Introduction
The current changes in the sphere of management and organizational life have increased the necessity for leaders to develop their skills, become better learners, and be better leaders (Leonard & Lang 2010). The researchers have proven the fact that many organizations have already faced the challenges connected with the inabilities to find enough time and resources to increase and develop the skills of their leaders in a proper way (Linsky & Heifetz 2002; Lojeski 2010). The 21st century creates the necessity to improve or even learn a line of new skills and competencies with the help of which leaders may continue performing their functions at a high level. One of the main reasons why leaders should think about re-evaluating their abilities is the presence of a high rating of leadership failures. More than 40% of new leaders are not able to pass their first 18-month trial periods and do not know what they have to do during their promotion. Still, this data is not stable, and more dramatic changes can be observed. The representatives of Challenger, Gray, & Christmas Inc., one of the well-known American career transitioning organizations, inform that CEO ratings have double failed from 1999 and 2004 and again in 2005 (Marquardt et al. 2009).
Main body
In a short period, leaders have faced the challenge to meet more leadership requirements. The leaders of past generations dealt with a less challenging environment and completed their duties on rather attractive terms. At the beginning of the 1990s, many organizations came to the conclusion that it was not enough for leaders to complete their ordinary duties. It was necessary for leaders to become better learners in order to promote personal success and the success of their companies (Leonard & Lang 2010).
Ward (1997) conducted a survey in the context of family business leadership and clarified that poorly developed leadership skills turned out to be of one the threats that decrease the success of the family business. Even the next-generation leaders, who believe that they are properly prepared and have the required number of professional skills, cannot be easily engaged with the work of their companies in a short period of time (Handler 1992; Morris et al. 1997; Sharma & Inving 2005). Much attention is paid to the conditions under which family business can be developed and perform a crucial role in promoting family culture and organizational performance (Bjornberg & Nicholson 2007). Family-owing organizations have to deal with the requirements that are crucial for the transition of knowledge from one generation to another (Morris et al. 1997).
Conclusion
Action learning is one of the frequently used methods to develop a new portion of skills and knowledge. It helps to improve the abilities to learn and succeed in performing duties regarding the development of new leadership needs and challenges. Regarding the current technological and managerial changes, the worth of action learning has been increased rapidly. However, not all organizations know how to use action learning. For example, in the period between the 1980s and 1990s, only several global corporations were aware of the benefits of action learning (Davids, Aspler & McIvor 2002) and could use it properly. Today, many organizations know about action learning and are ready to use it in order to succeed in developing family business and improving leadership skills. Still, the intentions should be supported by practice and clear instructions that are offered by experts.
List of Reference
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