Dear Leadership Educator Colleagues,

NCLP is in the final stages of the manuscript for an undergraduate text book on the Social Change Model of Leadership Development* (the 7Cs) to be published with Jossey-Bass. It is anticipated for Summer 2009. Wendy Wagner and I are editing the book. 

It would help the book to have true short stories of changes groups of students have attempted or accomplished to make a better world on campus, in the community, region, etc. These can be initiatives from an individual who enlisted others, about student organization projects, from coalitions of students groups, student-staff alliances, etc. We welcome stories that relate to service learning, policy changes, initiatives resulting in new programs/policies, etc.  They may be stories of things YOU or your peers were involved with when you were an undergraduate.

If used, the final story would end up being 2-5 sentences to illustrate some aspect of the social change model. You can write a longer version and we can edit it, or write a brief paragraph and we hopefully can use it. If we use your submission we will get back to you for info Jossey Bass needs to publish the material.

Sorry for the short notice but we need any submissions by August 13th.  The book has lots of quotes and some stories but it is clear that real stories would make the constructs come to life for student readers. 

THANKS if you can help us.   Susan and Wendy

I recently read Leadership: A Critical Text by Simon Western.  I found it very interesting.  It’s one of the first “text book” leadership-type books that I have found pretty strong.  It takes a good, critical look at leadership which is sometimes hard to find.  Western identifies four main discourses of leadership: Controller (e.g., great man), Therapist (e.g.,. human-centered), Messiah (e.g., transformational), and Eco (e.g., systems, sustainable leadership).  I am especially inspired by the Eco perspective- I think it is very relevant for our society today.  The others made sense to me, but I didn’t fully agree with some of the way some of the models were placed (party I think transformational and transforming leadership were taken a bit out of context).  The book also makes some connections between the Messiah discourse of leadership and Christian Fundamentalism.  Anyone interested in religion and leadership would likely enjoy these chapters.  I’m thinking of using the book or at least sections of it for an advanced undergrad leadership course I’ll teach this coming year. - Paige Haber

I have just finished reading a great book on this topic by Andy Hargreaves and Dean Fink. Their research is based upon studies of educational facilities but I think provides an insight into what sustainable leadership may look like in businesses too.

The research provides seven principles of sustainable leadership for sustainable schools:

1. Depth – purpose is important

2.Length – incorporates the idea that sustainable leadership is systemic and enduring rather than personality driven and transient.

3. Breadth – sustainable leadership is distributed leadership

4. Justice – sustainable leadership does no harm to any other party, it is socially just

5. Diversity – fosters diversity of ideas and approaches, mimicking the experimentation found in flourishing eco-systems

6. Resourcefulness – develops and does not deplete material resources or people

7. Conservation – honours and learns from the past to create a better future

Check it out http://www2.bc.edu/~hargrean/books.html

Josie

Here is an article I found on the SHRM website. The article highlights a challenge in leadership development. There are a number of programs “called” leadership development, but the focus is anything but leadership. Take a look and see what you think. – Scott J. Allen

So often we view the undergraduate experience as the ideal setting for leadership development, and rightly so. Logic follows that most undergraduate students in America will hold some type of part-time employment before or during their undergraduate days. I now ask you, wouldn’t these work places prove just as opportune a setting for learning leadership skills as a college campus? I will spare you the many stories – arising mainly from dysfunctional management – of my first job, many of which could have been avoided with a better focus on intelligent leadership. After all, most leadership literature and consulting today is aimed at college degree-holding employees. I feel its time for employers of students to consider doing more for their workers than simply signing a pay check. – Jim Meehan