WHY RURAL STUDENTS MAKE GOOD LEADERS

by Maravene S. Loeschke**

There is a perception in America that we have a leadership crisis.  The title of Lee Iacocca’s new book, for example, is Where Have All The Leaders Gone? 
                
But Mr. Iacocca’s title asks the wrong question.  To get good leaders, we need to change how we think about leadership.  It is not something someone else does.  In fact, there is leadership potential in most people.   

In particular, I have learned that there is exceptionally strong leadership potential in rural areas.  Our students, many from small towns and farms, have taught me this lesson—one that I did not appreciate fully until I came here from an urban area. 

Rural students arrive with many tools they will need to become tomorrow’s leaders.  They already have a strong work ethic.  They come early and stay late.  They know how to apply themselves to a task and carry it to completion.  Generally, they have superior problem-solving skills and the initiative to work individually to get things done.  They take responsibility for their actions.  When they work in teams they understand the need to pull their weight for a collective goal.    

These are attributes that employers seek and communities need.  I’ve also noticed, however, that some of our students don’t see themselves as “leadership material.” A number lack self-confidence.  Others need socialization skills, although we see less of that among students who have been in 4H or other team-building activities.

Those who live in rural areas—in Pennsylvania that’s about three million people—don’t need to be sold on the many benefits.  Any clear-eyed analysis, however, also reveals that rural America faces challenges. Population stagnation, infrastructure building, job creation, and provision of health care and social services are issues requiring strong leadership.

The leadership potential is here.  And Mansfield University is devoted to the development of tomorrow’s leaders in our undergraduate and graduate programs to benefit students and the communities from which they come.

This fall we will create a Leadership Institute with three emphases.  It will coordinate our leadership development educational efforts and will forge community and corporate partnerships.  The Institute, through its Center for Leadership Study, also will offer opportunities for scholarship in a variety of settings.

At the graduate school level, we are developing a stand-alone master’s degree in organizational leadership to be delivered mainly on-line.  Leadership core courses will be supplemented by specific “track” courses in areas such as business, education, healthcare and the arts.  We anticipate that many enrollees will be adults. 

Our theme is “Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders.” The premise is the belief that leadership can be taught.  Confucius and Plato knew it back in antiquity.  Until about 60 years ago, however, only a few researchers paid attention to what makes an effective leader.  Since then, serious scholarship has taken place and the verdict is unanimous: leaders are made, not born.   

Rural Americans must look to their own sons and daughters for the leaders of the future.  They will require formal training in the leadership arts.  Effective leaders need a strong sense of citizenship and social responsibility.  They will function in a world where power is fragmented and challenges to traditional political and civic leadership are many and complex. 

Leaders are open to ideas, optimistic about solving problems, know how to pull people together around a worthy cause and how to get the best from them.  Effective leaders can articulate a shared vision, build confidence in others and create a process that people believe in.  These skills can be taught.

We are embedding leadership education in our students’ courses of study.  We will teach it in campus activities and residential life experiences.  We will send students to leadership programs and to carefully selected internships and community involvement opportunities.  We will create leadership scholarships for deserving students.

Commuter students, nearly half our number, are integral to these efforts—making our leadership program unusual if not unique in American higher education.  We are scheduling far more campus activities during the day when commuter students can take advantage of them.  And this fall we will dedicate one floor of a campus residence hall for use by commuter students between classes or if they need to stay on campus overnight. 

Each spring, commencement speakers tell graduates, “You are the leaders of tomorrow.”  When our graduates hear that, we want them to be able to nod their heads in agreement and say, “That’s right.  I’ve prepared for this.”  When that happens, we will be sending back to rural Pennsylvania and New York the leaders they deserve. 

Where have all the leaders gone?  They are right here, Mr. Iacocca, in our rural communities. 

** Dr. Maravene S. Loeschke is president of Mansfield University in Mansfield, PA