Avaa tiedosto - TamPub - Tampereen yliopisto

11AbstractPäivi Sutinen (2012): Johtajana kehittymisen olemus kunta-alan johtajan kokemana(The Essence of Developing as a Director: Experiences of Directors in the MunicipalSector). Acta Publications No. 233. Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.Helsinki.In our globalising world, managerial work faces particular challenges. Developmentas a director has a pivotal role when organisations meet these challenges. The aim ofthis study was to understand the “phenomenon” of developing as a director from thedirector’s own perspective. This was done by describing the essence of developing asa director through its meaning structure. The perspective applied in this study is newboth in terms of leadership and management research and in terms of research onvocational education.The work is grounded in Lauri Rauhala’s (1983) holistic concept of man and KarlPopper’s (1972) concept of reality. The study was carried out by means of an ontologicalanalysis, departing from the research material, within an educational setting. Theempirical part of the study was implemented using hermeneutic, phenomenological(von Herrmann 1998, 105, 107; Husserl 1995; Heidegger 2000) and heuristic researchmethods (Moustakas 1990). The study group consisted of 18 directors who had servedin various leadership and managerial positions in the municipal sector. The researchexplored what they considered personally important with respect to their developmentas directors. The experience of developing as a director was examined using an open,individual and understanding approach. The meaning structure of developing as adirector was based on personally experienced meanings; this was then crystallised toreveal the essence of developing as a director.The meaning structure of developing as a director consists of situation dimensions,target dimensions, action dimensions and result dimensions. In view of developing as adirector, significant situation dimensions include events, other people, knowledge, themanager himself/herself, and insights. Significant target dimensions include competence,esteem, positioning and realism. Correspondingly, significant action dimensionsinclude focusing, encountering, processing and mirroring. Significant result dimensionsare management, strengthening, aiming, and gaining of meaning.The essence of developing as a director consists of two meaning horizons and fourentities. The meaning horizons are work and being a person. In work, the significantfeatures for developing as a director are the director’s conceptions of the basic tasks,operational environment, actions and the future. In being a person, the significantJo h ta ja n a kehittymisen o l e m u s k u n ta-a l a n johtajan k o k e m a n a