Understanding Leadership

Leadership Defined:

What is leadership? This presentation provides an overview of the various ways to categorize leadership, exploring models of leadership as outlined by Northouse (2016) in Leadership Theory and Practice. Students will take away a practical knowledge of different types of leadership and the understanding that leadership is a process.

What Makes a Great Leader?

A great leader does not have a singular focus; they are able to impact change through collaborative, values-based leadership. This presentation focuses on the Social Change Model of Leadership, encouraging students to identify individual, group, and societal values in an effort to create real change in the world around them.

Articulating Your Leadership Experience

Leadership opportunities are abundant during the undergraduate experience, but students need to know how to market their experiences for future career and academic opportunities. This presentation is designed to assist student leaders with articulating their leadership experience on their resume and in an interview setting.

Individual Values

Consciousness of Self:

Identifying Values:

Every leader should be aware of their motivating beliefs, values, and attitudes. This self-consciousness is often times the driving motivation behind a leader’s actions. This presentation provides students with an opportunity to identify their values and discuss how the awareness of such values could be beneficial when working with others.

Leadership Maxims:

Based on leadership expert Mike Figliuolo's (2011) One Piece of Paper, this presentation encourages students to define their personal leadership philosophy. By the conclusion of the presentation, students will have started to create a living document that communicates their values, passions, goals and standards to others, maximizing their leadership potential.

Emotional Intelligence:

Recognizing emotions and relating this recognition to life’s tasks is the center of emotional intelligence (Northouse, 2016). Emotions can be used for expression, facilitation of thinking, reasoning, and better understanding others within a group environment. This presentation will introduce the concept of emotional intelligence and help students navigate ways to practice emotionally intelligent leadership.

Congruence:

Authentic Leadership:

Being an authentic leader is a complex process; it requires a leader to develop and demonstrate traits of trustworthiness and believability. Though development of such characteristics is often a lifelong process, this presentation will focus on five attributes of an authentic leader, as identified by Bill George (2003) in Authentic Leadership.

Ethics:

Leadership requires a consciousness of self – an awareness of one’s beliefs, values, and attitudes that motivate a leader to take action. Due to this moral element of leadership, it is equally important that a leader is aware of their ethical obligations. This presentation is designed to explore five principles of ethical leadership: respect, service, justice, honesty, and community (Northouse, 2016).

Commitment:

The Happiness Advantage:

Motivational dynamism drives group effort. Finding and maintaining the source of that passion and motivation can sometimes be challenging, especially when self-care has been slighted. This presentation looks at ways student leaders can work towards wellness as a means to find motivational energy and duration.

Essentialism:

Student leaders often overwhelm themselves with responsibilities. However, to maintain motivation, leaders must find balance. This presentation will introduce Greg McKeown’s (2014) concept of Essentialism, helping students understand it is not always about getting more done in less time but more about getting only the right things done.

Group Values

Collaboration:

Habits of Highly Effective Communicators:

In order to collaborate, communication is a must – both verbal and nonverbal. Consequently, communication has the power to deter cooperation or promote an open environment for teamwork. This presentation will look at 5 habits of highly effective communicators. Focusing on both verbal and nonverbal behaviors, students will leave this presentation equipped with the knowledge to present their best selves and promote collaborative discussions.

The Fine Art of Small Talk:

Mastering the art of small talk is necessary for any student leader hoping to serve in a leadership capacity. Small talk can covey warmth and enthusiasm to organizational members which will leave them feeling welcomed, connected, and valued. This presentation will provide practical advice for carrying on simple conversations and connect the impact of a few words on the outlook of those you encounter.

Meeting Fundamentals:

Meetings provide for open communication among team members alongside an outlet for the facilitation of organizational progress. Whether facilitating the meeting, attending the meeting, or organizing a remote meeting, students will learn key takeaways for successful meeting implementation and participation.

Common Purpose:

The Five Most Important Questions to Ask Your Organization:

This presentation is grounded by Peter Drucker's (2008) The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization, enabling student leaders to explore organizational and individual self-discovery. By asking these five questions, students can focus on why they are doing what they are doing in their organizations and how to do it better.

Controversy with Civility:

Conflict Competence:

No one enjoys conflict, but leaders often have to figure out effective ways to navigate uncomfortable, heated situations. Runde and Flanagan (2013) coin this “conflict competence,” in their text Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader. This presentation will use their model of conflict competence development which focuses on three key steps: cool down, slow down and reflect, and engage constructively.

Group-Think:

Group-think transpires when a similar, interconnected group is more concerned with keeping harmony rather than gauging all alternatives. It is easy to fall victim to group-think, but knowledge is power. This presentation is targeted towards both student leaders and organizational members, empowering them to avoid group-think by valuing diversity and voicing opinion.

Community/Societal Values

Citizenship:

The Bigger Picture:

Why engage in leadership opportunities? For many student leaders, the process of developing leadership competencies is done in an effort to fuel career success. However, as this presentation will outline, the greatest value of leadership development is the opportunity for change. This presentation will review five ways leadership development can help make you a better person and greater societal contributor.