ABSTRACT
Leadership in higher education in the 21st century is increasingly recognized as a collective capacity within institutions rather than a set of traits or behaviors displayed by an individual. Distributed leadership is inclusive by nature, as the individuals involved in development programs are usually not in senior roles with assigned positional authority in an institutional hierarchy. The chapter outlines three case studies as examples of how distributed leadership development through action learning approaches works in practice. An institution's values, priorities, and knowledge are all influenced by the diversity of its staff, as well as by the social and political context in which it operates. Action learning appeared in the literature in the 1970s as an innovative method of management development. Breaking with traditional approaches that relied on imparting new knowledge and training off the job, action learning involved peer-supported reflection on action by managers solving problems in authentic professional practice contexts.
