Developing Leaders
The primary focus of Phi Theta Kappa is to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students. The mission statement goes on to say that Phi Theta Kappa will provide opportunity for the development of leadership and service. Advisors have a key role in developing the leadership skills of members, and encouraging the chapter to reach out to college constituents, the greater community, and even your region or beyond.
Leadership development is a planned effort that enhances the capacity to lead people. This includes studying the leadership philosophies and actions of successful leaders, as well as learning and practicing specific skills. Phi Theta Kappa has developed many resources that can help advisors facilitate leadership development.
Phi Theta Kappa's Leadership Development Programs, with a nationally recognized, humanities-based leadership development studies curriculum, provides many resources for chapter advisors. After attending a Certification Seminar, advisors become Phi Theta Kappa Certified Leadership Development Educators. They can use this curriculum to develop credit courses, provide non-credit workshops, facilitate member leadership development, or incorporate leadership development into their classes. The curriculum has a textbook, Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies: A Humanities Approach, now available for purchase at http://recognitions.ptk.org.
The Leadership Development Programs Department organizes The Leading Edge Institute every other year for continued professional development of Certified Leadership Development Educators and those interested in the curriculum and certification. Visit the Leadership Development Programs website at http://leadership.ptk.org or contact Director of Leadership Development Programs Monika Byrd at 601.984.3538 for more information.
However, you don't have to be a Certified Leadership Development Educator to help your members develop into leaders. You can include leadership training in your new officer orientation or planning sessions, or present a short leadership lesson at chapter meetings. In 2005, Phi Theta Kappa launched a series of online Leading Leaders briefs for advisors to use specifically for these purposes. New articles are announced in the advisors' Golden Key News Briefs twice per month and an archive is available at http://leadership.ptk.org/advisors/.
Leadership Briefs, short articles for anyone interested in leadership and leadership development, are also published twice a month, announced in the Golden Key News Briefs, and archived online at http://leadership.ptk. org/leaddev_news.htm. These briefs are organized by topic, corresponding to the major units in Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies: A Humanities Approach. Nearly 100 Leadership Briefs have been posted since 2002.
Advisors can also encourage members to take leadership development beyond the chapter. Have members research different leaders and put up bulletin boards displaying their accomplishments. The bulletin board could be changed monthly to incorporate women's history month, black history month, etc. Or help your students set up a speaker series on leadership topics open to the community, utilizing faculty members, college administrators and community leaders as speakers.
As every educator knows, the best way to learn a subject is to teach it to someone else. Once your students have learned a leadership concept, such as goal setting, team building or communication skills, encourage them to teach it to others. This could include their peers at the college, community youth groups such as Girl or Boy Scouts or National Honor Society chapter members, or members at a new or inactive chapter in your region.
Time spent training officers and members to become effective leaders is a great investment, because it gives them the skills to plan and implement activities and lead the chapter successfully on campus and in your community and region. For questions, contact Advisor Education Specialist Barb Murray at 601.984.3628.
