The University of Missouri System is a people-driven organization. Because of this, investing in current and emerging leaders is a practice vital to the system’s success, said UM System President Tim Wolfe at the 2014 Leadership Development Program (LDP) annual retreat.
“Higher education should be committed to systematic and proactive development of leaders,” Wolfe said. “Our goal is to attract and retain the best in the industry. That means investing in people.”
The LDP offers training to faculty and administrators from all four campuses specifically in management and leadership. The annual program brings participants together for a two-day retreat to analyze their personal leadership styles and how these play into interactions with groups and colleagues.
For some participants, the retreat is a rare break from the day-to-day to think about how to maximize their effectiveness as a leader. Ann Cary, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said the program gave her a new perspective how to exercise leadership.
“It’s very different to move into a management position,” Cary said. “We’re all experts in our content area, but don’t necessary have training in management. There’s a science to leadership that we’re learning.”
Before the retreat, colleagues and employees completed a comprehensive 360 degree evaluation of each participant’s leadership style. Cary appreciated the amount of positive feedback she received and was able to identify specific areas in which she could improve.
“For me, it’s really about over-communicating to make sure I’m being clear,” Cary said. “I’m going to try to incorporate more frequent communication, both unit-wide and one-on-one. I’m going to make sure we celebrate milestones in reaching our initiatives.”
Birgit Noll, interim chair of Anthropology, Sociology and Languages at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said she realized she needs significant time to process information at the beginning of a decision-making process.
“I learned that I tend to think things through more at the beginning and then become more comfortable with ideas as time passes,” Noll said. “Because of this, I’m going to try to do more homework before meetings to be mentally prepared.”
To learn more about the LDP and current cohort members, visit https://umsystem.edu/ums/hr/ldp.
Reviewed 2014-09-30