Columbia College Chicago Grooms New Leaders Through LFCE Certificate Program
Arlie Sims (foreground) of Columbia
College
enjoys the Art of Leadership
Certificate
Program, along with fellow
classmate Matt McClintock.
How does an organization maintain its strength and plan for the future when it has grown at a rate of 20% over 5 years? How can the leaders of this $150,000,000 enterprise build for future stability and leadership strength when staff are spread across 14 locations serving more than 10,000 customers? How does the organization develop a cohesive culture that is focused on
a long-term strategic plan with 2,100 highly entrepreneurial employees?
For Columbia College Chicago, the nation’s largest arts, media, and communication college based in the South Loop, a key solution to address these issues was led by Steven Kapelke, Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs. Kapelke called his contacts at Lake Forest Corporate Education (LFCE) to develop and deliver a new 6-unit training program for rising leaders, the Art of Leadership Certificate Program.
“I believe strongly that the depth of an organization is demonstrated through the leadership capabilities of its people at all levels, not just the senior administrators,” states Kapelke. “We worked with Kathy Leck and her team, as well as an advisory group from Columbia, to design a curriculum that develops the leadership skills of our organization.”
The innovative program focused on communication and management styles, collaboration and a collective enterprise mindset, and enhancing the ability to model leadership across the organization. The 24 participants included faculty members, departmental chairpersons, administrators, and staff, a deliberately broad mix of levels and functional areas of the College.
“Our participants might have recognized each other’s names before, but now they really know each other,” said Jan Garfield, Associate Provost. “We’re all practicing these new skills all the time. This program has created discoveries and relationships we couldn’t otherwise have appreciated.”
The fourth session of the program provided a whole menu of new skills for the participants, centered around the theme of committees that work. Business experience is not common for Columbia’s faculty and staff, a group who could best be described as independent, artistic, and academic, so creating a more businesslike mindset is critical for the future success of the College.
Arlene Mayzel, LFGSM’s Dean – MBA Program, taught session four. Reflecting on the day’s learning Mayzel said, “In colleges and universities, people often find themselves in leadership positions without any formal training on how to be an effective leader. These participants came to understand better that when forming or working on committees, the process involves conflict. Conflict is a natural result of gathering disparate people to work on a common project.” Mayzel continued, “We really focused on how to run a more effective meeting. At the end of the day, the participants walked away feeling more empowered both to participate in and to lead committees with new tools.”
The evidence of the success of the program is apparent across the College, according the Columbia’s Garfield. “We’ve seen a deeper confidence level in some of our most talented people,” she said. “Formerly they were managers; now they’re leaders. They’re modeling informed leadership, demonstrated by their questions and their expectations.”
The LFCE team has been equally pleased to observe the positive results of their clients. Kathy Leck, Executive Vice President of LFCE, observed, “The Columbia College Chicago certificate program is an excellent example of how leadership skills apply to other types of organizations, not just the corporate world.” Leck continued, “Leadership training for colleges and not-profit organizations is an idea that’s come of age. The leadership of Columbia College Chicago recognized that they cannot achieve the goals of their 2010 strategic plan without investing in their future leaders, and we’re glad to be helping them as they strive for those goals.”
