Cultivating Systems Leadership: Translating Real-World Practice Into Classroom Opportunities.

Abstract

This article highlights the benefits of integrating systems leadership approaches into leadership education and pedagogy. Drawing on over 40 years of combined real-world practice, the authors present "field notes" as "case-like descriptions and analysis" from their experiences as full participants in community organizing in post-Katrina New Orleans and global sustainable development with the Peace Corps in Mongolia and Haiti. The field notes demonstrate how an implicit systems leadership mindset was instrumental in achieving outcomes in complex public and international contexts. The article proposes that integrating systems leadership through experiential learning enhances students' abilities to drive sustainable change within complex systems by better preparing students for the intricate, interdependent systems they will encounter beyond the classroom.