Applying Leadership Strategies For Guide Community College Issues Requires An Approach That Delivers Results

From my experience in overcoming barriers, as a past first-generation college student, appreciative advising is important for my work with students. According to recent literature, appreciative advising means “establishing meaningful rapport between students and advisors, and co-creating paths toward success” (Bloom et al., 2008, p. 18). Advising undergraduate students and graduate students is a two-way learning experience for both the advisor and the student. Hence, I am an expert in improving student persistence, and narrowing the achievement gap for underrepresented students (as specified in Goal 2 of the strategic plan implemented by President Mildred Garcia). As the new Educational Leadership and Ed Doctorate Advisor, I can focus on closing the achievement gap for underrepresented master’s degree students and doctoral students. Respectively, I can use the methods of appreciative advising while working with students in the College of Education (COE). For instance, I will communicate with COE faculty and manage assessments to learn the challenges graduate students

I have always known I love change, but from this class, I learned change is the hallmark of a leader. As John C. Maxwell says in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, “Growth = Change.”The leadership assessments allowed me to understand myself in a new way. Because I am a curious green thinker, I need explanations and answers to understand my world. I tend to see the big picture of a project and my mind motivates me toward something new or improved. I am curious about new opportunities because I easily become bored with routine. Learning I have these characteristics has increased my confidence to pursue future leadership roles in a small to a mid-sized position.

A community college leadership crisis endures; within the next fifteen years, ninety percent of the community college presidents are expected to retire (McNair, 2015). To remain viable, United States community colleges need an influx of self-motivated, visionary leaders. Currently, there is a gap in leadership; (Anderson, 2014, Claus, 2013, Eddy, 2013, Hannum, 2015, Jones, 2014, Leist, 2013, McArdle, 2013, McFadden, 2013, McNair, 2015, Tunheim, 2015), quality leadership (Anderson, 2014, Ayers, 2015, Claus, 2012, Cornacchione, 2013, Dahlvig, 2013, De-Frank, 2014, Eddy, 2013, Enke, 2014, Floyd, 2016, Fujii, 2014, Gardner, 2013, Goltz, 2013, Grasmick, 2012, Hannum, 2015, Jones, 2015, Kearney, 2013, Leist, 2013, McArdle, 2013, McFadden, 2013, McNair, 2015, Morley, 2013, Myran, 2013, Tartari, 2015, and Tekniepe, 2014), and gender leadership (Catalyst, 2013, Claus, 2012, Cornacchione, 2013, Dahlvig, 2013, De-Frank, 2014, Eddy, 2013, Eddy, 2015, Enke, 2014, Floyd, 2016, Fujii, 2014, Gardner, 2013, Goltz, 2013, Grasmick, 2012, Hannum, 2015, Jones, 2015, Lennon, 2013, Morley, 2013 & 2014, Ortega, 2014 and Tartari, 2015), which is related to the gender wage gap (Claus, 2012, Cornacchione, 2013, Dahlvig, 2013, Enke, 2014, Goltz, 2013, Lennon, 2013, Morley, 2014, Tartari, 2015, Tekle, 2012, Pitts, 2014, and Bell, 2014).

Yet as stated in the paper by Ellen Van Velsor and Victoria A. Guthrie(1998) "Enhancing the Ability to Learn from Experience" (cited in Business Leadership, 2003 pp. 224-225), "To maintain their effectiveness, people in positions of leadership must be able to learn, actively and continuously." The actors are recognizing new behaviors, engaging in a variety of development experiences, testing skills that were previously untested, trying new approaches, and developing and using a variety of learning tactics to acquire new skills as laid out in Velsor and Guthrie's Paper(1998). The fixing of the Stanly Steamer engine by Charles Howard is a prime example of this kind of growth, but Howard does not show himself as a leader until he hires on Tom Smith as the horse trainer.

When confronted with failure, we can give up or stand up. This choice can go all the way back to the playground. That first leap for the monkey bars more often than not ends with a face full of wood chips. At that moment, one must choose to dust themselves off and try again, or to wait for mom and dad to save them. As a freshman, I didn’t fail because I never ”leaped for the monkey bars.” My feet were planted safely on the ground, so I never took any risks. Being guarded meant I would never fail, which really meant that I would never grow. Luckily, I got involved with student leadership. My feet loosened from the ground and my character started to grow. I decided to apply to become a Colorado State Student Leader Repressive at the end of my freshman year. At that

The culture of community colleges is unique. Individuals in leadership positions must be knowledgeable of the various aspects that accompany

Nassar, N.S. (2007). A System Approach to Organizational Development (P. Campbell, Edu.). Nashville, TN: Savant Learning Systems

Four newly elected or re-elected Houston Community College trustees were sworn into office in a ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 21 at the HCC Administration Building.

It would appear that my original theory regarding the applicability and practicality of this capstone was accurate. This course has managed to successfully supplement the knowledge I had previously acquired in other courses. For example, I was familiar with and understood the basic principles of leadership. However, this course has taught me that the ability to lead is not an exact science, but an art and determining how to proceed when faced with uncertainty or a highly volatile situation is an exceptional challenge.

Appreciative Inquiry organizes sequences of positive questions around constructive topics. The difference can be seen by citing the example of a conversation I had with a high school class who wished to learn about their community. Four of the teams had originally chosen “crime” as their area of study before I arrived and designed questions accordingly to ask the local police chief. I asked them why they wanted to investigate crime. They said it was because they felt unsafe. “What is it that you want?” I inquired. After struggling with the question, they finally responded, “I guess we want to feel safe.” “How do you think you’re likely to feel after you ask the police chief about crime in your neighborhood?” A girl responded that they would likely feel more scared, because they would find out about more bad things that might happen to them. “What if you asked him instead about community safety, important practices that support it, what the police are proud of

Community college governance is a shared responsibility of internal and external influences. These influences consist of various stakeholders such as the governor, legislators, state superintendent, trustees, boards, alumni, community members, faculty, staff, and students. These individuals affect the structure, management, and processes of community colleges that addresses national, state, and local needs.

The first way a growth mindset can support leader is by encouraging to continue studying and learning from the feedback. Why is this an advantage of

Appreciative inquiry is an exceptional resource for practitioners, leaders and coaches of all levels and experience. Appreciative inquiry is sometimes referred to as active listening, respectful inquiry and falls into the gestalt leadership style category (Van Quaquebeke & Felps, 2018). Research shows that communication is approximately 70 to 80 percent of a manager’s daily work (Van Quaquebeke & Felps, 2018). Asking questions is one thing, asking questions and listening to the responses is another, using this technique creates and encourages trusting relationships between leaders and subordinates. Three primary components should be present in appreciative inquiry- asking questions, question openness, and attentive listening,

The author has designed the personal learning plan around the diagnosis of his learning needs, statement of specific learning objectives, learning resources and strategies, evidence of accomplishment, how the evidence will be validated, and how the learning will be evaluated. I will concentrate on the five disciplines: Systems Thinking, Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Shared Visions, and Team Learning introduced by Peter M. Senge. This will allow me to expand my leadership abilities at my current job as well as jobs that I may hold in the future. What distinguishes leaders is the clarity and persuasiveness of their ideas, the depth of their commitment, and the extent of their openness to continually learning

From leadership theories and observations and my personal experiences, I found that leadership is a life learning process and best practices of leadership skills. Surprisingly, the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) points out that informal development opportunities, such as training, are responsible for only 10 percent of the actual learning in leadership development, and ninety percent of learning for leadership development is achieved in formal settings, mainly in everyday job activities such as development assignments and challenging tasks and interpersonal interactions at work, such as networks and mentoring relationships. Cronin and Genovese (2009) insist that what is required in leadership are three things: practice, practice, and practice. Mastery, however, requires more.