What is it about?
The question is whether the benefit of one's knowledge depends on pro-social action or occurs on its own. Data from two large samples of military officers were analyzed. The findings show that merely being knowledgeable is not enough. Only when one's expertise is combined with team-oriented (pro-social) action is a team member seen as a high potential leader for the future. If a team member is selfish, he or she will not be seen as a leader for the future regardless of his or her expertise. In contrast, those individuals who display pro-social action will draw more attention from others, so that their expertise then becomes more visible .
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Why is it important?
To be seen as a leader for the future among one's peers, the findings show that being a good learner is important but alone it is not enough. Leaders for the future are those individuals who put their exceptional knowledge into action by proactively contributing to the success of others and the team as a whole. By being pro-social or giving, an aspiring leader can make his or her knowledge more visible to others.
Perspectives
The statistical interaction was consistent across two samples of data on participants in an officer development program within the United States Air Force. The first sample was 672 officers and the second sample was 472 officers.
Professor Robert R Hirschfeld
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Knowing is half the battle, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, July 2015, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/lodj-09-2013-0125.
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