Lecturer Tim O’Brien’s 2016 doctoral dissertation analyzed the effectiveness of learning leadership through personal experiences (Heifetz’s course was among the data sources), and found it may depend on students' developmental capacity. Using Robert Kegan’s theory of adult development, O’Brien found the course provoked developmental growth for those who start the course preoccupied with how other people perceive them. These students move into a more “self-authorizing” stage of development.