Levels

Level One: Exposure

In the first level, program participants will be exposed to the roles leaders play in creating and enhancing a socially responsible society.  This exposure will occur through opportunities to talk with successful leaders and through assignments that explore the basic questions of leadership and each participant’s leadership preparedness.

Level Two: Learning

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."
-Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

"Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
-Attributed to Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain, and no one is really sure who actually said it, but nonetheless is a cherished principle among many great leaders

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."
-1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV)

During the second year of leadership development, program participants continue learning about their own strengths and communication skills as leaders, and they learn to listen to, recognize, and understand the strengths and thoughts of others.  Participants move beyond general questions about leadership and seek a deeper understanding of how they can become better leaders and communicators and how they can contribute to the betterment of the organizations and society in which they operate in their role as leaders.

Leadership is a skill-based endeavor, and listening is one of the most fundamental skills.  We will devote this year to listening skill development as a prime example of how leaders will need to be continuous learners of important leadership skills.

The primary vehicle through which we will develop self-awareness and understanding with regard to listening skills is through training and involvement with The Listening Project.  You will consider how to ask the right questions, ask the right people, and truly listen to the answers.

Level Three: Practice

In the third level, program participants will be offered opportunities to hone their leadership skills by practicing them at Creighton and in the community.  Program participants will learn about their leadership by being leaders and will seek to tie these "real world" lessons to their knowledge gained in the classroom.  Depending on the track chosen, a participant's leadership experience may qualify them for inclusion in the Dean's Honor Roll for Social Responsibility.  In addition, several leadership events will be offered to enhance participants' learning through participative instruction and exercise involvement.

Level Four: Action

Level Four of the leadership program focuses on further developing and strengthening leadership skills to prepare students to venture out into the business world.  The fundamental goal of Level Four is for its students to put leadership lessons learned in previous levels into action.  To meet this goal, Level Four scholars must take on a significant leadership position either on campus or in the community.

To assist their leadership efforts, Level Four scholars will be paired with a leadership coach during the academic year and will have the opportunity to seek advice from this business executive based on his/her past leadership experiences.  In the spring, Level Four scholars will become the mentor to a small group of Level One scholars, helping them put together a “Leadership Action Plan” as a way to give back by educating and developing goals for future leaders of the university.