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DOI: 10.1177/1523422306298856 2007; 9; 146 Advances in Developing Human Resources

Jamie L. Callahan, J. Kori Whitener and Jennifer A. Sandlin Development

The Art of Creating Leaders: Popular Culture Artifacts as Pathways for

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The Art of Creating Leaders:Popular Culture Artifacts asPathways for Development

Jamie L. CallahanJ. Kori WhitenerJennifer A. Sandlin

The problem and the solution. Leadership development isarguably one of the most important activities undertaken by humanresource development (HRD) professionals.The process of leadershipdevelopment has implications for each of the three primary categoriesof action that characterize the field of HRD:career development; train-ing and development; and organization development. Thus, exploringalternative and innovative approaches to understanding leadershipshould take a prominent role in the practice of HRD.Although not anew concept, popular culture is one such innovative approach toteaching leadership. Although there has been increasing interest intechniques of leadership development in HRD, the field of HRD hasnot fully explored how popular culture artifacts—such as film, televi-sion, and fiction/nonfiction books—can be used in leadership develop-ment.This article explores the literature regarding popular culture asit relates to shaping audience perceptions, the role of popular cultureas a teaching tool, and key characteristics for choosing effective popu-lar culture artifacts for leadership development.

Keywords: leadership development; popular culture; fiction, film;nonfiction

Leadership is a much studied field, characterized by a variety of theories rangingfrom the simple to the complex. The depth and breadth of theories in the field,as well as their complexity, make it difficult for individuals to learn and applyleadership theory in meaningful and productive ways. Leadership developmentis arguably one of the most important activities undertaken by human resourcedevelopment (HRD) professionals. The process of leadership development has

Advances in Developing Human Resources Vol. 9, No. 2 May 2007 146–165DOI: 10.1177/1523422306298856Copyright 2007 Sage Publications

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implications for each of the three primary categories of action that characterizethe field of HRD—career development; training and development; and organi-zation development. Leadership development may improve an individual’scareer opportunities (Hanson & Court, 1998), typically occurs within the con-text of either training or development (Collins & Holton, 2004), and fosters or-ganization development (Turnbull & Edwards, 2005). Thus, as HRD scholarsand practitioners in a field concerned with teaching and developing leaders, it isvaluable to find innovative new ways to teach leadership theory and aid in theapplication of theory. This issue is targeted at any scholar or practitioner whoengages in facilitating leadership growth and development. Although not a newconcept, using artifacts from popular culture is one such approach to teachingleadership (e.g., Champoux, 2005; Cohen, 1998; English & Steffy, 1997).

We suggest that one way to teach leadership theory, develop leaders, and trans-fer learning to application is through the use of various written and visual mediaemanating from popular culture—what we are calling in this article “popular cul-ture artifacts” (PCA). PCA are ideal for teaching leadership because they allowlearners to both identify with current trends and process concepts by using toolsthat capture their interest. In addition, PCA teach learners to make connectionsand draw conclusions about phenomena from everyday life. The assumption isthat if individuals can apply theory to PCA, they will be able to apply and usethose theories in the everyday contexts, similar to those found in PCA, in whichthey live and work, thus fostering theory-to-practice thinking. Through the arti-cles in this issue, the authors develop, define, and explain more fully the conceptof PCA and how they can be used to facilitate leadership development.

Although there has been increasing interest in techniques of leadershipdevelopment in HRD (Collins & Holton, 2004), the field of HRD has not fullyexplored how artifacts from popular culture—such as film, television, andpopular fiction and nonfiction books—can be used to teach leadership and,ultimately, develop leaders. At their core, popular film, television, and fictionand nonfiction books are essentially stories. Stories facilitate the sensemakingprocesses of individuals, helping them cope with and negotiate their organiza-tional environments (Trice & Beyer, 1993). By providing leaders with popularculture-based stories as sensemaking tools, we can help to better prepare themto deal with situations that fall outside their normal organizational reality.

Jackson (2001) asks, “Why is the marriage between art and managementsuch an instructive one? What can we do to make it even more instructive?”(p. 488). We seek to address these questions in the context of HRD. Thus, thepurpose of this issue will be to explore the use of different forms of PCA asvehicles for teaching general concepts associated with leadership and, in turn,developing leaders. This issue looks in-depth at how several different types ofstories—namely movies, television, and fiction and nonfiction books—can beused meaningfully to help individuals better understand the nature ofleadership. In this article, we first explore the broad range of leadershiptheories informing HRD practice that are subsequently applied in the articles

Callahan et al. / THE ART OF CREATING LEADERS 147



of this issue. We then define more fully the concept of popular culture and howartifacts emanate from that culture. We also provide a guide for choosingappropriate PCA to facilitate leadership education. We also discuss how theseartifacts can be used to develop leaders in both academic and organizationalsettings, and we conclude with the relevance and implications of these tech-niques to the theory and practice of HRD.

Leadership TheoryThe six content articles of this issue address a variety of leadership theories

that inform research and practice in HRD today. The ten theoretical approachesincorporated in the subsequent articles of this issue include:

• Power (see Keller, Whitener, and Rosser of this issue)• Traits (see Whitener and Sudbrack & Trombley of this issue)• Skills (see Keller, Browning and Sudbrack & Trombley of this

issue)• Style (see Browning of this issue)• Contingency Theory (see Browning of this issue)• Situational Leadership Theory (see Keller and Rosser of this

issue)• Path-Goal Theory (see Whitener and Sudbrack & Trombley of

this issue)• Transformational Leadership (see Mathis, Whitener, Rosser,

and Sudbrack & Trombley of this issue)• Leader-Member Exchange (see Mathis and Sudbrack &

Trombley of this issue)• Team Leadership (see Keller and Sudbrack & Trombley of this

issue)

The ten theoretical approaches to understanding and enacting leadershipincluded in this issue can be categorized into three broad conceptual perspec-tives that generally trace the chronological development of leadership theories:leader-focused theories, situational theories, and social dynamic theories. Thesections below provide a brief refresher on the key elements of each of the the-ories applied in this particular issue.

Leader-Focused Theories

Leader-focused theories or approaches are those that attempt to describeleadership through the characteristics and behaviors of the leaders themselves.Early conceptions of leadership focus on these behaviors and characteristicsand include trait approaches, leader skills, leadership style, and power.

Advances in Developing Human Resources May 2007148



Trait approaches to leadership represent the earliest attempts to understandwhy some people emerged as leaders and others did not. Explorations ofleader traits can be found throughout history from ancient Chinese texts (e.g.,the works of Lao-Tzu) to Greek epics (e.g., Homer’s Iliad) and to medievaltreatises (e.g., Machiavelli’s The Prince) (Zaccaro, Kemp, & Bader, 2004).This school is often referred to as the “great man” approach to leadershipbecause it suggested that leaders had particular characteristics, or traits, thatenabled them to emerge as leaders (Antonakis, Cianciolo, & Sternberg, 2004;Northouse, 2004). Traits repeatedly cited as being associated with leaderemergence include intelligence, sociability, determination, self-confidence,and integrity (Northouse, 2004). For decades, trait theories of leadership werecriticized by scholars and left unstudied; however, recognition of the funda-mental importance of traits in understanding effective leadership hasreemerged, and traits have resumed an important role in the development offull-range leadership theories (Northouse, 2004; Sashkin, 2004).

The skills approach to leadership is also leader-focused, but rather thanusing stable traits to identify leaders, this approach focuses on developablebehaviors and skills that serve as hallmarks of effective leaders (Northouse,2004). Perhaps the most well-known skills approach was articulated by RobertKatz, who suggested that leaders at various levels of organizational structureshave differential needs for technical, human, and conceptual skills (Northouse,2004). Also fitting into the skills approach to leadership are competency-basedunderstandings of leadership. These include the capabilities identified byMumford and his colleagues—problem-solving skills, social judgment skills,and knowledge—that enable leaders to be effective (Mumford, Zaccaro,Connelly, & Marks, 2000). The study of leader competencies can be challeng-ing because it may be difficult to separate learnable competency behaviorsfrom stable personal characteristics (i.e., traits) of leaders (Sashkin, 2004).Nevertheless, leader skills are an important and growing approach to under-standing part of what makes leaders successful.

Leader style is another behaviorally oriented approach to understandingleadership that suggests leadership can be categorized into two types of behav-iors: task and relationship behaviors (Northouse, 2004). This categorizationemerged from three primary studies conducted in the mid-20th century atOhio State University, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University(Sashkin, Gorman, Higgins, Johnson, & Schwandt, 1995). Initial interpreta-tions of these studies suggested that individuals who focused strongly on taskbehaviors were more likely to emerge as leaders whereas those who focusedmore on relationship behaviors were less likely to emerge as leaders. However,subsequent interpretations have suggested that the most effective leaders arethose who engage in both task and relationship behaviors. Perhaps the mostpopular approach to understanding leadership based on style is Blake andMouton’s Managerial (or Leadership) Grid (Blake & McCanse, 1991 (seeFigure 1).





This theory of leadership follows the task-versus-relationship categoriza-tion and structures these behaviors as two continua of high or low concern forpeople and concern for results, creating a grid of encompassing key styles ofleadership (Northouse, 2004):

• country club management—a focus almost exclusively on thehuman relationship needs of workers, resulting in a comfort-able and friendly work environment that may or may not resultin operational productivity;

• team management—a high focus on both people relationshipsand task productivity;

• middle-of-the-road management—a moderate focus on bothconcern for relationships and concern for task efficiency andproductivity;

• authority-compliance—a focus on operational efficiency whileensuring that human relationship issues are minimized;

• impoverished management—a lack of focus on either humanrelationship or productivity needs.

In addition to the styles that fall within specific categories of the grid, thosewho actively incorporate multiple styles when it suits them personally applythe “opportunistic” style of leadership.

Conce

rn f

or

Peo

ple

Concern for Results

High(9)

Low(1)

High(9)

1,9

Country Club Management

9,9

Team Management

1,1

Impoverished Management

9,1

Authority-Compliance Management

5,5

Middle-of-the-Road Management

FIGURE 1: The Leadership GridAdapted from Northouse, 2004




The final leader-focused theory reviewed here is power. Although power isconceptually distinct from leadership (Antonakis et al., 2004), it neverthelessforms a foundation from which leadership emerges. Without some type ofpower, a leader cannot act. French and Raven’s (1959) work on bases of socialpower is perhaps the most well-known research in this area. It serves as thefoundation for much leadership research in the 20th century. This approachsuggests that there are five essential forms of power: reward, coercive, legiti-mate, referent, and expert (see Table 1).

Situational Theories

Recognizing that leadership was also influenced by situational factors, laterresearchers began to consider context as they formulated leadership theoriessuch as contingency theory, situational leadership theory, and path-goal theory.These theories suggest that the situation itself serves to inform leader behaviors.

Contingency theory couples leader style, either task- or relationship-oriented,with levels of control in situations in order to determine leader effectiveness(Ayman, 2004; Northouse, 2004). Developed from empirical evidence byFiedler (1964), this model of leadership suggests that leaders who tend tobe relationship oriented are more effective in situations that are under moder-ate control, and those who are task oriented are more likely to be effectivewhen control is either low or high. One of the most well-validated theories ofleadership, contingency theory has three situational variables (see Figure 2)—leader-member relations (good or bad), task structure (high or low), andposition power of the leader (strong or weak).

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory suggests that leadereffectiveness and choice of applied style is conditioned upon the task maturityof followers (Ayman, 2004; Northouse, 2004). This maturity, or developmen-tal level, of the followers is based on the extent of both the competence andcommitment of the follower to accomplish a particular task (Northouse, 2004).This theory of leadership includes four essential behavior patterns of leaders

TABLE 1: Five Forms of Power

Reward Exchanging something of value to obtain compliance of othersCoercive Forcing, either explicitly or implicitly, others to do something against

their willReferent Using charm, charisma, or friendship to get others to do what you

want them to doLegitimate Using the authority of a role to get others to do somethingExpert Relying on technical skill or knowledge to get others to do what you

want them to do

Adapted from French & Raven (1959)




that fall within the task- or relationship-oriented categories of leadership style.A good leader is able to identify when and with whom each style would bemost effective (see Figure 3). When followers are unwilling and unable toaccomplish a task, the leader should engage in a directing style. When follow-ers are willing and unable, the leader would use a coaching style. Whenfollowers are unwilling yet able, the leader would enact a supporting style.Finally, when followers are willing and able, the leader should engage in a del-egating style. It is important to note, however, that although this approach iswidely used and is intuitively appealing, most validation attempts haverevealed little to no support for the theory or measurement instrument for

Leader-

Member

Relations

Good Poor

Task

Structure

High Structure Low Structure High Structure Low Structure

Position

Power

Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak

Preferred

Leadership

Style

Moderate to HighTask Orientation

High Relationship Orientation High Task

Orientation

FIGURE 2: Key Elements of Fiedler’s Contingency TheoryAdapted from Northouse, 2004

Su

ppo

rtiv

eB

ehav

ior

Directive Behavior

Low

High

High

Supporting

Delegating

Coaching

Directing

FIGURE 3: Key Elements of Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational Leadership TheoryAdapted from Northouse, 2004




Situational Leadership Theory (Vecchio, 1987; Ayman, 2004; Northouse,2004).

The final situation-oriented approach explored in this issue is RobertHouse’s Path-Goal Theory. Like Situational Leadership Theory andContingency Theory, Path-Goal Theory is concerned with the ways in whichcontexts influence the effectiveness of leadership. Because Path-Goal Theoryis grounded in expectancy theory, meeting follower motivation needs serves asthe catalyst for selecting an appropriate leadership style in a given context(Northouse, 2004). The theory consists of three primary elements: leader style,subordinate characteristics, and work setting (see Figure 4). Again, the stylesof leadership are derived from task- or relationship-oriented behaviors identi-fied through the earlier university studies. The task-related behaviors inHouse’s theory include directive and achievement-oriented behaviors, and therelationship-related behaviors include supportive and participative behaviors(Ayman, 2004). The motivation component of leader’s task is to define goals,clarify for subordinates a path to obtaining the goals, remove obstacles toachieving the goals, and provide support for followers on the path (Northouse,2004). The task and subordinate characteristics are influenced by the leader’sbehavior.

Leader Behaviors

Directive

Supportive

Participative

Achievement-Oriented

Subordinate

Characteristics

Work Setting

Characteristics

Subordinate Motivation toward Goal

FIGURE 4: House’s Path-Goal Theory of Leadership




Social Dynamic Theories

Most recently, scholars began to add another dimension to the understandingof the nature of leadership: social dynamics. Social dynamics of interactionsbetween leaders and followers play an important role in the enactment ofleadership; this led to the development of theories such as transformationalleadership, leader-member exchange, and team leadership.

Transformational leadership finds its roots in the political sociology writ-ings of James MacGregor Burns (Northouse, 2004; Sashkin, 2004). It is oneof the most popular leadership theories in recent years, and scholars such asBernard Bass, Warren Bennis, Marshall Sashkin, Robert House, James Kouzesand Barry Posner, Jay Conger and Rabindra Kanungo have proposed variousversions of this approach to understanding leadership. Theories in this newparadigm of leadership center on traits and behaviors of leaders, the situationalcontext of leadership, and the relationships between and among leaders andfollowers in the context. In general, a hallmark of transformational leadershipis the extent to which the leader influences, or transforms, followers. Acrossthe various transformational leadership approaches, Sashkin (2004) contendsthat there are common characteristics. First, three behavioral characteristicsare shared by multiple transformational leadership theories: communicating avision, creating empowering opportunities, and showing caring and respect forfollowers. Second, three personal characteristics (or traits) can be seen acrossmultiple theories: vision, power and its need for expression, and self-confidence. Finally, multiple theories highlight the role of organizational cul-ture or context as part of transformational leadership.

Leader-member exchange emphasizes the interactions between leaders andfollowers (Northouse, 2004). Originally known as vertical-dyad linkage theory,this theory is most effective when it looks specifically at the relationshipsbetween leaders and followers (Antonakis et al., 2004). Early conceptions ofthe theory focused on in-groups and out-groups. Leaders who form closerelationships with followers who engage in work behaviors well beyond their

Phase 1

Stranger

Phase 2

Acquaintance

Phase 3

Partner

Roles Scripted Tested Negotiated

Direction of Influences Uni-directional Mixed Reciprocal

Nature of Exchanges Low quality Medium quality High quality

Locus of Interest Self Self & Other Group

Time

FIGURE 5: Key Elements of Leader-Member ExchangeAdapted from Northouse, 2004




negotiated job roles form the in-group, whereas followers who focus theirefforts only on formally defined job roles form the out-group (Northouse,2004). As development of the theory progressed, the focus shifted to the process of leader making through interactions with followers. There are threephases to this process (see Figure 5): stranger, acquaintance, and mature part-nerships. These phases differ in the nature of the follower roles (scripted, tested,or negotiated), the direction of the influence patterns (uni-directional, mixed, orreciprocal), the quality of the exchanges between leader and follower (low,medium, or high), and the focus of interest (self, self and other, or group).

Finally, team leadership focuses specifically on dynamics of leadershipwithin the context of groups (Northouse, 2004). Like many of the otherapproaches to understanding leadership, the theory is closely connected toleader styles of task- or relationship-oriented behaviors. It is important to notethat this approach to leadership does not necessarily ascribe leadership to oneparticular person or role; rather, any member of a well-functioning group mayvery well assume leadership roles and behaviors. Critical leadership functions,as identified by McGrath (1978), include leadership behaviors of monitoringand taking action as well as foci of internal or external environments. The teamleadership model suggests that the leader’s role is to determine when, and how,to intervene in the team’s dynamics to improve team effectiveness.

Popular Culture Distributed through ArtifactsStories convey metaphors that help us better understand abstract phenom-

ena. As art forms, they create a realistic picture of human interaction in whichleadership situations are likely to occur (Phillips, 1995). Thus, they becomelenses through which people can learn about leadership. One of the primaryreasons stories are so effective for teaching is that people understand, commu-nicate, and make sense of concepts through the use of tropes, or metaphors(Hamilton, 2003). Storytelling has been a vehicle for teaching, learning, andsensemaking throughout history; one need only think of epic tales such asBeowulf or the Odyssey to be reminded of lessons taught through stories.Because of the important role they play in community learning, sensemaking,and communication, these stories are embedded in our popular culture and,indeed, are vehicles for transmitting that culture.

Nevertheless, popular culture is difficult to define, and some cultural theoristspoint not to a single definition but to a range of definitions, asserting that whatis understood to be “popular culture” shifts over time and according to one’s the-oretical position (Bennett, 1980; Storey, 1998). Storey (1998), for instance, out-lines six definitions of popular culture ranging from “simply culture that iswidely favored or well liked by many people” (p. 7) to “the culture that is leftover after we have decided what is high culture” (pp. 7–8) to “mass culture” pro-duced for mass consumption (p. 11) to folk culture generated “from the people”(p. 12) to a site of struggle between resisting subordinate groups in society and




groups seeking to enact hegemony. Browne (1987) states that popular culture is,

The everyday lifeblood of the experiences and thinking of all of us: the daily, vernacular,common cultural environment around us all, the culture we inherit from our forbears, usethroughout our lives, and then pass on to our descendents. Popular culture is the television wewatch, the movies we see, the fast food, or slow food, we eat, the clothes we wear, the musicwe sing and hear, the things we spend our money for, our attitude toward life.

Despite competing definitions of what constitutes popular culture, there is agrowing consensus in the field of curriculum theory that popular culture isimportant to study and utilize in educational settings because popular cultureis a pedagogical site (Giroux & Simon, 1989). Giroux (1999) calls popularculture a site of “public pedagogy” and argues that mass media

has become a substantial, if not the primary, educational force in regulating the meanings,values, and tastes that set the norms that offer up and legitimate particular subject positions—what it means to claim an identity as a male, female, white, black, citizen, non-citizen. Mediaemanating from popular culture define childhood, the national past, beauty, truth, and socialagency. (pp. 2–3)

Indeed, it may also define the very concept of leadership. PCA, and popularculture in general, influence individuals from a very early age and initiate thesocial education process (Lester, 1997; Hobbs, 1998).

Popular Culture and PedagogyDolby (2003), drawing from cultural studies theorist Lawrence Grossberg,

outlines three major pedagogical functions of popular culture. First, popularculture helps form what we come to see as “common sense” or “taken-for-granted” knowledge about the world. That is, “what we ‘know’ about the worldis largely formed through our interactions with popular culture” (p. 263). Second,popular culture serves as a prominent “affective force” in our lives. Throughour interactions and lived experiences with popular culture we come to feel awide range of emotions, including joy, pain, and pleasure, Third, popular cul-ture helps to shape our identities and therefore is “the location of considerablestruggle for consent” (p. 263). This final insight points to the fact that we arenot simply passive recipients of popular culture; rather, audiences have agencyto reject dominant meanings and to re-create or produce their own meaningsfrom popular culture (Giroux & Simon, 1989).

Whereas many educators who discuss popular culture examine how itoperates as a form of informal education, others explicate how it can bebrought into more formal educational programs and used as part of the moreformal curriculum. Guenther and Dees (1999), drawing upon Browne (1987), note that popular culture can be used “to overcome illiteracy, to keeppeople in school, to encourage life-long learning, and to energize schoolingand teaching methods” (p. 36). They believe that popular culture can providea rich source for classroom teaching that draws upon and engages learners’



experiences and knowledge—that is, popular culture has the potential toenergize classrooms. They also agree that because popular culture is a site ofnegotiation and contestation, it is the task of the educator to both build uponlearners’ knowledge of and from popular culture and help learners to decon-struct and problematize this knowledge. They provide examples of how theydraw upon PCA such as film and television situation comedies in their teachereducation classes to help foster understanding of both social issues and coursecontent. Learners in their classes had widely varying interpretations of andfeelings about the cultural texts they used in class and many were resistant tothe teachers’ “critical” readings. Eventually, however, educators must “acceptthe multiple readings that occur within popular culture” (p. 41). One messagegleaned from their discussion is that while PCA hold great promise forclassroom pedagogy, educators must be prepared to negotiate multiple andcomplex readings of them.

One artifact of popular culture employed by Guenther and Dees (1999)is visual media in the form of television. In one class, they offered anepisode of The Simpsons that dealt specifically with schooling. This partic-ular episode “revealed the problem of school funding, challenged the notionthat anyone could teach, and offered an absurd, albeit successful solution(combining a prison with a public school) to increase the financial capitalof our public schools” (p. 39). Although Guenther and Dees saw thisepisode of The Simpsons as a great way of engaging their learners in a crit-ical discussion of problems of school finance, some of the learners in theirclassroom rejected their critical reading, and others rejected the use of TheSimpsons altogether.

Such critical reception of PCA in adult education settings may well be“because the stuff of popular culture is easily denigrated and, consequently,ignored by those of us who tend to value more esoteric commentaries onour lives” (Smith, 1999, p. 50). Nevertheless, most learners are delighted bythe use of visual media and may “spontaneously break into cheer when thevideo cart is wheeled into the room” (Hobbs, 1998, p. 262). In the last 20years, access to popular film and television clips for educational purposes hasincreased dramatically (Champoux, 2005). Visual artifacts are especiallyuseful in educational settings because research has shown that supplementingverbal and textual material with visual material enhances the effectiveness oflearning (Champoux, 2005).

In addition to visual media, textual artifacts from popular culture are playingan increasing role in educational settings. While text-based artifacts have playeda periodic role in academic classrooms, especially in K-12 settings, mainstreaminterest in using storytelling to teach abstract concepts to adults is relatively new(Cohen, 1998). Nevertheless, it is a powerful means of demonstrating abstracthuman concepts; as Averback (1998) notes, “literature is a playing ground forthe discovery of what it means to be human” (p. 380), or in this case, a leader.Emerging interest in literature as it informs and illustrates management concepts





can be seen in a new genre of literary business books (Jackson, 2001). If chosenwisely, fiction and nonfiction books have the power to generate in learners“insight, knowledge, and understanding” (Short, 1997, p. 179).

Choosing Wisely: Effective PCA for Leadership DevelopmentSimply using PCA in a leadership development program or to teach

leadership concepts in a classroom setting is not a recipe for successful devel-opment of leaders. These artifacts should be used as a tool within an overallleadership development program—either in a classroom or organizational setting.In their influential work on instructional design, Smith and Ragan (1993) high-light some key factors for designing effective instruction: it “encourages advo-cacy of the learner; supports effective, efficient, and appealing instruction; andfacilitates diffusion/dissemination/adoption” (pp.8–9). In addition, Astleitner(2005) explicates several principles for effective instruction:

instructing based on a design for reflexive learning; knowledge acquiring and applying in varyingcontext; supporting and evaluating basic knowledge but also higher-order skills; stimulating argu-mentation skills; realizing and guiding self-regulated learning; increasing the efficiency of thelearning; arousing and sustaining interest; increasing positive while decreasing negative feelings;establishing respect and responsibility; and using self-instructional learning materials. (pp. 4–7)

PCA can provide the vehicle to meet all of Smith and Ragan’s (1993) andAstleitner’s (2005) requirements for effective instruction. However, in order tomeet these instructional requirements, the PCA need to be integrated withstrong activities that facilitate reflection, transfer learning, and allow the learner“hands-on” experience with the leadership theories and skills being taught. Itis, therefore, key to choose specific PCA first and then design specific lessonplans around the theories, themes, and stories highlighted in the chosen PCA.Without integration into the overall program instructional design, the PCA havethe potential to fail to facilitate learning and only be seen as a waste of time.

The stories we choose to help facilitate leadership development will ultimatelyimpact a leader’s cultural script. It is vital to make sure that, when choosing PCA,trainers and teachers question the underlying messages and biases embedded inthose artifacts and use those elements as discussion points in the training or learn-ing session. In addition, some PCA are simply devoid of good leadershipexamples and, just because an instructor is drawn to a particular artifact, does notmean it is appropriate for use in a leadership development program. The keythings to consider when choosing vehicles to facilitate learning are universalthemes and messages, hidden biases, transferability, and complexity.

Universal Themes and Messages

Some would argue whether we can use PCA to teach leadership given thatthe stories most organizations encounter are unique to that environment and




not universally applicable. Most organizations, and individuals for that matter,like to think their stories are unique. However, it has been demonstrated thatorganizational stories that are thought of as unique actually have quite similarcharacteristics (Martin, Feldman, Hatch, & Sitkin, 1983). The three primarycauses for similarities among organizational stories are: (a) people in organiza-tions face similarly difficult concerns and conflicts with no easy solution; (b)universally most people want to claim successes and blame failures on others;and (c) people want their organization to be unique either to distance them-selves from the bad in the organization or claim the good as unique and a resultof their work (Martin, et. al. 1983).)

So why is this important for choosing PCA? It illustrates that organizations,and individuals within those organizations, share common realities and challenges.Instead of utilizing organizationally specific stories, which are often erroneouslythought of as unique and incomprehensible to organizational outsiders, to facili-tate leadership development, PCA provide stories with universal themes experi-enced without organization-specific bias. This ultimately allows the learner to seehow a situation can be found in a wide variety of settings and helps facilitate flex-ibility in thinking about how to address an issue in numerous ways and environ-ments. This fosters a theory-to-practice-to-theory interchange by challenginglearners to think about abstract concepts in both universal and context-specificenvironments and situations. Thus, when choosing PCA, it is important to makesure the selection has universal themes that can cross organizational boundariesand speak to a variety of individual truths and realities. PCA that can bridge avariety of complex issues and be seen as both universal and context-specific pro-vide the richest stories to develop leader skills and knowledge.

Hidden Biases

As discussed previously, popular culture is shaped by the stories presented.This popular culture shapes our perceptions. Thomas, Mitchell, and Joseph(2000) argue that all knowledge is socially created and is embedded in andinfluenced by social culture. They make the assertion that, given the socialnature of knowledge, it is important to consider and address culture whendesigning instruction. Henderson (1996) highlights that “instructional designdoes not exist outside of a consideration of culture” (p. 86). As a result, whenchoosing PCA to use in leadership development programming, we argue thatit is critical to consider our own cultural biases as well as those of the individ-uals participating in the instruction.

It is thus important to examine carefully the artifacts we choose for biasesthat have the potential to impact both the learning and the ultimate leader’s performance and own biases. These could include biases regarding race,national culture, gender, age, and a variety of other issues surrounding powerand class within organizations and society. However, because all forms ofcultural artifacts have biases, it is important to understand those biases in the



chosen works and to discuss and process those biases with the learner. This willactually raise awareness of the biases leaders deal with in their everyday realtiesand facilitate skill development and learning around those issues.

Transferability

To ensure effective use of PCA, it is important to choose visual and textualmedia to which learners can relate and that is relevant to their environments.When designing instruction in general it is important to provide the learnerwith opportunities for “knowledge acquiring and applying in various contexts”(Astleitner 2005, p. 5). “Through practice, learners construct schemas forproblems they solve”. (Jonassen, 2000, p. 77). If the learner is unable to relateto and understand the PCA chosen, then the lessons will not be transferredback to the leader’s work environment and schema construction may be hin-dered. Utilizing PCA that individuals can relate to aids in the vicarious attain-ment of experience and allows the learner to see and process appropriatemodels of behavior as well as behavior to avoid when faced with a similarexperience (Bruner, 1990; Polkinghorne, 1988). In addition, choosing worksthat are relevant to “real-world” work environments facilitates the use ofleadership skills and knowledge—both theoretical and practice-oriented innature—to specific future situations (Ertmer & Russell, 1995). The ultimategoal is therefore to choose PCA that increase transfer of leadership skills backto the learners’ work environments.

Complexity

In addition to choosing PCA that are transferable, the artifacts must also con-tain enough complexity to mirror organizational situations but not be so complexthat their lessons cannot be easily learned and unpacked during the courseof a leadership development class or program. Funke (1991) states that com-plexity is determined by the number of “issues, functions, or variables involvedin the problem; the degree of connectivity among those properties; the typeof functional relationships among those properties; and the stability amongthe properties of the problem over time” (Jonassen, 2000, pp. 67–68). Thecomplexity of the chosen artifact allows the learner to understand the univer-sal themes and lessons inherent in the story; it also adds to the perception ofauthenticity of the story. This helps individuals learn how to deal with com-plex organizational situations in which leadership is necessary.

Implications for HRDThrough watching popular film or television or reading popular fiction or

nonfiction, future leaders reap a host of learning experiences. Perhaps most





important, popular media engage learner interest; Hobbs (1998) notes thatsociety now accepts the influence of popular culture as a basic assumption. Pop-ular culture infuses literally every aspect of individuals’ lives and, as a result, pro-vides a natural connection to the familiar as an anchor for learning new concepts.

In providing such an anchor, artifacts from popular culture serve asvehicles to accomplish several learning goals. First, PCA provideexamples of practical application of theories—decisions can be seen incontext; connections can be drawn between leader beliefs, values, andactions; and implications of interpersonal interactions can be assessedimmediately (English & Steffy, 1997). Second, PCA offer vicarious learn-ing experiences—one need not learn hard lessons by making the mistakespersonally. And third, PCA increase critical analysis skills because indi-viduals are asked to make connections between abstract concepts and avariety of simulated situations.

In this issue the PCA that serve as the vehicle for learning are narrative innature—books, movies, and television. There are other narrative forms ofmedia that could also be used. Poems and their musical equivalent, lyrics, alsoconvey stories that can be linked to leadership. Performance media can alsoplay a role. For example, dance tells a story through bodily movement, but italso serves as a vehicle for learning about self and self in interaction withothers (Callahan, 2005). Gibb (2004) also notes the importance of theater asan educational tool. Although attending theater performances as a group is notlikely to be feasible, theater can be enacted in the learning environmentthrough script readings, role playing, or improvisation.

As noted earlier, culture is conveyed through popular artifacts. Thismeans that the lessons we learn through PCA are largely tied to the lan-guage and culture of the vehicles of those PCA. All of the vehicles pre-sented in this issue represent Western culture, primarily British, Australian,and American. With few exceptions (e.g., Lost), the selections are fairlyhomogeneous. The authors of each chapter selected a work of interest tothem and as a result, the PCA represented in this issue may not be as mean-ingful to those of, or working in, non-Western cultural contexts. One of thedifficulties of representing leadership using originals with non-English-speaking media is that language transmits culture and culture informs lan-guage (Geertz, 1996). For example, many argued that the English languageremake of the Japanese film Shall We Dance lost much of its meaning whenviewed through the lens of a different culture (GoogleGroups, RecArtsDance,September 18, 2004–October 7, 2004). As such, future areas of researchinterest may include the extent to which we can truly understand the nuancesof a culture when the vehicles of that culture are translated into anotherlanguage.

Cultural understanding is but one area of importance associated with thestudy of leadership that is beyond the scope of this general introduction tousing PCA to facilitate leadership development. Other topical issues that can




be explored include gender, division of labor, sexual orientation, disabilities,age, and more. However, as indicated previously, it is important to note thatPCA often represent stereotypical understandings of phenomena (Livingston,2004). The facilitator must be aware of these biased representations and learnto critically challenge the representations.

Finally, this journal issue suggests that incorporating PCA—particularlyfiction and nonfiction books—into educational experiences helps model a bal-anced life. As members of a goal-oriented society, we have observed anerosion of balanced, authentic lives (Mestrovic, 1997). By granting learnerspermission to read noninstrumental works, we believe that the importance ofreading for the sake of reading can be reinvigorated.

Issue OverviewThe remaining articles, the final one excluded, profile examples of how to

use written artifacts, such as nonfictional and fictional books, and visual arti-facts, such as television and movies, to teach leadership concepts. The sec-ond article uses the nonfiction work Into Thin Air to explore leadershipskills, team leadership, situational leadership theory, and power. The thirdarticle uses Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, another nonfictionwork, to explore leadership skills, leadership style, and contingency theory.The fourth article explores leader-member exchange and transformationalleadership in the fictional novel The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.The fifth article uses another novel, The Year of Wonders, to highlight leadertraits, path-goal theory, transformational leadership, and power. The sixtharticle uses the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to demonstratepower, situational leadership, and transformational leadership. The seventharticle is based on the popular U.S. television show Lost and explores traits,skills, team leadership, transformational leadership, path-goal theory, andleader-member exchange. The final article highlights how the various PCAtools and leadership theories described in this issue can be utilized as a les-son plan for an academic course on leadership or an organizational programfor developing leaders.

With the articles in this issue, we have attempted to provide a generalistoverview of leadership through the Western perspectives from which theseleadership theories were developed. We acknowledge, however, that thereare many issues of great importance to leadership, leadership development,and leadership research that are beyond the scope of this particular issue.For example, we do not explicitly address the challenges associated withgender in leadership, although several of the works have prominent femaleleaders. We also do not focus on cross-cultural issues of leadership, althoughone of the works has leaders from multiple national, racial, and ethnicgroups. Our purpose with this issue is to provide a theoretically groundedpractical guide on how to use PCA to teach leadership theory in both




academic and private-sector settings. Together, these articles serve as acomplete lesson plan for teachers and trainers interested in facilitatingleadership learning and application.

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Jamie L. Callahan is an associate professor in the Educational Human ResourceDevelopment Program at Texas A&M University. Her primary research interests focuson emotion management and its relationship to organizational learning, leadership, andculture. A former United States Air Force officer specializing in human resources andorganization development consulting, she continues to actively consult with public, pri-vate, and nonprofit institutions.

J. Kori Whitener is currently an adjunct instructor and full-time doctoral student atTexas A&M University in the Human Resource Development program. She has extensivecorporate experience as a corporate consultant and trainer working in a wide variety ofindustries from telecommunications and software development to hospitality, retail, andhealth care. She holds a Master of Science degree in human resource development fromTexas A&M University and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Texas atAustin. Her research interests include leadership development, organizational culture,and organizational image.

Jennifer A. Sandlin is an assistant professor of adult education at Texas A&MUniversity. Her primary interests focus on popular culture, consumer education, andcritical pedagogy. Her work has appeared in such publications as Adult EducationQuarterly, Journal of Lifelong Learning, Adult Learning, and more. She has also pre-sented at multiple meetings of the Academy of Human Resource Development nationaland international conferences.



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