Overview
Leadership becomes real when it moves from concept to practice in LDST 3220 – Leadership Practice. This course focuses on how leadership functions in authentic environments where people interact, solve problems, and make decisions. Students investigate leadership within teams, organizations, and communities, paying particular attention to the contextual forces that influence collaboration and shared work.
Through experiential projects, case studies, and simulations, students put leadership frameworks into action while learning to adapt their approaches across changing conditions. Emphasis is placed on teamwork, ethical decision-making, and the ability to analyze environments and relationships through multiple perspectives.
Students examine their own leadership identity, capacity, and efficacy — refining their understanding of how self-awareness connects to action. By reflecting on lived experiences and peer interactions, learners strengthen their ability to lead with confidence and authenticity in varied organizational and civic settings.
Throughout the course, students use technology, creativity, and communication to express their ideas — crafting presentations, digital reflections, and collaborative deliverables that demonstrate growth in both leadership competence and professional readiness.
Students in their second, third or fourth year are encouraged to enroll. Students in their first year at ISU are encouraged to consider LDST 1220: Leading with Purpose or LDST 2700: Campus Leadership Development.
3 credits. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement.
Course learning objectives
Upon completion of the course, the students will:
- Demonstrate self-awareness of and growth in their individual leadership capacity, efficacy, and engagement.
- Recognize how emergent leadership theories and identity intersect
- Recognize the way contextual factors influence leaders and followers
- Analyze leaderships role and impact at the individual, institutional, and societal levels.
- Develop the communication skills, adaptability, and leadership mindset needed to live, work, collaborate, and lead effectively with others in a variety of settings.
Catalog description
Applies leadership theory to practice through team projects, simulations, and case studies. Emphasizes how contextual factors, environments, and multiple perspectives shape effective leadership and followership across organizational and community settings. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer