Abstract
Several years ago, I suggested that leadership development should be more inclusive of social justice education given the composition of the multiracial organization (Byrd, 2007). Martin’s (1996) work on the multiracial organization was inspirational to me, particularly because I was in the early stages of doctoral studies and it was challenging to find publications that related to my research. Martin (1996) pointed out how “the theoretical literature on leadership and leadership development has not kept pace with the changing racial demographics of many organizations and the effects these may have on the most appropriate approaches to leadership” (p. 639). Fast forward to the 21st century, the same holds true. Yet, the reality is that leaders are coping with social justice issues that require developing competencies beyond personality traits and individual attributes.
Madsen and Mabokela’s (2002) work on leadership and diversity in schools was also inspirational to me. The field of education played a major role in the early days of civil rights and continues to be the stage for continued debates about what constitutes learning. Future school educators and administrators are being developed in human resource development (HRD) programs. Providing social justice education that conveys equity, impartiality, and fairness so that all students benefit is a priority for leadership development in educational programs. On another note, it is not realistic to consider that the unsettling events in society can be ignored in educational settings, particularly given that as educators we are preparing a workforce to enter environments of social unrest. Therefore, adding to the need for social justice education for leaders is the need for social justice professional development for educators, particularly since some educators admittedly declare they do not wish to engage in such conversations, particularly conversations that relate to race.
Educating and developing leaders is not a responsibility only for HRD, since leadership development occurs across countless contexts, professions, industries, etc. Nonetheless, as a field, discipline, community of practice, etc. that is dedicated to learning, leadership development has been a prominent intervention in HRD programs. Ensuring that these programs are fulfilling the needs of the employers, employees, and all concerned stakeholders is paramount. In a special issue of Advances, Ardichvili et al. (2016) and contributing authors agreed with the earlier work of Martin (1996) and highlighted how the literature on leadership development has struggled to keep up with trends and changes in the world of work.
Leaders are an entity’s most visible and representative change agent. Therefore, leaders should be actively oriented towards organizational social justice. Organizational social justice is the “ideology that organizations, through a representing agent, seek to achieve a state wherein all individuals feel included, accepted, and respected and human dignity and equality are practiced and upheld” (Byrd, 2012, p. 120). Today, emerging, relational leadership approaches like inclusive leadership and servant leadership are challenging traditional models of leadership that overemphasize individual traits of the leader and ignore the possibility of sustained development over time (Nagda & Roper, 2019).
In this issue, Martinez and Leija highlight servant leadership as a relational approach distinct from transactional and transformational leadership. Then Boutwell and Smith introduce the hierarchy of learning model that advances inclusive leadership as a response to fulfilling individual and organizational learning needs. Byrd and Scott offer Insights for HRD Education and introduce an anti-racism teaching and learning framework for the HRD curriculum. In the Insights for HRD Practice section, Kroese responds to a discussion initiated during the 2023 AHRD Conference in the AmericasTown Hall Forum relating to writing the Implications for HRD section that is required in most HRD journals.
I express gratitude to the contributing authors of this issue. I would also like to express gratitude to Dr Alina Waite and Dr Rochell McWhorter whose second terms as AEs ended in conjunction with the AHRD Conference. On behalf of the Editorial team and Editorial Board, thank you!