challenge existing frameworks, critical reflection on assumptions, dialogue with others holding different perspectives, and experimental action to test new approaches. Programmes incorporating these elements generate more profound development than those focusing solely on skill acquisition.
Social constructivist approaches emphasise that leadership capability emerges through social interaction and collaborative meaning-making. Leadership isn't merely an individual competency but a social process requiring shared understanding and coordinated action.
This perspective suggests that leadership development should emphasise collaboration, dialogue, and collective sense-making rather than individual skill accumulation. Action learning programmes where cohorts tackle real organisational challenges exemplify social constructivist principles.
Research evaluating the contribution of humanistic philosophy of adult learning in leadership development demonstrates that approaches grounded in relevance, meaningfulness, collaboration, and feedback prove more effective than transmission models treating participants as passive recipients.
The theoretical background of leadership training yields specific design principles that distinguish effective from ineffective programmes:
1. Relevance to immediate challenges: Adult learning principles demand that development addresses problems leaders currently face, not abstract competencies they might someday need.
2. Integration of multiple learning modalities: Blending cognitive, behaviorist, humanist, social cognitive, and constructivist approaches creates richer development than single-theory programmes.
3. Experiential learning as core: Providing challenging experiences with structured reflection opportunities leverages the reality that most leadership learning occurs through practice, not instruction.
4. Longitudinal design: Transformation requires extended engagement, typically 6-12 months, allowing cycles of experience, reflection, conceptualisation, and experimentation.
5. Developmental relationships: Coaching, mentoring, and peer learning relationships provide the 20% of development that formal programmes cannot.
Digital platforms and artificial intelligence now enable personalised learning pathways that adapt to individual leader strengths, challenges, and context. This represents a significant evolution from one-size-fits-all curricula that dominated the field for decades.
Virtual reality simulations create psychologically safe environments for practising difficult conversations and crisis management—addressing a persistent challenge in leadership development: how do leaders gain experience with high-stakes situations before facing them in reality?
However, technology remains a delivery mechanism rather than a theoretical foundation. The most effective digital approaches still ground themselves in adult learning principles, experiential frameworks, and social constructivist recognition that leadership develops through relationships and dialogue.
Contemporary leadership development synthesises insights from a century of theoretical evolution and empirical research. The field has moved beyond simplistic debates (nature versus nurture, traits versus behaviours, individual versus situational) to integrated frameworks recognising multiple factors.
Modern approaches acknowledge that:
This integrated perspective demands sophisticated programme design that addresses multiple dimensions simultaneously—a far cry from early training focused narrowly on specific techniques.
Understanding the leadership training background reveals predictable patterns: each theoretical advance addressed limitations in previous frameworks whilst introducing new challenges. Great Man theory's determinism gave way to behavioural optimism, which encountered contextual complexity, leading to contingency frameworks that sometimes overwhelmed practitioners with situational nuance.
The pattern suggests that future evolution will likely:
The British tradition of pragmatism—valuing what works over theoretical purity—offers valuable guidance. The most effective practitioners don't choose between competing theories but thoughtfully integrate insights suited to specific contexts and development objectives.
Formal leadership training emerged in the 1930s when social scientists determined that leadership is something people do rather than an inherent trait. World War II significantly accelerated development, as military organisations needed to rapidly develop leadership capacity beyond the pool of "natural" leaders. Post-war, these methods transferred to business contexts, with programmes proliferating throughout the 1950s and 1960s. However, informal leadership development has existed for millennia—apprenticeship models in guilds, military officer training, and philosophical education all developed leadership capabilities long before formal programmes emerged.
Modern leadership development rests on adult learning theory, particularly Malcolm Knowles' andragogy, which identifies how adults learn differently than children. Key theoretical foundations include Kolb's experiential learning cycle, transformational learning theory addressing how adults reshape meaning-making frameworks, social constructivism emphasising collaborative knowledge creation, and the 70-20-10 model recognising that most learning occurs through experience rather than instruction. Effective programmes integrate insights from multiple learning theories—cognitivist, behaviorist, humanist, social cognitive, and constructivist—rather than privileging a single approach. This theoretical synthesis emerged from decades of research demonstrating that leadership development requires more sophisticated approaches than simple skill transmission.
Leadership theories evolved through distinct phases: Great Man theory (19th century) assumed leaders were born with innate qualities; trait theory (1930s-1950s) identified specific characteristics distinguishing leaders; behaviour theory (1950s-1970s) proposed that leadership behaviours could be learned; contingency and situational theories (1960s-1980s) recognised that effectiveness depended on context; transformational leadership (1978-present) emphasised inspiration and vision; and contemporary approaches including authentic, servant, and adaptive leadership integrate multiple perspectives. This evolution reflects growing theoretical sophistication, moving from simplistic either/or debates to integrated frameworks recognising that leadership involves complex interactions between individual capabilities, behaviours, relationships, and contexts.
Early programmes failed primarily because they ignored adult learning principles and the complexity of behavioural change. Many treated leadership development as information transfer—assuming that teaching concepts would automatically change behaviour. They neglected the reality that adults learn through experience and reflection, require relevance to immediate challenges, and need extended practice with feedback to develop new capabilities. Additionally, early programmes often focused on generic competencies disconnected from organisational context, lacked senior executive support, measured satisfaction rather than behavioural change, and treated development as one-time events rather than sustained processes. Understanding this historical failure pattern helps contemporary designers avoid repeating predictable mistakes.
Experience provides approximately 70% of leadership learning, according to research from the Centre for Creative Leadership. However, experience alone doesn't guarantee development—the critical factor is structured reflection that extracts lessons from experience and informs future action. Kolb's experiential learning cycle demonstrates that development occurs through iterative cycles: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation. Effective programmes deliberately create challenging experiences (stretch assignments, action learning projects, simulations) whilst providing structured reflection opportunities through coaching, peer dialogue, and guided analysis. This integration of experience and reflection proves far more powerful than either element alone, explaining why on-the-job development often exceeds classroom training in impact.
Adults bring extensive life experience to learning situations, require understanding of why learning matters, need involvement in planning their development, prioritise problem-solving over content mastery, and respond primarily to internal motivations rather than external rewards. These differences demand fundamentally different approaches than childhood education. Effective adult learning honours participants' experience, demonstrates immediate relevance, involves learners in design and assessment, focuses on practical application, and connects to intrinsic motivations. Leadership development programmes violating these principles—treating adults as passive recipients of expert knowledge, emphasising theoretical content over practical application, or relying on external compliance rather than internal commitment—predictably generate poor outcomes regardless of content quality.
Transformational leadership theory, introduced by Burns in 1978 and expanded by Bass in the 1980s, fundamentally reshaped development practice. Rather than focusing purely on technical skills or transactional management, programmes began emphasising capacities for inspiring vision, challenging assumptions, providing individualised support, and modelling values. This shift elevated the developmental sophistication of leadership training from simple skill-building to transformation of how leaders understand their role and impact. Modern programmes incorporating transformational principles focus on self-awareness, values clarification, vision articulation, and the ability to inspire and develop others—capabilities requiring deeper personal work than earlier technical training. This theoretical contribution explains why contemporary development often includes coaching, reflection exercises, and work on leader identity and purpose.
The background of leadership training reveals a field that has matured from simplistic assumptions to sophisticated, evidence-based practice. Understanding this evolution provides more than historical perspective—it offers practical guidance for distinguishing approaches likely to succeed from those repeating well-documented failures.
The theoretical synthesis emerging from decades of research yields clear implications: effective leadership development grounds itself in adult learning principles, provides challenging experiences with structured reflection, integrates multiple learning modalities, extends over sufficient time for behavioural change, and creates developmental relationships supporting application.
Organisations investing in leadership development without understanding this background risk repeating historical mistakes—treating adults like children, emphasising information over experience, seeking universal solutions to contextual challenges, or expecting transformation from brief training events. The 75% failure rate plaguing leadership programmes stems largely from ignoring lessons the field learned decades ago.
The most valuable insight from leadership training background might be this: leadership development isn't primarily about choosing the right content but about understanding how adults transform into more capable leaders. That understanding, grounded in theoretical foundations and empirical research, represents the difference between programmes that transform organisations and those that merely consume budgets.
As the field continues evolving—incorporating neuroscience insights, leveraging digital technologies, addressing distributed leadership—the fundamental principles established over the past century remain remarkably constant. Adults learn through experience and reflection. Transformation requires time and support. Context matters enormously. And effective development addresses the whole person, not merely discrete competencies.
The background informs the future. Organisations that understand this foundation position themselves to design development initiatives that honour what we know about how leaders actually develop—avoiding expensive detours into approaches that sound appealing but contradict established evidence.