The Internal Conflicts of Undergraduate Students Regarding Effective Leadership Practices

Abstract

The current study explored the internal conflicts of a diverse group of undergraduate students as leadership development experiences challenge students’ pre‐existing attitudes and beliefs of what comprises effective leadership. Interviews with 23 undergraduate students uncovered two consistent conflicts within the minds of emerging leaders, often experienced unconsciously: (a) the recognition of the need to serve the group while also exhibiting command over followers and (b) the desire to adapt to changing circumstances while also remaining resolute in personal chosen courses of action. The particular internal contradictions, common to students in the study across gender and racial lines, imply a structure of predictable cognitive transition as emerging leaders work toward internalizing group‐inclusive concepts associated with contemporary leadership practices. The study's findings possess several implications for leadership educators—in higher education and external organizations—in the ways these professionals create both formal and informal developmental experiences for undergraduate students.

Conversing With Kalamazoo Promise Scholars: An Inquiry Into the Beliefs, Motivations, and Experiences of Tuition-Free College Students

“…The first author was the only interviewer and has previously developed and led similar processes (e.g. Collier & Rosch, 2016). Guided by Tinto (1993) and Bean (2005), the qualitative prompt housed 12 overarching questions with subprompts.…”

THE HIDDEN LEADERSHIP CURRICULUM: Alumni Perspectives on the Leadership Lessons Gained Through Co-Curricular Engagement

“…Prior research suggests, however, that many undergraduate students hold beliefs that leadership stems from possessing formal positions in organizations and where individuals occupying those positions influence their organizations through providing direction and structure (Komives et al, 2006). Even students who were currently engaged in formal leadership education possess disorganized and often conflicting views of what effective leadership entails (Rosch & Collier, 2016). Relatively clear misalignment exists between what scholars suggest effective leadership is and what research on current university students suggest these students believe about effective leadership practices.…”

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“…Young people's understanding of leadership when they begin school is often simplistic, as they identify it with a role and do not consider what is actually involved. As they progress, students develop a more complex concept of leadership that addresses sustainability, shared responsibilities, and positive change (Collier & Rosch, ). This aligns with the components of the social change model, and although there is still a necessary focus on leading self, it is based on a movement outward to working with others (Hartman, ).…”

“…This aligns with the components of the social change model, and although there is still a necessary focus on leading self, it is based on a movement outward to working with others (Hartman, ). At the same time, young people typically have to shake free the leadership constructs they tend to be most familiar with from childhood, those rooted in traditional, authority‐based, positional power; to support that development, most programs use an adaptive, servant, and relationship‐based approach (Collier & Rosch, ). Such approaches have a natural affinity to adult transformative learning.…”

“…The transition in understanding of leadership and its application during the young person's own complex development can require support for the student to find their identity within this concept (Collier & Rosch, ). In a connected world, and with a model for leadership that recognizes the collective in the power of a transformative goal, young people are asked to develop leadership abilities that enhance their team's overall capacities, beyond the capacities of the strongest individuals on the team.…”