The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Jimmy Love

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 7, 2017 at 12:00 pm in Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

A JOURNEY THROUGH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the journey that leaders, specifically supervisors, experience in leadership development programs within a particular organization that specializes in distribution within the southeastern United States. The participants in this study were interviewed and observed in their working environment; during the interviews and observations, the researcher attempted to explore how the participants obtained and applied leadership skills learned within the training and development program that was provided by the organization. Data was obtained from the participants and four themes emerged: (1) training is not applicable, (2) lack of knowledge on implementation, (3) lack of follow up, and (4) the lack of context to train. From the data, it appears that this particular organization needs to improve upon the structure and delivery of its leadership development programs and ensuring that information provided from these programs are applicable to the participants’ working environment.

Keywords: leadership development, training, knowledge, application