Blog

This blog is designed for posts of general interest to leadership educators.  ALE members have access to the discussion board for posting items like job announcements or engaging in less formal dialogue.

  • New Key to Leadership

    15 May 2012 2:35 PM | Tony Andenoro (Administrator)

    Leadership looks to the past.

    “The cardinal responsibility of leadership is to identify the dominant contradiction at each point of the historical process and to work out a central line to resolve it”

    ~Mao Tse-Tung, Leader of the Chinese Revolution

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  • Bi-Weekly Keys to Leadership

    30 Apr 2012 11:32 AM | Tony Andenoro (Administrator)
    In preparation for the ALE Annual Conference in sunny Key West, FL from July 8th - 11th, we will be providing bi-weekly Keys to Leadership!  These will serve as reminders about the upcoming conference and hopefully get your week off to a good start.  Take care, good luck with your work today, and we hope to see you in July!

    Key to Leadership I

    Leadership means engagement.

    Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, makes the following observation: “I think it's very difficult to lead today when people are not really truly participating in the decision. You won't be able to attract and retain great people if they don't feel like they are part of the authorship of the strategy and the authorship of the really critical issues. If you don't give people an opportunity to really be engaged, they won't stay."

    Neff, T., Citrin, J. M., & Brown, P. B. (2001). Lessons From the Top: The Search for America’s Best Business Leaders. New York, NY: Doubleday.

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  • Elections are now OPEN!!

    10 Apr 2012 12:33 PM | Jacklyn Bruce (Administrator)
    Members, log on to our website and on our MEMBER SERVICES page you will find our link to vote in this year's election! We will keep the link open until April 30, 2012.

    Exercise your right to vote TODAY!!
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  • 2012 Conference Registration is Now Open!!!!

    19 Mar 2012 12:29 AM | Tony Andenoro (Administrator)
    Please check out the event page for details and to register for the 2012 ALE Conference!  Key West is going to provide for an amazing conference, so we hope to see you all there!  For questions please contact Tony Andenoro at andenoro@gonzaga.edu. 
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  • ALE Submission Deadline Extended!

    02 Mar 2012 5:38 PM | Tony Andenoro (Administrator)
    Over the past few days, the ALE Planning Committee has fielded an overwhelming number of inquiries regarding a possible deadline extension for our 2012 Annual Conference Call for Papers.  After considerable deliberation, we have made the decision to extend the deadline to Thursday March 15, 2012 at 11:59 PM EST.  We have received an incredible number of highly competitive papers and look forward to increasing that number over the coming weeks.  The new link to the updated Call for Papers is below.  We look forward to seeing your submissions and hope to see you in Key West in July.  Thanks and have a great day!

    ~ALE Planning Committee

    Call for Papers
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  • Closing the Gender Gap Through Leadership Education

    02 Sep 2011 2:48 AM | Kae Reynolds
    In a recent wall post on the Association of Leadership Educators’ facebook group page the question was posed how leadership educators can help close the salary gap between women and men in the workforce. The question referred to a book entitled “Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide”. Indeed the gender gap continues to be a thorn in the side of female professionals. Some people assume that the so-called war between the sexes is “over”. Granted, work life for women has improved on many counts. Nevertheless, studies and statistics testify to the fact that women’s salary ceiling remains as tough as tempered glass. Two examples from the aforementioned book are that in 2001 U.S. women held only 2.5 percent of the top jobs at American companies at Fortune 1000 companies and that women's earnings relative to men's have stagnated at 73.2 percent. Moreover, gender issues generally remain sensitive subjects in mixed company. 

    As a scholar of leadership and feminist theory it is one of my objectives to encourage dialog with and among ALE members addressing questions like the one our colleague posed on facebook. At the 2010 ALE Conference in Milwaukee I led a roundtable discussion about teaching feminist and gender issues in leadership studies for higher education. One of concerns that transpired was the general lack of feminist topics available in the leadership programs in which the participants were either teaching or studying. Apparently, something needs to be done! So I ask again: What can we do as leadership educators to affect change in the gender landscape of organizations and the impact of gender through leadership?

    Some suggestions from research are to train women specifically in assertiveness for negotiation and conflict resolution. While at a university or college it would be difficult to create a women-only course, this kind of training can be provided to college women through student activities. Within a mixed course, gender differences, the cultural norms and expectations behind them can be illuminated, and activities organized so that the women focus on assertiveness. Discussion and research implications also suggest that both men and women need to be trained to accept more assertive behavior from women. Expectations of supposedly gender congruent behavior continue to reinforce conscious and subconscious mental models of what is acceptable behavior for women and men. Leadership education provides a platform through which faculty and students can examine and question gender bias and inscribe new matrices of possibility.

    Here is a brief response on my behalf to the question of how we as leadership educators can make an impact on the salary gender gap, open the glass ceiling, and unravel the labyrinth women face in the workforce. First of all, on a personal level we can educate ourselves about gender issues and critical feminist accounts of topics in our areas of specialization. Secondly, at the classroom level we can commit to designing curricula to include feminist interpretations of our topics, specifically addressing gender and diversity in the context of the courses we teach and encourage students to explore these issues. At the very least, can we can include materials written by women and examine our required readings for gender bias. Thirdly, at a program level we can commit to developing new courses that focus on feminist theory, critical theory, post-colonialism, and intersectionality to more adequately address historical and contemporary injustice and its effects on leadership phenomena. At an administrative level, we can work together to eradicate the gender gap in salary and tenure opportunities, perhaps creating more equitable requirements for tenure. 

    As leadership educators we need to ask ourselves questions about our own ideas regarding the gender gap and decide whether we believe impacting gender inequity for social justice should be a priority. Gender injustice is certainly not the only type of injustice leaders and society face. I believe, each step we make toward gender balance is an opportunity to correct many forms of injustice and affect a large scale shift of consciousness in future leaders. Keep this in mind when reviving your syllabi! And please feel free to offer your comments and suggestions.

    Suggested media:
    Maura Belliveau, “A new explanation for the wage gap between men and women” (TEDxEmory)
     Gail Collins, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present
    Allison Eagly and Linda Carli, Through the Labyrinth: The Truth about How Women Become Leaders 
    bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody
    Anne E Kornblut, “How to shatter the 'highest, hardest' glass ceiling” (Washington Post) 
     TrixieFilms: “Feminist survey: Men on the street”
    Susan Vinnicombe and Val Singh, Women only management training: An essential part of women’s leadership development. 
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  • *NEW* Case Writing Competition for ALE

    25 Aug 2011 12:42 AM | Eric Kaufman (Administrator)
    To stimulate the creation and sharing of effective and innovative teaching cases that highlight leadership concepts, the Association of Leadership Educators (ALE) is sponsoring a case writing competition. The competition is open to both teams and individuals, including both student and regular members of ALE.  The best submissions will be shared with ALE members as part of a new case study database, and the authors will be invited to publish the case narratives with the Journal of Leadership Education.  For more details, see the attached file.
    ALE Case Writing Competition.pdf
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  • Leadership vs. Management: Implications for Leadership Educators

    02 Jun 2011 12:53 AM | Eric Kaufman (Administrator)
    Today's post on Linked 2 Leadership resurfaced the question on the difference between management and leadership.  While helpful information was included in the blog post, it left me wondering about the implications for leadership educators.  Afterall, there is a Journal of Management Education as well as ALE's Journal of Leadership Education.  Although I find helpful articles in both places, I have focused my efforts and expertise on the leadership side.  As I continue with my career in leadership education, will I continually have to explain and justify the distinction?  Should I do more to embrace the relationship between leadership and management?  In Jackson and Parry's book, A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Leadership, they address the leadership vs. management question in their opening chapter on "Why Studying Leadership Matters."  For the moment, I am satisfied with their response, but I am interested in what other leadership educators have to say.

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  • 2011 Award Nominations Due

    05 May 2011 10:59 PM | Eric Kaufman (Administrator)

    We are seeking proposals in five award tracks including Outstanding Program, Distinguished Leadership and Service Award, Founding Mother’s Award, ALE Rising Star Award, and Robin Orr Outstanding Practitioner Award.  

    Award proposals are to be submitted via email to Patterbq@utk.edu no later than 5:00pm on Friday, May 13th.  For further details and submission guidelines, please visit http://www.leadershipeducators.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1021947.
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  • Welcome to the New ALE Website!

    27 Apr 2011 11:36 AM | Anonymous
    by Jackie Bruce, ALE President
    The Board of Directors is so excited to have you browse our new site. With increased functionality, this website will not only be a storehouse of information, but the nerve center of our organization, serving as a conduit for information sharing, transactions, and networking. We also hope that the increased functionality will streamline our business activities to increase our overall efficiency. Take your time and get to know the new features! Browse through information on our association’s history and member benefits! Sign up for membership and network with others though blogs, message boards and events! You will find it all right here, on our site!

    The last year has been one of significant growth for our Association! We began our 20th year with high hopes for moving our association forward. We ushered in a new editor of the Journal of Leadership Education, developed a 5-year marketing plan to ensure our Association’s continued growth, and here we are having launched a new ALE website! I have been proud to serve as your President during this time, and I am excited and energized about what our future holds.

    Now is the time to get involved! Join us and be part of the next amazing 20 years that ALE has in store! You WON’T be disappointed!!

    Be bold! Learn, live and love to your fullest potential... and you will change our world!

    Jackie
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