A Leadership and Professional Development Teaching and Learning Model for Undergraduate Management Programs

Abstract

This article describes a holistic leadership and professional development teaching and learning model for undergraduate students with universal application across all disciplines and functional areas of organizations due to its emphasis on the non-technical skill requirements of leadership. The model highlights the development of intrapersonal, interpersonal and professionalism skills or KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) and uses the mnemonics FOCUS and ACTION to structure the large number of traits, behaviors and KSAs. The model is useful in the early stages of career development as it succinctly identifies management competencies expected of emerging leaders, signaling a readiness for the leadership pipeline.