Can Leadership Be Taught? Some Colleges Are Saying Yes

To prepare themselves for today’s work world, students aren’t necessarily hitting the economics books or taking the latest business administration classes. They’re heading in increasing numbers to earn degrees in leadership.

At Chapman University in Orange, students can earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree in organizational leadership. Other students have a minor in the new program, and still others have come back to go through the graduate course.

The program began four years ago with only three students. Now there are 750 students at more than 15 locations along the West Coast.

Chapman is the first accredited university to offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees in organizational leadership. The program’s founder, Mark Maier, said leadership institutes hit on the skills that business schools neglect, such as communication and interpersonal skills--”the human side of business.”

At Chapman, grad students study mostly the basics of leadership and its theory, general research techniques and ethics. Undergrads can earn a degree in leadership with concentrations in administration, communication or sociology.

The University of Richmond in Virginia touts the nation’s first undergraduate school established for the study of leadership. The Jepson School of Leadership Studies at Richmond graduated its first class of seniors in 1994. The application procedure is highly competitive, mostly because the program has become so popular. “We’re bulging at the seams,” said Anne Perkins, associate dean.

This year, Jepson is filled to capacity: There are about 100 leadership majors and 40 minors. Last year, the school had about 80 students as majors. Andersen Consulting, Signa Group Insurance, First Union National Bank and IBM Consulting have all hired students from the program.

Students apply to Jepson at the end of their sophomore year. After acceptance, they major in leadership studies and graduate with a bachelor of arts degree. The program helps students apply what they learn in their liberal arts education “in a practical way after they graduate,” Perkins said.

In addition to a required internship in such areas as consulting and law, the school focuses on training in how to think critically, communicate with and relate to people, and work in groups and teams.

For example, in the class Understanding and Leading Individuals, students work on self-reflection projects such as keeping a journal, writing an interview about themselves (modeled like a job interview), and a group project to produce a documentary on the life of a public figure. According to the course description, the theory behind projects such as these is that “leading individuals begins with understanding and leading oneself.”

But some workplace consultants are skeptical about programs that aim to “teach” leadership.

“I’m not sure how much leadership can actually be taught. I think it has to be experienced. Leadership is more of an inherent quality,” said Tom Morris, a Washington-based workplace consultant and director of Morris Associates.

Morris said he would not advise college-bound students to major in leadership. “Students need something more practical,” he said. “If leadership degrees were a stock on the market, I would not invest in them.”

Robert Bies, associate professor of management at Georgetown University’s school of business in Washington, where he teaches classes on leadership and power, believes that leadership programs are “probably a very good marketing niche.”

But his main concern about degree programs in leadership is that they can become too narrow: “To lead, you need a broad breadth of knowledge. Those who focus only on leadership can’t be as effective, because they’re not as well-grounded.”