This dissertation explored a type of qualitative case study based on the experiences of 11 graduates from Leadership Collier, a Naples, Florida-based leadership program, who had run for public office after completing the program. The researcher assessed the program goals, participant experiences and motivation with regard to community involvement and running for elected office. It was the belief of the researcher that there was a need for more qualified and effective leaders to run for public office at the local, state, and national levels of government. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation study was to understand what leadership experiences gained through participating in a leadership training program could empower and motivate a person to run for public office. Information provided in this dissertation includes an introduction, the study’s purpose and research questions, methodology, critical terms, an examination of the literature review, study findings, researcher reflections, and recommendations for future studies. Data analysis codes in this study include sense of community, social capital, program design, confidentiality, diversity, bonding, empowerment, and motivation. Research findings showed that Leadership Collier has motivated and empowered select citizens to run for public office by providing experiences that have enabled individuals to develop leadership skills, become aware of community issues, develop confidence and a sense of community, expand social capital, and increase engagement in the community. Keywords: leadership, public office, empowerment, motivation / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.

Business schools need to provide graduates with the training to enable them to ask the right questions and make observations from different perspectives and at different levels. Even though MBA programmes typically focus on developing general management skills, critics still argue that MBA graduates do not have the skills required to effectively manage people. The research aimed to address the gaps in the research and provide some recommendations from a South African context by looking at the impact of the MBA on leadership development and personal change. A descriptive research approach was followed to obtain the views of students on the impact of the MBA on personal change and leadership development. A selfadministered questionnaire supported the quantitative design. The population of the study included all GIBS MBA students that completed their studies within the last five years, or that are in the process of completing their studies. This research has shown that the despairing picture of the future of leadership development, as part of the MBA, which is reflected by a lot of popular literature, is not entirely justified. Overall, the results from this study indicated that the MBA has a positive impact on the personal change and leadership development of an individual. The leadership theme might need to be more explicit throughout the MBA. This could either take the form of the extension of the LEAD module across the two years as a full leadership module, supplemented by individual; and/or group coaching, a compulsory elective on leadership, and/or more leaders from industry speaking on leadership. The research highlighted the importance of working in teams, practical application of learning and reflection as critical components for leadership development and personal change during an MBA. As far as this research could determine, there are no major differences between different genders, race groups or management level as far as their perception of the leadership development and personal change of the MBA is concerned. It would seem that the context in which these different groups might have a bigger impact on how they operate. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / pagibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Rapid and chaotic changes in health care have created a need for a new type of nursing leadership. Many leadership theories have been studied and adopted by nursing. However, historical approaches to leadership will not help nurses thrive in the current health care arena.The purpose of this study was to describe a case example of nursing leadership using a topical life history of one exceptional nurse leader. The topical life history describes two representative periods in an exemplary nurse leader's life to fully describe an insider's perspective of leadership. This definition, which includes the participant's interactions with her self, others, and her environment during two significant periods during her life, will be used as the initial case for the future collection of multiple case examples in an effort to develop a definition of nursing leadership.Nursing leadership was defined, based on the interpretation of interview transcripts, as: Hard work, vision, communication, coaching/facilitating, strong values, proactivity, and charisma. Findings support various leadership theories and identified two core categories previously poorly defined in nursing leadership literature: Hard work and street smarts. Implications for nursing research, education, and practice have been identified. Recommendations for use of this study as a case example to stimulate classroom discussion have been made. Additional recommendations for further research in the areas of hard work and street smarts have also been made. / School of Nursing

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Despite many decades of simultaneous research on early childhood development and leadership, numerous gaps remain in the current literature regarding the characteristics of school leaders of early childhood programs in low and middle income (LAMI) countries. Past studies of school leaders in LAMI countries have only focused on primary and secondary education. A multitude of factors impact public pre-primary education in LAMI countries, such as Guatemala, which make the study of school leadership in pre-primary education critical for understanding what is needed to provide high-quality learning environments. The identification of leadership characteristics helps to inform the field of early childhood education and establish critical directions for school leadership practice. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of successful school leaders of public, pre-primary programs in an area north of Guatemala City, Guatemala. The characteristics were defined as those leadership behaviors and factors that contribute to the success of leaders of public, pre-primary schools in Guatemala. Leadership behaviors were defined as those actions a leader exhibits that support the operation of a public, pre-primary school. Leadership factors were defined as the influences that support or hinder the ability of a leader to achieve and maintain the operation of a public, preprimary school. Developmental factors were defined as environmental influences that impacted on their decision to become a leader of a public, pre-primary school. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

To effectively and substantively impact the realization of school improvement goals, there is a perceived need for the implementation of participatory processes that involve parents, patrons, students, and educators through decentralization of the planning, programming, and implementation phases. Related to this need is the pressing requirement of providing educational leaders with a greater understanding of what knowledge and skills they should possess to effectively guide and direct the implementation of decentralized participatory processes. An exploratory case study of a nationally recognized middle school's decentralized participatory structure was conducted. The purpose of this study was to provide the comprehensive context of an existing decentralized participatory structure from which needed knowledge and skills could be determined. The likelihood of successfully installing future partnership structures can be increased by providing educational leaders with a description, analysis, and interpretation of participatory involvements. The conclusions for the case study were arrived at through a triangulation approach of key-informant interviewing, participant observation at meetings, and an investigation of essential documents. This researcher concluded that the following skills and knowledge base are important for participatory leaders to possess to successfully implement, direct, and guide a decentralized partnership program: Skills. (1) Group dynamic skills; (2) Human relationship skills; (3) Communication skills; (4) Decision-making skills. Knowledge Base. A participatory leader must possess knowledge of (1) how to positively channel diversity, (2) motivation theory and ways to capitalize on motivation theory, (3) ways to develop participants' capacity to participate effectively, (4) how to effectively facilitate the communication and coordination between and among identifiable groups which interlace with the participatory process, (5) the school effectiveness literature, (6) how to balance high task and high relationship, (7) how people learn most effectively, (8) goal theory and ways to set goals through other people, (9) effective planning procedures, (10) change strategy and how to effectively accomplish goals through other people, (11) the benefits of participatory decision-making, (12) the benefits of decentralization, (13) a range of leadership styles, (14) effective management practices, and (15) how to model a decentralized participatory structure.

M.Ed. / The aim of this study was to develop guidelines for principals and teachers when they identify leaders in secondary schools. That enables pupils with potential to function successfully as leaders in a school environment. Leadership in the secondary school has for too long been misinterpreted, misunderstood and grossly underscored in far too many ways. There is mistrust towards the identifying process. Present day demands require a specific form of education and training in leadership at school level to enable our youth to cope with these requirements. Educational authorities - especially school authorities are therefore compelled to address the matter of training and identification in a new light. Most of the existing research about identification of school leaders at secondary school level is of a quantitative nature and consisted of the completion of questionnaires. This brought about the testing and retesting of stereotyped proposals. In this study a qualitative research program was followed. By means of focus group interviews the views of a principal, teachers and secondary school pupils where collected. The research question in this study developed was the following: In what way does the personality of the pupil influences the teachers' choice of leaders at school level? The aim that followed was: To find out if there are personality traits that is necessary for a school leader at secondary school level to be successful. An explanatory, descriptive research design was used as part of qualitative research method during phase 1 of the research. The aim of phase 2 was to compare the results of the focus group interviews with a literature review. During phase 3 guidelines were developed for the identification of leaders in secondary schools. The conclusions of the research showed that the focus groups reflected reality, namely that the teachers lacked knowledge about leadership and that the pupils meaning reflects the findings of the literature study. Further it became apparent that although personality is relevant in leadership identification, it shouldn't be the main focus. Pupils should be helped to develop leadership skills which could be learned and to develop their personality or capabilities and in order to enable them to develop their full potential and to apply the leadership skills in their lives.

Self-managing teams (SMTs) are receiving increasing attention from organizations striving for continuous improvement and searching for innovative ways to get their employees involved and empowered. More and more organizations are realizing the significant impact these teams have on quality, productivity, the social circles, worker esteem, and profitability. Consultants and researchers have also paid significant attention to the concept of SMTs, focusing on many aspects of these teams. However, little research has been directed toward the training needs of former supervisors, who, by a plant transitioning to SMTs, have now to take up the role of being coaches of the teams. They invariably are caught in the middle between empowering their teams and satisfying the needs of upper management. The confusion about their new roles may lead to unsuccessful implementation of the teams. This research is an attempt to answer questions related to the training issues of leaders of self-managing teams. The purpose of this study is to help managers and consultants further understand the issues, concern, problems and difficulties faced by the coaches of SMTs. The case study sight for this research was the AT&T plant in Richmond. Some of the outputs of this study are: prioritized lists of the issues and concerns of the coaches at AT&T, a simple cause-effect analysis, important issues and solutions proposed by the coaches, and a list of recommendations based on the overall analysis. / Master of Science