A goal of leadership education at the University of Washington is to support students’ authentic leadership development, which means each student will have a unique leadership development path that is influenced by their values, strengths, academic interests, career goals and engagement in and outside the classroom. The interdisciplinary aspect of this minor acknowledges the importance of cross-disciplinary learning for effective leadership in addressing today’s complex societal and global challenges. Students in the Leadership Minor will have a formalized pathway to study and develop competencies for leadership in their professional and public lives.

Student Learning Outcomes

Student Learning Outcomes (adapted from Seemiller, 2014) include the development of knowledge, value and ability to engage:

1. Learning and reasoning competencies that hone meta-cognition skills (research, other perspectives, reflection and application, systems thinking, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, idea generation, problem solving, decision making, recognizing implicit bias in decision-making, interdisciplinary thinking and creating webs of knowledge).
2. Self-awareness and development competencies (self-understanding, personal values, personal contributions, scope of competence, receiving feedback, self-development)
3. Interpersonal interaction competencies (productive relationships, appropriate interaction, helping others, empathy, mentoring, motivation, others’ contribution, empowerment, providing feedback, supervision, collaboration)
4. Group dynamics competencies (organizational behavior, power dynamics, group development, creating change)
5. Civic responsibility competencies (diversity, other’s circumstances, inclusion, social justice, social responsibility, service, equity, understanding effects of structural systems on diverse individuals and groups; understanding one’ role in addressing structural systems)
6. Communication competencies (verbal communication, nonverbal communication, listening, writing, facilitation, conflict negotiation, advocating for a point of view)
7. Strategic planning competencies (mission, vision, goals, plan, organization)
8. Personal behavior competencies (initiative, functioning independently, follow-through, responsibility for personal behavior, ethical, responsibility to ambiguity, responding to change, resiliency, positive attitude, confidence, excellence)

Leadership Minor

Study and develop competencies for leadership in your professional and public life.