Competencies
The Leadership Studies Program focuses on developing students’ leadership skills in seven distinct areas:
- Catalytic—Identifying, analyzing, and judging complex collective challenges and opportunities, and mobilizing others to remain focused on addressing them.
- Contextual—Knowing the cultural, historical, institutional, intellectual and policy context in which one operates.
- Interpersonal—Modulating one’s behavior in order to interact effectively in a variety of settings.
- Theory
Understanding the fundamental leadership concepts, constructs and research findings. - Organizational—Planning, organizing, coordinating and executing collective action.
- Personal—Being self-aware; that is, able to reflect on one’s thinking, feeling, and behavior and knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses, predilections, dominant tendencies and values.
- Social Systems—Analyzing dynamic social and political systems.
Adapted from: Pittinsky, T.L. (2006) “How to Develop Public Leaders.” Kennedy School Bulletin, summer 2006, p. 13.
Objectives
The objectives of the Leadership Studies Program are to:
- Develop students’ leadership capacity—which encompasses individual-level capabilities of self-awareness, integrity and commitment; group-level capabilities of collaboration, shared purpose and handling controversy with civility; and community-level capabilities of citizenship and civic responsibility.
- Provide opportunities for students to study leadership by learning effective communication practices, organizational theories, ethical principles, an appreciation of diversity, intrapersonal development and the value of community service.
- Cultivate students’ understanding of social empowerment and social justice to create positive and sustainable change.
- Challenge students to critically examine leadership at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, team, organization and society levels.
- Bring students into contact with community leaders and faculty members from diverse academic departments, backgrounds and leadership experiences.
- Prepare students to undertake leadership roles in their careers and in service to their community through coursework and co-curricular engagement.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the minor or certificate in leadership studies, students will:
- Recognize leadership as a set of skills, knowledge and attitudes that can be learned.
- Understand traditional and emergent leadership theories and apply them in practice.
- Comprehend key concepts of communication theories, organizational theories, contemporary diversity issues and ethical principles.
- Practice and evaluate their own capacity to lead effectively within teams, organizations and diverse communities.
- Develop and implement plans for continually improving their leadership capacity.
- Demonstrate proficiencies in written and oral communication.