Optimal Conditions for Effective Leadership and Management Training and Development to Support Organisational Change: A Critical Synthesis of Theory, Praxis, and Sustainability

Abstract

Abstract

Leadership and Management Training and Development (LMTD) is frequently positioned as a strategic mechanism for organisational change, yet its impact is often limited when treated as a discrete training intervention rather than an embedded developmental process. This paper critically examines the optimal conditions required for LMTD to support sustainable organisational change, with particular attention to educational contexts. Drawing on adult learning theory, complexity leadership, implementation science, socio-constructivist perspectives, and critical leadership studies, the paper argues that effective leadership development depends less on curriculum content or delivery mode than on the relational, structural, cultural, and temporal conditions that enable learning transfer and organisational sensemaking. The analysis foregrounds the role of mission, vision, and goals as living strategic texts that shape leadership practice, accountability, and collective agency. Five interrelated conditions are examined: systemic diagnosis and adaptive capacity; active sponsorship and reciprocal accountability; job-embedded application with teams; sustained professional learning infrastructures; and productive disequilibrium that provokes critical reflection and innovation. The paper proposes an ecological model of leadership development in which participant agency is supported by contextual adaptation, team praxis, temporal rhythms, leader reciprocity, and critical provocation. It concludes that sustainable LMTD requires not merely better training, but intelligent system design.