Leadership Development for
Graduate Students: Skills that
Transfer Across Settings
Y. Evie Garcia, PhD
Associate Dean, Graduate College
Mia Ryneal, MA
Vice-President, Graduate Student Government
Graduate Assistant, Graduate College
Agenda
Brief Overview of Leadership Literature
 Outline Rationale and Purpose of
Developing an Inclusive Model of
Leadership Competencies
 Leadership Competencies

– Reflection of Strengths, Needs, and
Leadership Development Plan

Making Sure Goals are Relevant &
Getting Buy-In
Trait Type Theories
(Zaccaro, 2007)

“Great man” or “Hero” description of
leadership
– Early approach (late 1800s or before to 1950-ish):

Situational approach paradigm shift (19481980’s)
 Revitalization of trait-based approaches as
complex interactions (1980s to present)
– Characteristics/behaviors/situation leader
effectiveness

Distal (cognition, personality, values) vs.
proximal (knowledge, skills, competencies)
– Implications for training
Situation Approaches to Leadership
(Vroom & Jago, 2007)

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Parallel shift from personality to social theories
Leadership as process, not person (interaction
between leader behavior and situation)
Contingency Model: task vs. relationship focus &
outcomes (Fiedler); Least Preferred Coworker
– Leadership style and situation should be complementary

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Path-Goal Theory: Leaders facilitate individual
employee and group goals by clarifying, structuring,
rewarding, and providing resources for success as
needed (House)
Normative/Prescriptive Model: Degree to which
employees are involved in decision-making varies
with situation using implicit decision trees (Vroom &
Jago)
– Related to trait approach—consistency of behavior
depending upon categories of situations
Systems Model
(Robert Sternberg, 2007)
WICS (Wisdom, Intelligence, and
Creativity—Synthesized)
 System for analyzing situations, making
decisions and implementing plans to
achieve outcomes.

Transformational & Transactional
Leadership Models
(Avolio, 2007; Bono & Judge, 2004; Judge & Piccolo, 2004)

Transformational
– Idealized influence—high ethical standards and moral values
– Inspirational motivation—articulated, enthusiastic values and
vision
– Intellectual stimulation—encourage creativity, ideas, and
strategies, challenging the norm
– Individual consideration—coaching approach to employee
development

Transactional—means of monitoring & controlling
– Contingent rewards for employee behavior
– Management by exception active—monitor & correct proactively
– Management by exception passive—correct problems as they
arise
– Laissez-faire

These aspects are often used together; combines leader
behaviors and situational factors of other theories
To Summarize

Leadership models have increased in
complexity/dimension
 Most include leader behaviors, situational
factors, follower behaviors, and interactional
effects
 Few delve meaningfully into the effects of
culture, worldview, outgroup perspectives or
other such factors important to women,
leaders of color, LGBTQA, and other typically
marginalized groups.
Leadership Competencies

Behaviors, abilities, skills, and knowledge that
directly impact performance success
 The study of leadership competencies can
flexibly nest within and expand upon a variety
of broader theories (Gentry & Sparks, 2012)
– Study across 40 countries of 9,942 managers
• Resourcefulness, change management,
building and mending relationships were
competencies common to many
Issues Typically Neglected by
Existing Theories

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Broader repertoire of world views
Value exploring diverse perspectives to solve
complex problems
Inclusion and empowerment of team members
to problem-solve effectively
Recognition of inequitable systems
Advocacy for those lacking privilege
Powersharing and outgroup negotiation
strategies
Keen awareness of cultural differences and
potential misunderstandings
Courage in addressing difficult social situations
Juana Bordas:
Multicultural Leadership Principles
I to We: From Individualism to Collective
Identity
 A Leader Among Equals: CommunityConferred Leadership
 Leaders as Guardians of Public Values:
A Tradition of Activism
 Leaders as Community Stewards:
Working for the Common Good

Why Focus on Leadership
Competencies?
Examining leadership competencies is a
good place to begin developing as a
leader in practical ways
 Identifying competencies have
implications for developing and
assessing leadership training
interventions; competencies incorporate
knowledge, skills, and abilities with a
focus on observable behaviors

To Summarize

There is emerging scholarship examining the
complexities of the roles of culture and social
identities in leadership

This work serves to expand and challenge old
paradigms and to create new inclusive
paradigms geared toward increasingly
diverse environments
Managing Volunteers: The Challenges
“No matter how well intentioned volunteers are, unless there is an infrastructure in
place to support and direct their efforts, they will remain ineffective at best or, worse,
become disenchanted and withdraw, potentially damaging recipients of services in
the process” (Grossman & Furano, 2002).
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Reliability
Building an organizational culture of care
Personality Conflicts
Volunteer Retention
Volunteer Fatigue
Source:
Troth, M. A. (2008). Challenges in volunteer management. Charlotte, N.C.: IAP-Information Age Pub..
Managing Volunteers: Improving Outcomes
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Identify Interest in Participation
Properly screen volunteers and assess capabilities
Understand and clarify Volunteer expectations
Identifying the hesitation to participate rather than accepting ‘No’
Manage the scheduling of volunteers
Empower volunteers with decision-making capabilities
Motivate Volunteers through recognition and reward
If communication remains ineffective and problems persist, dismiss the volunteer
Sources:
Connors, T. D. (1995). The volunteer management handbook. New York: Wiley.
Johnson, D. W. (1978). The care & feeding of volunteers. Nashville: Abingdon
Sequeira, M. (2008). 365 ways to motivate and reward your nonprofit volunteers every day: with little or no money. Ocala, Fla.: Atlantic
Pub. Group
Who are Stakeholders?
Primary Stakeholders
Those with a formal, official, or contractual relationships and have a
direct and necessary economic impact upon the organization.
 Secondary Stakeholders
Those not directly engaged in the organization's economic activities
but are able to exert influence or are affected by the organization.

Source:
Savage, Nix, Whitehead, and Blair (1991) Strategies for assessing
and managing organizational stakeholders. Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 5 No. 2: 61-75.
Why is stakeholder buy-in
Important?
“To succeed, responsible leaders bundle the energy of different constituencies and enable the creation of value networks
(Lord and Brown, 2001:141) of multiple stakeholders, which enhance social capital and thereby contribute to both a
sustainable business and the common good” (Maak: 330).
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They assist with who, when, and how to coordinate.
They build social capital, also known as the capacity for individuals to act collectively.
Challenges

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Balancing competing stakeholder claims
Responsible and Ethical Leadership
“Responsible leadership is thus the ability to enable and broker sustainable, mutual
beneficial relationships with stakeholders, to create stakeholder goodwill and trust and ultimately a trusted
business in society – that is, one of multi-stakeholder benefit” (Maak, 331).

Identifying and Using Stakeholder Competencies and Resources
Source:
Maak, T. (2007) Responsible Leadership, Stakeholder Engagement, and the Emergence of Social Capital. Journal of Business Ethics ,
Vol. 74:329–343.
Mobilizing and Assessing
Stakeholder Participation

Stakeholder assessment should consider the following:
I.
II.
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Their potential to threaten the organization
Their potential to cooperate with it.
Participation Types and Interaction Strategies
Source:
Savage, Nix, Whitehead, and Blair (1991) Strategies for assessing
and managing organizational stakeholders. Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 5 No. 2: 61-75
Selected References
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Avolio, B. J. (2007). Promoting more integrative strategies for
leadership theory-building. American Psychologist, 62(1), 25-33.
doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.25
Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2004). Personality and
Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A MetaAnalysis. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 901-910.
doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.5.901
Bordas, J. (2007). Salsa, soul and spirit: Leadership for a
multicultural age. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler
Publishers.
Chen, C. C., & Van Velsor, E. (1996). New directions for
research and practice in diversity leadership. The Leadership
Quarterly, 7(2), 285-302. doi:10.1016/S1048-9843(96)90045-4
Chin, J. L. (2008). In Denmark F. L., Paludi M. A. (Eds.), Women
and leadership. Westport, CT, US: Praeger
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Chin, J. L., & Sanchez-Hucles, J. (2007). Diversity and
leadership. American Psychologist, 62(6), 608-609.
doi:10.1037/0003-066X62.6.608
Selected References (con’t)
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Eagly, A. H., & Chin, J. L. (2010). Diversity and leadership in a
changing world. American Psychologist, 65, 216–224.
doi:10.1037/a0018957
Eagly, A.H. (2005), “Achieving relational authenticity in
leadership: does gender matter?”, The Leadership Quarterly,
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Eagly, A.H. (2007), “Female leadership advantage and
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Women Quarterly, Vol. 31, pp. 1-12.
Fassinger, R. E., Shullman, S. L., & Stevenson, M. R. (2010).
Toward an affirmative lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
leadership paradigm. American Psychologist, 65(3), 201-215.
doi:10.1037/a0018597
Selected References (con’t)
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Genty, W. A., & Sparks, T. E. (2012). A convergence/divergence
perspective of leadership competencies managers believe are
most important for success in organizations: A cross-cultural
multilevel analysis of 40 countries. Journal Business
Psychology, 27, 15–30. DOI 10.1007/s10869-011-9212-y
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based
approach to leadership: Development of leader-member
exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a
multi-level, multi-domain perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 6,
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Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences (2nd ed.).
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Hooijberg, R., & DiTomaso, N. (1996). Leadership in and of
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Jogulu, U. D. (2010). Culturally-linked leadership styles.
Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(8), 705719. doi:10.1108/01437731011094766
Selected References (con’t)
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Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and
Transactional Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Test of Their Relative
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Offermann, L. R., & Phan, L. U. (2002). In Riggio R. E., Murphy S. E.
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Sanchez-Hucles, J. V., & Davis, D. D. (2010). Women and women of
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Psychologist, 65, 171–181. doi:10.1037/a0017459
Sternberg, R. J. (2007). A systems model of leadership: WICS.
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Vroom, V. H., & Jago, A. G. (2007). The role of the situation in
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