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This paper introduces a conceptual lens for leading social change in slums and informal settlements. In line with this aim, the purpose of this case study is to describe the public problem-solving approach of a social change organization situated in an informal settlement through the lens of adaptive leadership, complexity theory and social change leadership (SCL).

This paper follows an engaged reflection tradition. First, the author-practitioners describe an informal settlement case hereafter called ISC in southeast Iran where many people have historically remained undocumented and uneducated. Using complex adaptive systems theory, adaptive leadership and SCL as the conceptual lens, the paper analyzes ISC as a complex adaptive context in which the community and the government are in tension in solving problems, particularly illiteracy. The instrumental case study draws from participant observation and document analysis to describe and examine the endeavors of a community office operating within ISC. Through this reflective analysis, the authors illustrate how a social change organization can effectively tackle public issues like illiteracy within informal settlements.

This paper applies complexity leadership theory to a social context. The study illustrates how social change organizations can support the transformation of informal spaces into adaptive spaces to enact social change.

This paper reflects on engagement activity near the insecure borders of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. By extending an organizational-level theory to the public sphere, this paper contributes theoretically to the complexity theory literature. Moreover, it provides a practical insight for community development and slum upgrading projects.

Prior research and theory have shown that transformational leadership can be developed through leader development programs (LDPs). To explain how this happens, research suggests a strong connection between an individual’s leader self-concept and their leadership behavior that can be manipulated through LDPs. The purpose of this article is to delve deeper into this phenomenon to understand how development occurs and to better understand how an LDP can improve leadership behaviors by influencing one’s self-concept and ultimately reduce the training transfer gap. As a broader goal, this article contributes to the existing literature on the value proposition of investing in LDPs.

We conducted an explanatory sequential design mixed-methods study to measure the development of participants and the impact of the program. The quantitative phase of the study used self-report surveys to measure the LDP’s impact on participants’ transformational leader behavior (TLB) and concept of themselves regarding leadership, their leader self-views (LSVs). The study also measured the relationship between LSVs and later enactment of leadership behaviors as the second hypothesis. The subsequent qualitative study was designed to understand the mechanisms that might explain the quantitative results.

The study’s empirical findings indicate a positive relationship between LSVs (efficacy, self-awareness and identity) and distal leader development outcomes (TBLs). The study’s findings also provide support for the claim that LDPs convert knowledge and skills into TLB, expanding an individual’s capacity to be effective in leadership roles and processes (Day & Dragoni, 2015). Qualitative results also show LDPs improve leader behavior by influencing their self-efficacy via providing tools and knowledge as well as building experimental mindset.

By showing LDPs' long term impacts, this paper demonstrates why short-term leadership development programs are worth investing.