The Daily Bulletin Archive

The leadership minor, launched this semester, relies firmly on the belief that leaders are made, not born.

“Like creativity, leadership can be learned,” said Jeffrey Zacko-Smith, assistant professor of creative studies and coordinator of the leadership minor. The interdisciplinary minor is housed in Creative Studies.

The minor grew out of the college’s 2003–2008 Strategic Plan, which stated, “Buffalo State will empower leadership at all levels….” As part of the college’s commitment to promoting leadership, an interdisciplinary minor dealing with leadership was proposed.

“The term ‘leader’ is an empty label,” said Zacko-Smith. Leadership instead is contextual and social, and what makes a person a leader depends primarily on the surrounding set of circumstances. While many people think of leadership as a position of power and control, Zacko-Smith said that people can exercise leadership in many different ways. “Everyone is a leader,” he said, “just as everyone is creative. This minor helps people develop their leadership skills through experiential learning, though it is firmly grounded in leadership scholarship as well.”

To complete the 18-credit-hour minor, students must complete four required courses and two electives. The required courses are Foundations of Leadership, Creative Approaches to Problem Solving, Creative Leadership through Effective Facilitation, and Experiences in Leadership. The electives can be chosen from a variety of courses that help students develop the skills necessary for effective leadership: creativity and creative problem solving, critical evaluation and systematic thinking, empowerment, understanding the dynamics of diversity, and the ability to interact socially. The “ability to interact socially” includes such difficult competencies as conflict management, negotiation, facilitation, team building, providing effective feedback, and active listening.

The first thing that is often necessary, according to Zacko-Smith, is to convince students that they can, indeed, develop their leadership potential. “Once students realize that it is possible for them to expand their own abilities,” he said, “they can more easily become leaders. Leadership, like creativity, is often about effectively facilitating change.”

The courses give students many opportunities to develop the tools of leadership, including creative problem solving, how to function in a team environment, and how to motivate others. “I rarely lecture,” said Zacko-Smith. “Students have a chance to facilitate the class, provide useful feedback, and generate new ideas. That’s how they begin to realize they can be leaders.” For Zacko-Smith, learning, like leading, is a collaborative exercise.

The minor also offers students a valuable résumé-builder. “Whether students go directly to the workplace or on to graduate school,” said Zacko-Smith, “their transcripts will show the leadership minor.”

Beyond acquiring crucial skills and an important credential, there is another reason to take the leadership minor: “Students who take one class come back for more,” said Zacko-Smith. “They say, ‘I really learned something.’”