The Student Leadership Competencies Guidebook: Designing Intentional Leadership Learning and Development

Survey after survey finds that the qualities employers most look for in recent college graduates are those related to leadership, even ahead of technical job skills. Finally, the must-have resource that bridges the gap between leadership development and career preparation is here. Based on the learning outcomes of 522 academic programs within 97 academic accrediting organizations and concepts embedded in contemporary leadership models, The Student Leadership Competencies Guidebook explores 60 leadership competencies essential for effectiveness across a broad spectrum of careers. This Guidebook , along with the accompanying Jossey-Bass Student Leadership Competencies Database and Student Self-Evaluation Templates (both available online), provides a road map for incorporating leadership competencies into program development, curriculum design, and assessment to help students develop and enhance these 60 leadership competencies in order to effectively engage in leadership. The author defines each competency through the lens of four dimensions, knowledge, value, ability, and behavior, and provides both an illustrative scenario related to college student leadership that showcases the competency in action and tangible curricular ideas to use with students. "This guidebook is a new foundational resource for both curricular and cocurricular student leadership education. Supported by her extensive research, Seemiller presents the leadership competencies in an approachable framework and includes how to address them in the curriculum."— Susan R. Komives , coauthor, Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference, Third Edition " The Student Leadership Competencies Guidebook provides the scaffolding required to advance both academics' and practitioners' ability to design curriculum focused on behavioral outcomes and provide the fabric for assessment of students' lifelong leadership competency development."— Craig Slack , director, National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs "Given how leadership can be defined in so many ways, a comprehensive resource like this is essential to assessing if what we are doing is truly helping to develop the competencies intended through our programs."— A. Paul Pyrz, Jr. , president, LeaderShape

Acknowledgments xi About the Author xiii Introduction xv What Are Competencies? xv Why Focus on Leadership Competencies? xv How Were the Student Leadership Competencies Developed? xvi What Are the Student Leadership Competencies? xviii Tenets of the Student Leadership Competencies xx Competencies and Learning Outcomes xxi Using the Student Leadership Competencies xxii Jossey–Bass Student Leadership Competencies Database xxiii Self–Evaluation Templates xxiv Using the Student Leadership Competencies: At–a–Glance xxvi 1. Learning and Reasoning 1 Research 1 Other Perspectives 3 Reflection and Application 5 Systems Thinking 7 Analysis 9 Synthesis 11 Evaluation 14 Idea Generation 16 Problem Solving 17 Decision Making 20 2. Self–Awareness and Development 23 Self–Understanding 23 Personal Values 25 Personal Contributions 27 Scope of Competence 30 Receiving Feedback 32 Self–Development 34 3. Interpersonal Interaction 37 Productive Relationships 37 Appropriate Interaction 39 Helping Others 42 Empathy 44 Mentoring 46 Motivation 48 Others’ Contributions 50 Empowerment 53 Providing Feedback 55 Supervision 58 Collaboration 60 4. Group Dynamics 63 Organizational Behavior 63 Power Dynamics 65 Group Development 68 Creating Change 70 5. Civic Responsibility 73 Diversity 73 Others’ Circumstances 75 Inclusion 77 Social Justice 79 Social Responsibility 81 Service 83 6. Communication 87 Verbal Communication 87 Nonverbal Communication 89 Listening 92 Writing 94 Facilitation 96 Conflict Negotiation 98 Advocating for a Point of View 100 7. Strategic Planning 105 Mission 105 Vision 107 Goals 109 Plan 111 Organization 113 8. Personal Behavior 117 Initiative 117 Functioning Independently 119 Follow–Through 121 Responsibility for Personal Behavior 123 Ethics 125 Responding to Ambiguity 128 Responding to Change 130 Resiliency 132 Positive Attitude 134 Confidence 136 Excellence 138 References and Resources 141 The Jossey–Bass Student Leadership Competencies Database can be accessed at www.josseybass.com/go/studentleadershipcompetencies

Corey Seemiller is the director of Leadership Programs at the University of Arizona, teaches several leadership courses, and oversees Leadership Courses for Credit and the minor in Leadership Studies and Practice.