Leadership for the Long Haul: Examining the role of a Learning Community as an approach to leader development for truck drivers’ career sustainability

This dissertation asks how frontline leaders in Dutch road transport shape conditions for truck drivers' career sustainability, and how a Learning Community (LC) can support their development. Four studies show that leadership theory, largely built on white-collar samples, fits poorly with blue-collar realities. A scoping review and meta-analysis confirm that leadership effects vary by occupation, and universal models break down for physical, dispersed, time-pressured work.

A qualitative study revealed a tension between perceived and actual agency. Drivers feel responsible for their careers, yet planning, regulations, and distance from supervisors constrain them. Leaders shape key conditions such as information, feedback, development, and planning, but do so inconsistently. As a result, career sustainability depends largely on informal routines.

To address this, a six-month Learning Community was designed. Participants valued the recognizable topics and open exchange, but engagement required a careful balance between autonomy and structure. A longitudinal, multi-actor study identified three developmental pathways: leaders who redefined their role with visible behavioral change, those who made incremental adjustments within existing frames, and those who used the LC mainly to confirm existing routines.

The dissertation positions occupation as a critical contextual factor in leadership theory and offers practical guidance for sectors where career sustainability matters.