Leadership Competencies for Construction Professionals as Identified by Construction Industry Executives
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146, Issue 9
Abstract
Construction and civil engineering professionals are recognizing a growing need for increased professional development, namely, leadership development, within the industry. However, many academic and workforce professions lack a clear definition of leadership that aligns with construction and civil engineering industry environments. To initiate the development of this definition and enhance the preparation and training of emerging industry professionals, this study utilizes the Delphi method to gain consensus from construction industry executives regarding necessary leadership competencies for workforce entry. The findings identified 24 leadership competencies that highlight the importance of both intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies that contribute to ongoing leadership conversations in the construction industry. A comparison of these competencies with the body of knowledge revealed leadership as consisting of both professional and technical competencies, shifting conceptualizations of leadership from a professional competency acquired through experience to an integrated competency that can be operationalized and taught in both technical and professional learning contexts.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request (procedures for expert panel selection and qualitative coding procedures for Delphi instrument development).
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Science Foundation for supporting this work under Grant Nos. 1463802 and 1931371. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by Dr. Alison Bowers to organize and edit this manuscript.
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Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 9 • September 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 10, 2019
Accepted: Apr 29, 2020
Published online: Jun 27, 2020
Published in print: Sep 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Nov 27, 2020
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