Over the past decade, leadership development has become a major concern for
many organizations. Although a variety of approaches have been employed to fa-
cilitate the development needs of managers, two of the most popular have been
multirater feedback and action learning (Conger & Xin, 2000). For example, in
the last decade, multirater or 360-degree feedback has evolved from “a nice-to-
have technique” to a “must-have tool” (Atwater, Brett, & Waldman, chap. 5, this
volume; Church & Bracken, 1997). Using surveys with ranking scales, informa-
tion from relevant organizational others, such as direct reports, peers, superiors, or
customers, is fed back to the focal manager together with his or her self-ratings.
Through feedback and increased self-awareness, it is assumed that managers can
improve their leadership effectiveness. Action-learning formats are more complex
and involve company-based projects that serve as the learning vehicle. Unlike
traditional classrooms in which learning may be removed from the day-to-day
experiences of participants, action-learning programs send managers out to the
field where they grapple with important challenges or opportunities specific to
their organizations. In teams, participants learn to apply analytical tools and for-
mal knowledge to these specific challenges. Because the experience is grounded
in actual organizational issues, learning is viewed as far more useful and there-
fore more appealing. The action-learning experiences push participants to develop

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