Leaders play an outstanding role in companies and organizations. While an incompetent boss can spoil the pleasure of working (and sometimes even more), an inspiring boss can contribute to work being perceived as meaningful and fulfilling. All the more important is the question: Can good leadership behavior be trained?

To answer this question, a gigantic meta-analysis evaluated 335 studies with over 26,000 subjects (Lacerenza et al., 2017). The researchers were able to show not only that good leadership behavior can indeed be trained, but also what is particularly important in leadership training….

These research findings are of great importance for decisions in the field of industrial and organizational psychology, business psychology, personnel psychology, and leadership psychology.

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Studies (small sample only):

Collins, D. B., & Holton, E. F. (2001). The effectiveness of managerial leadership development programs: A meta-analysis of studies from 1982 to 2001. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 15, 217-248. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.1099

Day, D. V. (2000). Leadership development: a review in context. The Leadership Quarterly, 11, 581-613. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S10489843(00)00061-8.

Lacerenza, C. N., Reyes, D. L., Marlow, S. L., Joseph, D. L., & Salas, E. (2017). Leadership training design, delivery, and implementation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(12), 1686.

Nerdinger, F. W. (2014). Work motivation and job satisfaction. In Industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 419-440). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Nerdinger, F. W. (2014). Leadership of employees. In Industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 83-102). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Nerdinger, F. W., Antoni, C., Bamberg, E., Blickle, G., Felfe, J., & Göritz, A. (2016). Industrial and organizational psychology A & O. Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 60(1).