Abstract
Developing capable executives is crucial in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environment. Leadership development through challenging job experiences has been proposed, but the transformation of emotions, consciousness, and behavior during the experiences is not well understood. This study aims to explore and generate hypotheses about how executives transform their emotions, consciousness, and behavior through challenging job experiences using Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M-GTA). Based on interviews with 15 executives, a transition process was constructed, which consists of three stages: the initial stage (beginning of a turning point), the engagement stage (transformation of emotions, consciousness, and behavior), and the overcoming stage (achievements and learnings). The theoretical significance lies in clarifying the transformation process and influencing factors of executives during challenging job experiences, which were not explained in previous research. The practical significance lies in demonstrating how executives can be developed through challenging job experiences.
https://ror.org/02956yf07 
