Scott J. Allen

Simulations as a Source of Learning: Using StarPower to Teach Ethical Leadership and Management

This research examines the use simulation, StarPower, as an instrument to teach students about ethics in management and leadership. The paper begins with an overview of sources of learning in leadership and management development and later focuses specifically on the use of simulations. This is followed by a brief explanation of the StarPower simulation and the results of an exploratory study conducted. It was determined that 100% of participants found the activity educational and would recommend using it again in the future. In addition, 96% of the participants responded that StarPower is an effective activity for teaching students about ethical behavior.

Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: An Integrative, Process-Oriented Theory of Student Leadership.

Emotionally intelligent leadership (EIL) theory combines relevant models, theories, and research in the areas of emotional intelligence (EI) and leadership. With an intentional focus on context, self and others, emotionally intelligent leaders facilitate the attainment of desired outcomes. The 21 capacities described by the theory equip individuals with the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics to achieve desired results. The purpose of this article is to propose an integrative, process-oriented EIL theory to provide a framework for conceptualizing and integrating future research and practice. The authors review and organize research and theory in emotional intelligence and leadership within the context of higher education, introduce the EIL model, and provide suggestions for future research. The article concludes with practical implications for leadership development in the context of higher education.

Using Cluster Analysis to Segment Students Based on Self-Reported Emotionally Intelligent Leadership Behaviors.

Using emotionally intelligent leadership (EIL) as the model, the authors identify behaviors that three levels of leaders engage in based on a self-report inventory (Emotionally Intelligent Leadership for Students-Inventory). Three clusters of students are identified: those that are “Less-involved, Less Others-oriented,” “Self-Improvers,” and “Involved Leaders for Others.” EIL behaviors that most differentiate the highest self-ranking group of involved leaders are the extent to which cluster members work to resolve conflicts in a group situation, work to build a sense of team , and consider the needs of others . The underlying constructs of consciousness of context, self, and others are investigated and discussed. Discriminant analysis is used to validate the cluster solution. Cluster analysis is found to be useful tool for helping leadership educators categorize students and by doing so, program architects have an opportunity to design and develop interventions tailored to better meet the needs of individual students.

An exploration of teaching methods used to develop leaders

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how educators can benefit from data on teaching methods or sources of learning used for the leader development of undergraduate students. To advance the field, the authors contend that programs for leader development need to clearly identify what area of development is being improved (e.g. conceptual understanding, personal growth, skill building, feedback), intentionally build connections toward those objectives for development, and incorporate experience within the structure of undergraduate education to facilitate better outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – Ratings on the teaching methods used by participants with experience facilitating leader development activities for undergraduate students were solicited in an online survey. Each participant (n=66) responded to questions about 25 sources of learning for leader development. Questions asked the degree to which each source of learning provided the learning outcomes of conceptual understanding, feedb...

Exploring the Language of Leadership Learning and Education

This chapter examines the importance of language in the emerging field of leadership, especially when establishing and maintaining partnerships and when designing pedagogical practices for leadership learning.

Yes! And . . . I’m So Tired of Experiential Learning:

For more than a decade, I have been experimenting with curricular and cocurricular approaches to leadership education. In the classroom, my focus is teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in leadership, and in 2015, I cofounded a nonprofit, Collegiate Leadership Competition, which is an organization dedicated to creating a practice field for leadership learning and education. I read the work of Byrne, Crossan, and Seijts (2018) and truly appreciate their approach and thinking when it comes to developing leader character. In a nutshell, I could not agree more with their thinking, and like them, I have been experimenting with new and innovative ways to teach leadership. Crucible moments within an experiential learning pedagogy can be exhausting and, depending on the approach, come with risk. In my own experience, there is a shadow side to such endeavors, and the purpose of this rejoinder is to explore this dimension as an important topic for discussion. While Byrne et al. (2018) and I have arrived at a similar space conceptually, I have used the work of other scholars that readers may find interesting and helpful in their own practice. I begin by sharing three resources that have fundamentally shifted how I think about teaching leadership. I continue with five key considerations for educators interested in experimenting with crucible moments as an experiential/active learning intervention.

Report on the Validation of the Emotionally Intelligent Leadership for Students Inventory.

The present study was designed to examine the measurement of the Emotionally Intelligent Leadership (EIL) construct and to provide evidence of validation for the multidimensional Emotionally Intelligence Leadership for Students: Inventory 2.0 (EILS:I 2.0). The EILS:I 2.0 is a self-report assessment of emotionally intelligent leadership in the context of a student environment. The results of two confirmatory factory analyses of two independent samples of data from students across the United States provide support for a 19-factor model of EIL and the construct validity of the EILS:I 2.0. These results provide leadership educators evidence that use of the EILS:I 2.0 will result in the measurement of 19 capacities of EIL in students. Implications of these findings for leadership educators and directions for future research are discussed.

Valuing Human Significance: Connecting Leadership Development to Personal Competence, Social Competence, and Caring

This chapter examines humanistic ways of understanding learning; connects leadership learning to the concepts of personal competence, social competence, and caring; and introduces the model of emotionally intelligent leadership.

Exploring Deliberate Practice & the Use of Skill Sheets in the Collegiate Leadership Competition.

Little has been written about the use of skill sheets in leadership education and this paper demonstrates how they have been implemented in one specific context. Used in a number of domains (e.g., karate, cardiopulmonary resuscitation) skill sheets are checklists or rubrics that record skill performance. The use of skill sheets in leadership learning and education is a critical step in our efforts to grow as a discipline. Founded in 2015, the Collegiate Leadership Competition has incorporated the use of skill sheets in skill development, assessment of learning, and curriculum design. Introduction The Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC) was founded to disrupt current approaches to leadership learning and education and in many ways, to explore several dimensions of the National Leadership Education Research Agenda 2013-2018: Providing Strategic Direction for the Field of Leadership Education (Andenoro, Allen, Haber-Curran, Jenkins, Sowcik, Dugan, & Osteen, 2013). CLC provides the space for deliberate practice (see Ericsson & Pool, 2016) of leadership. In addition, students who participate in CLC stretch the boundaries of their leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities. In its fourth year, CLC curriculum designers continue to explore the role of deliberate practice in leadership education. An important dimension of leadership education is the domain of skill building—yet surprisingly little is devoted to the topic in the leadership literature. Perhaps, because the activity of truly building skills takes time, practice, coaching, and feedback. As a result, most leadership education stays in the domain of conceptual understanding (the cognitive domain) and personal growth and development (the humanistic domain) (Allen & Shehane, 2016). And while many leadership educators trumpet our “experiential learning” approach, often, our experiential activities do not result in true skill development. If they did, our literature would be filled with empirical studies of development and growth in skill. As a result, we often rely upon surveys and personal accounts of growth and development. This reality is an opportunity. Truly developing skill among students in realms such as negotiation, conflict management, problem solving, and Journal of Leadership Education DOI:10.12806/V17/I1/C3 JANUARY 2018 CONFERENCE 29 ethical decision making is critical if we hope to develop well-rounded leaders who are prepared to engage in the activity of leading others. Review of Related Scholarship The reality is that true skill development (e.g., playing soccer, cooking, firefighting, becoming a black belt in karate, flying a plane, conducting CPR) requires deliberate practice (see Ericsson & Pool, 2016) and the current paradigm of leadership learning and education is not designed to yield these outcomes. In reality, leadership learning and education needs a practice field. A place like the kitchen for a chef or stage for an actor where men and women can practice with an opportunity to repeat, receive coaching/feedback, and work on skills outside of their current ability levels (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993; Ericsson, Prietula & Cokely, 2007). One stream of research with a number of tangible lessons for leadership education is the expertise literature. Individuals working in this ream (a branch of psychology) have gone to great lengths to research not only what separates an expert from a novice (in any domain) but also how experts are trained and developed. When it comes to the questions of “what” separates experts from novices the distinctions are fairly straight forward. Experts know more about the domain, better see patterns and chunks of information, plan better interventions, and skillfully intervene more often than novices (Allen, Miguel, & Martin, 2014). Regarding the question of how experts are developed, Ericsson and his colleagues have determined that it is deliberate practice that separates experts from novices. In their book Peak, Ericsson and Pool (2016) outline several elements of deliberate practice which, when juxtaposed with the clear majority of leadership education, suggests a lot of opportunity for exploration and growth. According to Ericsson and Pool (2016), Deliberate Practice... 1. “requires a field that is already reasonably developed – that is, a field in which the best performers have attained a level of performance that clearly sets them apart from people who are just entering the field” (p. 98). Ericsson and Pool also emphasize the need for objective criteria upon which superior performers can be judged. 2. “requires a teacher who can provide practice activities designed to help a student improve his or her performance...in particular, deliberate practice is informed and guided by the best performers’ accomplishments and by an understanding of what these expert performers do to excel. Deliberate practice is purposeful practice that knows where it is going and how to get there” (p. 99). 3. “develops skills that other people have already figured out how to do and for which effective training techniques have been established” and has “teachers to provide beginners with the correct fundamental skills in order to minimize the chances that the student will have to relearn those fundamentals skills later when at a more advanced level” (p. 99). 4. Requires a practice regimen “that should be designed and overseen by a teacher or coach who is familiar with the abilities of expert performers and how those abilities can be best developed” (p. 99) 5. “takes place outside one’s comfort zone and requires a student to constantly try things that are just beyond his or her current abilities. Thus, it demands near-maximal effort, which is generally not enjoyable” (p. 99). Journal of Leadership Education DOI:10.12806/V17/I1/C3 JANUARY 2018 CONFERENCE 30 6. “involves well-defined, specific goals and often involves some aspect of the target performance; it is not aimed at some vague overall improvement. Once an overall goal has been set, a teacher or coach will develop a plan for making a series of small changes that will add up to the desired, larger change” (p. 99). 7. “requires a person’s full attention and conscious actions. It isn’t enough to simply follow a teacher’s or coach’s directions. The student must concentrate on the specific goal for his or her practice activity so that adjustments can be made to control practice” (p. 99). 8. “involves feedback and modifications of efforts in response to that feedback. Early in the training process much of the feedback will come from the teacher or coach, who will monitor progress, point out problems, and way to address those problems” (p. 99) 9. “both produces and depends on effective mental representations. Improving performance goes hand in hand with improving mental representations; as one’s performance improves, the representations become more detailed and effective, in turn making it possible to improve even more. Mental representations make it possible to monitor how one is doing, both in practice and in actual performance. They show the right way to do something and allow one to notice when doing something wrong and to correct it” (pp. 99-100). While CLC curriculum designers have not yet addressed all nine of Ericsson and Pool’s components of deliberate practice, we are working to design learning interventions that more closely mirror learning experiences that lead to expertise (Allen, Schwartz, & Jenkins, 2017). For instance, we have developed clear processes for activities such as negotiation, conflict management, presentation skills, ethical decision making, and problem solving. Along with these processes we have developed video tutorials, learning materials, and teaching tips. We have also developed skill sheets (Brennan & Braslow, 1995) that a leadership educator can use to assess performance. In the near future we will video exceptional performers so other students and educators have exemplars that they can turn to when learning the material. Description of the Practice After reading Ericsson and Pool’s (2016) list, it is apparent that leadership educators have an opportunity to further define what is being “developed.” This paper aligns with the work of Allen & Shehane (2016) who suggests the following: The definition of leadership training aligns closely with the tenants of behaviorism and is most concerned with a participant knowing how to display a skill or family of skills (competencies). This dimension is the Achilles heel of leadership learning and stems from a lack of a true practice field for growth. In addition, there is little agreement or understanding of the specific skills individuals should focus upon to be a more effective leader. Topics could include meeting management, facilitating discussion, decision making, negotiation, public speaking, and establishing vision. In this context: leadership training ‘is proficiency in demonstrating specific skills associated with the activity of leadership.’ (pp. 42-43) Journal of Leadership Education DOI:10.12806/V17/I1/C3 JANUARY 2018 CONFERENCE 31 A common tool for assessing skill is the use of rubrics or skill sheets (Reddy & Andrade, 2010). For instance, in the military, firefighting, k-12 education, and medical education, skill sheets are often displayed as checklists that outline desired behaviors (see National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, 2017). In the context of the CLC, skill sheets are used in the following manner. First, students are taught a relevant process. For instance, a simple decisionmaking model known as as SOLVE (Set roles, Outline the problem, List multiple strategies, Veer toward consensus, Evaluate results). The students commit the process to memory and are given a skill sheet that further outlines what “model” behavior looks like. Next, the leadership educator models the process for students so they can critique and evaluate performance. Then, students are placed in acti

College Women’s Leadership Self-Efficacy: An Examination through the Framework of Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

How women understand and practice leadership is a growing focus in research and in practice. This study was the first of its kind to examine different variables that drive college women’s leadership self-efficacy. The researchers sought to identify which of the 19 capacities of emotionally intelligent leadership (EIL) are significant drivers of college women’s leadership self-efficacy. Four EIL capacities emerged as significant: initiative, facilitating change, developing relationships, and managing conflict. The findings and discussion include specific strategies to support college women’s leadership development and suggest further exploration of gender disparities in college student leadership development.