This article addresses the natural, yet overlooked link between leadership
development and adult learning theory. The article begins with a summary of four adult learning theories: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Social Learning Theory and Constructivism. Each theory is described and its potential application to leadership development is discussed. The article concludes with a discussion of Jay Conger’s four categories of leadership development programming and their link to theories of adult learning.
Adult learning theory is an important factor in leadership development. However, it receives only cursory mention by leadership scholars (Conger & Benjamin, 1999; Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2002). Like adult development, adult learning is a personal process. Merriam & Caffarella (1999) assert that “the context of adult life and the societal context shape what an adult needs and wants to learn and, to a somewhat lesser extent, when and where learning takes place”