ABSTRACT
This chapter explains some of the context in which leadership and management learning takes place in SMEs. It develops the importance of social and human capital and develops the notion of strategic space in the development of small firms. A target for engagement could be set, taking into account the payment that the SME would receive if evidence was provided that managers had set an action plan for development, including considering the needs and desires of managers. In action learning, there is informality and challenge between peers, but learning has a more central place in the process. The Northern Leadership Academy was founded in 2006 with the aim of developing entrepreneurial growth in the North of England through increasing leadership talent. The chapter offers principles of good practice for those interested in SME leadership and management development, based on the evidence we have examined as part of our work with the Northern Leadership Academy.
