4.6 Leader Identity Stage (LIS)
Purpose
The Leader Identity Stage is designed to measure leader identity stage in college student populations. It aims to assess how individuals perceive themselves as leaders, their understanding of leadership roles, and their development in terms of leadership identity.
The instrument is more suited to educational and academic settings, particularly in college or university environments. It may aid educators and researchers in assessing leadership development programs and strategies.
Description
The instrument was created by Lori Pyle for her doctoral dissertation. Using Komives et al.’s (2006) theory of leader identity, Pyle (2013) developed a single item to explore this construct. College students were asked to choose the description that best represented their current level of leader identity. This item included six statements, each corresponding to one of the six stages of the leadership identity model, arranged from the most basic to the most advanced stage, ranging from “awareness” to “integration/synthesis.” Overall, the study found that initial self-perceptions in leadership identity was a predictor of their future views on leadership self-identity.
The instrument’s reliability and validity data obtained from the original study by Lori Pyle (2013) validate the instrument. Limitations may include potential biases in self-reporting, limited generalizability to diverse student populations or other contexts, and the need for further validation and refinement of the instrument to enhance its reliability and validity.
Access
This dissertation can be downloaded for free on the James Madison University Scholarly Commons website: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=diss201019.
References
Komives, S. R., Longerbeam, S. D., Owen, J. E., Mainella, F. C., & Osteen, L. (2006). A Leadership Identity Development Model: Applications from a Grounded Theory. Journal of College Student Development, 47(4), 401–418. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2006.0048
Pyle, L. K. (2013). Changes in leadership self-efficacy, leader identity, capacity for socially responsible leadership, and curiosity due to a structured leader development program [Doctoral dissertation, James Madison University]. JMU Scholarly Commons. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=diss201019
