A Six-Criteria Framework for Evaluating Leadership Development Models
Peter Thomond and Hein Scheffer*
ABSTRACT
Purpose: This paper presents a six-criteria evaluation framework for assessing the quality, coherence, and sustainability of leadership and management development models. The aim is to support the design and selection of frameworks that are both theoretically rigorous and practically effective in equipping leaders for current and future organisational challenges.
Methodology: An integrative literature review was undertaken to develop the evaluation framework, synthesising established and emerging theories from leadership and organisational studies. Its applicability was tested by evaluating twelve leadership development frameworks produced by the UK National Health Service (NHS) between 2010 and 2024.
Findings: Analysis revealed wide variation in the quality and consistency of NHS leadership frameworks, with only two of the twelve meeting all six criteria. Frameworks grounded in theory, explicitly future-oriented, structured around staged development, and embedded in practical application were more likely to support the development of capable and adaptive leaders.
Research Implications: The framework offers a literature-informed basis for evaluation but has so far been applied only within the NHS context. Future research should examine its utility across other sectors and international settings and test its capacity to predict leadership outcomes empirically.
Practical Implications: The paper provides practitioners, policymakers, and organisational designers with a structured tool for designing and assessing leadership frameworks. Applying the criteria can help ensure that models are conceptually coherent, strategically aligned, adaptable to context, and sustainable in practice.
