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Leadership Reconsidered:
Engaging Higher Education in Social Change
Executive Summary
Several years ago, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation convened a panel of outstanding educators and
practitioners under the direction of Alexander and Helen Astin to look at the environment for
leadership in higher education, with a particular concern for how colleges and universities could
more fully engage and better serve society through conscious attempts to model new forms of
leadership. "Leadership Reconsidered" reflects a broad cross section of perspectives from within the
academic community and also represents the work of the Kellogg Foundation, which has been a
long-time advocate for the role of higher education in promoting social change. The James
MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland has produced this
executive summary and other materials designed to present the report to the widest possible
audience.
CHAPTER 1
Higher Education and the Need for Change
What can be done about the poor quality of leadership that currently characterizes much of
American society? A dozen prominent scholars and practitioners on the issues of higher education
and leadership have come to the conclusion that higher education institutions must share some of the
responsibility for the problem and need to make dramatic changes -- in curricula, teaching practices,
reward system, governance process, and institutional practices, values, and beliefs -- to contribute to
the solution.
In Leadership Reconsidered: Engaging Higher Education in Social Change, a 100-page monograph
published by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the scholars contend that higher education institutions
can produce future generations of more effective leaders by:
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intentionally encouraging the development of leadership in all students,
seizing on opportunities to model effective leadership,
replacing hierarchical, individualistic, and competitive styles with collegial and collaborative
ones, and
reaffirming campus connections to the community and to the common good.
CHAPTER 2
Principles of Transformative Leadership
Who is a leader? "A leader," the report states, "can be anyone -- regardless of formal position -- who
serves as an effective social change agent. In this sense, every faculty and staff member, not to
mention every student, is a potential leader."
What is quality leadership? Leadership Reconsidered stakes out new territory by suggesting ten
qualities -- five group traits and five individual ones -- that define effective leadership. They are:
Group
Individual
collaboration
shared purpose
disagreement with respect
division of labor
a learning environment
self-knowledge
authenticity/integrity
commitment
empathy/understanding of others
competence
Leadership to what end? The report's authors agree that quality leadership will work "to enhance
equity, social justice, and the quality of life; to expand access and opportunity; to encourage respect
for difference and diversity; to strengthen democracy, civic life, and civic responsibility; and to
promote cultural enrichment, creative expression, intellectual honesty, the advancement of
knowledge, and personal freedom coupled with social responsibility."
CHAPTER 3
Students Have the Power to Lead
Why teach leadership? According to the report, all college students need leadership development
because "leadership is no longer the province of the few, the privileged, or even the merely
ambitious," and "leadership skills are needed in virtually all areas of adult life." In addition, the
report states that leadership development can enrich the undergraduate experience, give students a
greater sense of control over their lives, and prepare them to live and work in society.
A key principle in this chapter: Any student, regardless of position or formal organizational
affiliation or title, can learn to exercise leadership and make significant changes in the institutional
culture on campus.
Preparation for leadership takes place in the classroom -- when students see themselves as learners
and teachers, work in groups or teams, and are actively involved in discovery -- and outside the
classroom -- in athletics, student government, ethnic student organizations, subject matter clubs,
volunteer activities, and so on. To be effective leaders, students must bring the core principles of
quality leadership (see Chapter 2) to their decision making and interaction with others.
When students exercise campus leadership, they "become more deeply involved in and committed to
shaping the educational experience -- for themselves and for others" and are more likely to exercise
leadership in their lives beyond college.
CHAPTER 4
The Leadership Role of Faculty
College and university faculty play key roles in shaping future leaders. In addition, they have the
opportunity to provide leadership in their field of scholarship, in campus life, and in the larger
society.
By incorporating and modeling the ten traits of effective leadership (see Chapter 2) -- by, for
example, team teaching or developing interdisciplinary curricula -- faculty members can help create
a culture of collaboration, not competition. If they approach peer review, for example, with selfknowledge and authenticity instead of defensiveness, they can create a more productive
environment. If they teach students, for example, with a respect for disagreement, that behavior can
become the norm for others.
To help create community, faculty must keep certain typical attributes in check -- namely, an
excessive need for autonomy, an excessively strong allegiance to their discipline, and a belief that
only top-level administrators can initiate change. Getting beyond those barriers allows faculty to
"begin the process of creating an institution that models the just, civil society in which we all want
to live."
CHAPTER 5
The Leadership Role of Student Affairs Professionals
Student affairs professionals have a history of success in preparing students for civic and community
life, but, the report states, "their own full potential as institutional leaders has yet to be realized."
To maximize their leadership potential, student affairs staff need to meet student needs with careful
attention to values such as empathy, competence, patience, and self-awareness. They need to allow
students to make their own mistakes, so they can learn from them, and encourage students to take on
major campus leadership roles. Like students and faculty, student affairs professionals need to
recognize that they can exercise leadership, regardless of their job title or status within the
institution.
The report notes "several very promising trends that offer tremendous opportunities for student
affairs professionals to practice leadership and to develop their leadership potential for the overall
benefit of the institution." These include: service learning, leadership development programs,
community service activities, living/learning communities, campus retention initiatives, efforts by
universities to become more student centered, the growing emphasis on civic responsibility, and
orientation courses for freshmen.
CHAPTER 6
College Presidents as Leaders of Institutional Change
Leadership Reconsidered implores college presidents -- and vice presidents, deans, and provosts -to incorporate and model the ten traits of quality leadership in all aspects of their work. Specifically,
college presidents must model collaboration by continually forming leadership groups -committees, cabinets, and ad hoc groups -- that facilitate decision making.
"If the president is able to model the principles of transformative leadership in her dealings with her
cabinet and if she openly advocates that cabinet members do the same with their immediate
colleagues," the report states, "she could well create a ripple effect that can transform the culture of
an entire institution.
CHAPTER 7
We Have the Power and the Opportunity to Transform Our Institutions
"This book," write the scholars, "is intended to serve both as an invitation and as a stimulus. Our
hope is that it will help us to think and converse more deeply about the challenges of leadership and
about how our academic behavior is forcefully shaped by our beliefs and expectations."
The authors note that the higher education environment, unlike, say, a business environment, has
special attributes that facilitate change, including:
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individual autonomy and academic freedom,
an atmosphere that welcomes and expects critical thinking,
"new starts" presented by new semesters and administrative leadership transitions,
celebrations -- convocations, retreats, award ceremonies, graduations, etc. -- that provide the
time and opportunity to focus on shared purpose and collaborative work, and
mission statements that provide "a kind of conceptual launching pad to initiate change."
The major obstacle to change within higher education is not, as many might presume, a lack of
resources, the report notes, "but rather our own limiting beliefs about ourselves, our colleagues, and
our institutions."
Leadership Reconsidered leaves readers with several tips on exercising transformative leadership
and practical suggestions for starting the conversation about change.
"In sum," the scholars write, "each one of us has the power and the opportunity to begin the
conversation and to set the process in motion, and each of us can identify peers and colleagues who
can participate in collective work around the practice of transformative leadership."
For additional information or to order copies of Leadership Reconsidered, go to
www.academy.umd.edu or call 301/405-6100.