
In this 2007 presidential address to the Society of Psychologists in Management, I have examined some of the classic lessons from the psychology of learning and attempted to apply them to issues of management and leadership. In particular, I have looked at some of the major findings related to (a) the effects of feedback on learning and (b) the effects of stress or anxiety on learning. My goal is to understand the behaviors of leadership in terms of theories about how people learn, and to suggest that leadership behaviors can be shaped through the use of principles derived from the science of learning. Three cases provide examples of how lessons from learning theory could have provided a structure for improving critical leadership behaviors.