...Alan Burnell O'Neill; Ritchie Bent Purpose – Developing capable and competent executives remains a critical and ongoing challenge for many organisations due to the ever changing landscape of the global business environment. Traditional executive development methods in artificial, once removed...

... the barriers to focus on successful interventions. Design/methodology/approach – Research on leadership issues is reviewed to determine the skills needed to pursue diversity in executive development successfully. Practical application is discussed. Findings – Common barriers to minority advancement include...

.... Originality/value – The paper has value for researchers, management educators and practitioners. The importance of life patterns in the leader/manager debate is suggested with inferences drawn regarding management education. Leadership Qualitative research Management activities Executive development...