Preparing International Leadership for Turbulent Times: Best Practices for Educators

Session Submission Type: Panel Discussion

Short Description

Preparing international leaders during a time of exponential change demands intense and accurate self-awareness; comfort with ambiguity; and a nimble, curious approach to strategic thinking. Panelists will offer overviews of four time-tested approaches to international leadership education that incorporate these characteristics, including: an international learning community; an undergraduate global studies curriculum; an international service-learning initiative and; an international study of global leadership competencies. Together, the programs illustrate examples of best practices in international leadership education intended to build global perspectives, multicultural competencies, and sustainable action.

Detailed Abstract

International leaders currently face daunting challenges in navigating the multifaceted demands of our rapidly changing societies. The intricate network of global connections that currently exists has simultaneously created opportunities and obstacles that are as substantial as they are nebulous. Leadership for international education must be situated in sustainable action that anticipates unpredictable change while assessing the etiology and trajectory of complex problems (Wagner, 2009; Wheatley, 2006). Thus, in this panel, we will present innovative models and methods for cultivating diverse groups of leaders to meet real world needs.

The first panelist will consider what constitutes effective and ethical leadership in relation to leadership education. Over the past decade authentic leadership has been the focus of increased attention and research inquiry (Leroy, Gardner, Sels, 2015; Liu, Cutcher, & Grant, 2015; Wang, Sui, Luthans, Wang & Wu, 2012), but there is still a lack of consensus on what authentic leadership truly means and how it can be integrated into leadership education. The Equilintegration Leadership (EL) model, which was developed based on a comprehensive job analysis of 20 international subject matter experts who resided in 14 different countries and held over 90 different leadership roles, reveals several consistent themes regarding effective, ethical international leadership. This panelist will consider how and to what extent authentic leadership can be cultivated and sustained, and how dispositions such as critical self- and other-awareness and an orientation toward embracing complexity and dissonance can be embedded in our educational efforts.

The second speaker will then discuss an undergraduate leadership community intended to foster the abovementioned core competencies for effective international leadership. Substantial evidence has documented the potential for learning communities to enhance student development, academic performance, and student attitudes and perceptions (Buch & Spaulding, 2008; Zhao & Kuh, 2004; Kuh & Umbach, 2004), in part through their ability to engage students personally as well as academically with real world issues through both theory and practice (Kuh, 2008). The application of learning communities specifically for enhancing global leadership skills is therefore especially promising and urgent, given the reality that our current social structures demand that leaders be competent to engage immediately across multiple spheres of influence. This project specifically involved assessing how students’ beliefs and values, as well as the learning community curriculum and processes, affected students’ ability to understand themselves, others, and their role as leaders responding to pressing social and environmental concerns.

Similarly, global studies curricula offer vital resources for preparing international leaders who exhibit cross-cultural competence, understanding of global dynamics, and integrated approaches to systems thinking (Yong, 2006). The third panelist will present an overview of a course piloted as the foundation for a global studies curriculum that is designed to be shared internationally across multiple institutions. The course, which progresses from self-awareness to consideration of globally relevant considerations such as conflict resolution and specific issues such as immigration and environmental sustainability, is grounded in a developmentally-oriented approach that relies on student involvement in interactive, skill-based education.

Service-learning has also been identified as a high impact practice relevant for international leadership education (Kuh, 2008). The final panelist will describe an internationally-based service-learning program anchored in a global studies course. This service-learning experience relies on intentional processes of reflection that are introduced to students the semester prior to the service experience. Students are also asked to consider social justice issues as well as ethical and cultural values that are not typically included in mainstream dialogues about leadership. The students’ observations and learning from a systemic analysis of the interchange between diverse leaders and followers is included in this overview.

The chair will facilitate integration of the panelists’ presentations while ensuring the following learning objectives are addressed. Participants will:
1) receive a brief overview of a model of authentic and sustainable leadership practices relevant for international settings;
2) learn about the structure, process, and assessment of an international learning community;
3) understand the development and content of aspects of a global studies curriculum; and
4) understand the potential of international service-learning that integrates a provocative model of leader engagement.

Sub Unit

• Leadership Education

Chair

• Craig Shealy, James Madison University

Presenters

• Felix Wang, James Madison University

• Steve Grande, James Madison University

• Renee Staton, James Madison University

• Lee Sternberger, James Madison University