Leadership Program Planning: Assessing the Needs and Interests of the Agricultural Community

Eric K. Kaufman, Richard J. Rateau, Keyana C. Ellis, Holly Jo Kasperbauer, Laura R. Stacklin

Journal of Leadership Education

ISSN: 1552-9045

Open Access. Article publication date: 15 January 2010

Issue publication date: 15 January 2010

161
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Abstract

Needs assessment is the first step in developing a leadership education program. During the spring of 2008 researchers and program planners conducted focus groups sessions with representatives from Virginia’s agricultural community with the goal of assessing the leadership development interests and needs of that community. As one focus group participant shared, “I’ve had leadership programs all along… they didn’t use examples that were real in my world.” The findings of this qualitative study suggest that an agricultural leadership development program should focus on three areas: (a) knowledge of the changing industry; (b) relationship building across industry sectors; and, (c) practical, transferable skill development. The skill areas of interest include creative problem solving, political advocacy, and communication. These findings are similar to previous research on grassroots leadership development, yet they lead to important recommendations for further research and practice.

Citation

Kaufman, E.K., Rateau, R.J., Ellis, K.C., Kasperbauer, H.J. and Stacklin, L.R. (2010), "Leadership Program Planning: Assessing the Needs and Interests of the Agricultural Community", Journal of Leadership Education, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 122-143. https://doi.org/10.12806/V9/I1/RF8

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2010, The Journal of Leadership Education

License

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/


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