Chapter 5: The Self-Aware and Discerning Change Agent

In exploring the work of Robertson and Webber (1998), and Scott and Webber (2008, 2013) in relation to boundary breaking, entrepreneurial, and renaissance leadership a key personal dimension of a “leader of change” is understanding self, mediated through self-reflection and self-efficacy. This chapter explores the theories and research of Bandura and Marzano in relation to social learning, metacognition, self-reflection, human capacities and agency, motivation, and self-efficacy. This chapter provides useful insights into the importance of developing the intrapersonal capacities that influence the beliefs, motivations, and agency of a leader – that is, the self-aware and discerning change agent.

What separates us from the animals is our capacity to cogitate and reason. What separates exemplary change agent leaders from mediocre leaders is the capacity to know themselves, to regularly reflect to obtain honest insights, to act upon these insights for the benefit of those around them, and to use their metacognitive capacities to build self-efficacy in order to bring about change.