Leadership
At the University of Alberta, we lead with purpose. We are relentless in our quest to build a better future by realising the potential of people and ideas.
Our leadership programs help employees from across the University become radically intentional about how they:
A Venn diagram with four intersecting circles. In the centre is a group of behaviours.
Beginning in the centre is the question, "How do I lead?"
Surrounding that question are:
- Collaboration
- Change Agency
- Risk Taking
- Inclusion
- Disruption
The four main circles read:
- Who am I as a leader?
- Who am I leading?
- What am I leading through?
- What am I leading toward and why?
Intersecting "Who am I as a leader?" and "Who am I leading?" is "Relationships."
Intersecting "Who am I leading" and "What am I leading through?" is "Motivation."
Intersecting "What am I leading through?" and "What am I leading toward and why?" is "Vision."
Intersecting "What am I leading toward and why?" and "Who am I as a leader?" is "Values."
Our leadership programs help employees from across the university become radically intentional about how they:
- Relate to themselves and others, and build enduring relationships of trust
- Understand their context and its impact on the people they serve and work with
- Imagine and realize future possibilities
- Honor personal and institutional values
Our programs also build capacity in:
- Collaboration
- Change-agentry
- Innovation
- Disruption
- Inclusion
Why these areas? Find out more about our program framework in leadership in a time of change and complexity.
Leadership at all levels
As organizations seek to reimagine the future, do more with less and retain talent, leadership isn’t about a role or position or something you’re given. Leadership is a choice. It’s a verb, not a noun. We can choose to lead from any position. We can also choose not to lead despite having a position of great authority. Leadership development, therefore, needs to extend to employees at all levels.
Whether you are an individual contributor, a senior executive or somewhere in between, if you are committed to engaging others in the exploration and treading of better paths, we have leadership training for you!
Focus: Leading peers and leading “upwards”
Designed for: everyone*
Focus: Leading a team
Designed for: supervisors, team leads, entry-level and mid-level managers
Focus: Leading a team of people who are, in turn, leading teams of their own
Designed for: senior-level managers
* If the program is oversubscribed, preference will be given to applicants who do not qualify for our other leadership programs.
Note: Programs are streamed according to an employee’s level of authority to ensure that the applied components are relevant to participants’ day-to-day realities and homework can be carried out in a meaningful way.
Leadership and management: What’s the difference?
Put succinctly, good management produces “order and consistency,” and good leadership produces “change and movement” (Northouse, 2022, p.12). Both are important, but the mindset and skill set behind management and leadership are different, which is why we train in these areas differently.
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Explore our management training.
SOURCE: Northouse, P.G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed). Sage Publications, Inc.