The Student Leadership Competencies Guidebook

Designing Intentional Leadership Learning and Development

Corey Seemiller

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118791141
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Student Life

Bridge the gap between leadership development and career preparation! This guidebook gives leadership educators the tools they need to help students develop the competencies necessary for their chosen careers and required by their academic programs. It also offers a way to understand and demonstrate the effectiveness of leadership programs. Organized into chapters each focused on one of 60 leadership competencies common across 522 academic degree programs accredited by 97 agencies, each chapter covers:

• a definition and description of the competency through the lens of each of four dimensions: knowledge, value, ability, and behavior;
• a scenario related to college student leadership that showcases the competency in action;
• related competencies to help readers understand how developing one competency may also intentionally or unintentionally develop another;
• a correlation of the competency to the Relational Leadership Model, the Social Change Model, the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, and/or Emotionally Intelligent Leadership; and
• tangible curricular ideas to use with students to help them develop each dimension of the competency.

Chapter 1

Learning and Reasoning

Research

Leaders can often get inundated with the vast amount of information being produced and shared in a variety of formats, some of which is useful and some that is extraneous to the leaders’ needs. It is important that leaders can produce and distinguish useful, legitimate information that is most applicable to each leadership situation.

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Samantha is a member of student government, which is currently working with the institution’s administration on the concern of student fee increases. She has been asked to provide research that backs the student government’s position to keep fees low. To fulfill this task, Samantha gathers the most recently published schedules of student tuition and fees from peer institutions as well as researches scholarly articles documenting the detrimental effects of rising education costs. She uses this information to create a report to provide to the administration on behalf of student government.

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Research Competencies

Understands how to research information effectively (Knowledge):

Understanding effective strategies to use when engaging in research, including understanding what constitutes legitimate research, knowing resources available to use when researching, and understanding how to navigate through the vast array of information to effectively find the necessary information.

Values researching information effectively (Value):

Believing that the best information is derived from using effective research strategies; valuing not just gathering any information, but the best information.

Has skills to research information effectively (Ability):

Being able to research information effectively by being able to determine what constitutes legitimate research, effectively utilizing available resources when researching, and being able to navigate through the vast array of information to effectively find the necessary information.

Researches information effectively (Behavior):

Using effective research strategies to not just gather any information, but the best information.

Related Competency Areas

• Analysis
• Evaluation

CAS Domain Translation

• Knowledge Acquisition, Integration, Construction, and Application

Leadership Model Translation

• Relational Leadership Model: Purposeful

Research Curricular Ideas

Dimension(s)	Curriculum	Other Competency Areas Developed
Knowledge	Offer a workshop covering tools and strategies for researching information effectively.
Value	Have students discuss potential consequences of not using legitimate sources or not assessing for bias when doing research.
Ability	Give students a topic to research so they can practice effective researching; have them share their research process; and then give feedback on their research skills.	Receiving Feedback
Behavior	Have students engage in a research project using only legitimate research and/or sources.
Behavior	Have students critique a piece that is self-published by an individual.	Evaluation
Behavior	Have students research the same topic using a variety of sources and discuss the differences in information found among the sources.	Analysis
Behavior	Have students prepare for and engage in a debate in which they do not know the argument they will have to make ahead of time, requiring them to research multiple perspectives.	Verbal Communication Advocating for a Point of View
Behavior	Give students a topic to research and have them compete with each other to see who can come up with the best (most comprehensive, legitimate, and so on) research related to the topic the fastest.	Evaluation

Other Perspectives

Leaders do not have all the answers. Thus, it is essential that they are able to truly consider other opinions, experiences, and outlooks to help them develop better solutions and approaches when dealing with leadership situations. Not only can this lead to better outcomes, but considering other perspectives helps leaders relate to and appreciate others more by better understanding their viewpoints.

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Hilary, the president of her student organization, has been getting frustrated at the lack of attendance at the weekly meetings. Hilary wonders why with such a large membership that there has been such a low meeting turnout. One member, Mario, approaches Hilary after the meeting one day to let her know that as a general member of the organization he believed that the meetings were not engaging as they might be, because they mostly consisted of hearing Hilary talk. Hilary had never thought of that before because she was so engaged. Mario offers a suggestion to Hilary to have everyone break up into their committees at the meeting so as to be more engaged. Hilary thinks that is a great idea and restructures the format of the meeting to be more engaging of the general members. After restructuring the format, meeting attendance and engagement increased.

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Other Perspectives Competencies

Understands the value of considering perspectives other than own (Knowledge):

Understanding how valuable considering perspectives other than one’s own can be in terms of understanding and appreciating others, finding solutions to problems by looking from another’s point of view, and learning new information that may shape, confirm, or alter one’s worldview.

Values considering perspectives other than own (Value):

Believing that considering perspectives other than one’s own can be helpful in understanding and appreciating others, finding solutions to problems by looking at them from another’s point of view, and learning new information that may shape, confirm, or alter one’s worldview; believing that everyone can learn something from everyone else.

Motivated to consider perspectives other than own (Ability):

Being motivated to consider other perspectives by listening to others, considering their viewpoints in decision making, as well as not passing judgment on ideas one does not agree with; being open to different opinions and ideas.

Considers perspectives other than own (Behavior):

Considering pers...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Learning and Reasoning
• Chapter 2: Self-Awareness and Development
• Chapter 3: Interpersonal Interaction
• Chapter 4: Group Dynamics
• Chapter 5: Civic Responsibility
• Chapter 6: Communication
• Chapter 7: Strategic Planning
• Chapter 8: Personal Behavior
• References and Resources