The Doerr Institute’s Research & Evaluation Team conducts basic and applied research relevant to leadership and leader development. Our applied research revolves around developmental interventions designed to enhance basic leadership skills or induce identity shifts that can organize and motivate long-term behavioral changes. This research encompasses a range of methods, including self-reports, acquaintance reports, trained observer ratings, longitudinal designs, and experimental studies. Outcomes examined to date include leader identity, sense of purpose, psychological well-being, aspirational self-clarity, and emergent leadership role attainment, in addition to more focused, leadership-enhancing skills (e.g., giving effective feedback, managing conflict).
Our basic research examines the role that culture plays in leadership and followership dynamics, including the characteristics that followers see as ideal in leaders, as well as the misconduct that followers are willing to tolerate in leaders who fulfill cultural ideals. In addition, we have conducted a variety of collaborative studies on the measurement of certain fundamental cultural ideologies at both the individual, regional, and national levels. We routinely publish our research on these and other such topics in peer-reviewed journals and present it at national and international conferences. We also publish a regular blog on leadership and assessment principles called The Leadership Lab. [include link to blog]
Research We Have Published (Selected Examples)
Books:
Brown, R. P. (2022). Measuring the mist: A practical guide for discovering what really works in leader development. Doerr Institute for New Leaders.
Kolditz, T., Gill, L., & Brown, R. P. (2021). Leadership reckoning: Can higher education develop the leaders we need? Monocle Press.
Chapters and Articles:
Brown, R. P., & Reitmeier, R. (in press). The role of actionable planning in facilitating goal progress through professional coaching. Consulting Psychology Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000283
Pomerantz, A. L., & Brown, R. P. (2025). Future leaders or fortunate elites? Rethinking leader development in higher education and beyond. Leader to Leader, 117, 72-78. http://doi.org/10.1002/ltl.20892
Johnson, S. J., Murphy, S. E., Brown, R. P., & Westmoreland, K. E. (2024). Solving the leadership shortage: Helping your employees thrive bolsters leadership success. In S. Braun, T. K. Hansbrough, G. A. Ruark, R. G. Lord, R. J. Hall, and O. Epitropaki (Eds.), Navigating leadership: Evidence-based strategies for leadership development (pp. 155-184). Taylor and Francis.
Middleton, E., Zajac, S., Cavanaugh, K., Westmoreland, K., Brown, R. P., Smith, B., DeVeau, M., & Holladay, C. L. (2024). Assessing workplace coachability: A multi-study approach to design and validation. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice, 18(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2024.2367425
Cavanaugh, K., Zajac, S., Middleton, E., Brown, R. P., Smith, B., & Holladay, C. (2021). On coachability: How practitioners determine whether someone can be coached. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching, 13(1), 1-16.
Brown, R. P., Varghese, L., Sullivan, S. & Parsons, S. (2021). The impact of professional coaching on emerging leaders. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching & Mentoring, 19, 24-37. https://doi.org/10.24384/m3az-y271
Woodruff, T., Lemler, R., & Brown, R. P. (2021). Lessons for leadership coaching in a leader development intensive environment. The Journal of Character & Leadership Development, 50-65.
Brown, R. P., & Varghese, L. (2019). Holding higher education to account: Measuring what matters in the development of students as leaders. The Journal of Character & Leadership Development, 34-49.