Self-regulation and leadership: Implications for leader performance and leader development

摘要: Leader behavior is a social influence process and, as such, requires an understanding of social factors that affect perceptions. Social cognitive theory has been used in the past to describe followers’ perceptions of leader behavior, effectiveness, and prototypicality. However, much less research has examined how social cognitive views of leader self-perception impact leader behavior. This chapter explores the continued and potential contribution of theories of self-regulation for leadership performance and development. Social psychological principles explaining both the structure and function of the self have vast implications for leadership; therefore, we overview theorizing incorporating ideas of the self, including leader self-schema and identity, as well as components of self-regulation such as self-efficacy and self-awareness within current theories of leadership.Goal-driven, self-motivated, accomplishment-oriented, self-disciplined are common words used to describe successful individuals, and especially individuals who rise to positions of organizational and political leadership. Underlying these concepts is the belief that the key to success lies in one’s own hands. Although popular writing underscoring preferred leadership skills and abilities identifies both the self-regulation of goal-directed behaviors and