Purpose: Organizations intent on prospering must take an active role in preparing future leaders. There are individuals in every organization willing to develop themselves for leadership roles within their volunteer organizations and in their communities.

Rationale: Individual leadership growth occurs at the intersection of mastery of self, mastery of relationships, and mastery of action. To be effective, leaders must have the head (knowledge and skills), heart (commitment) and feet (willingness to act) of leadership. The core workshop series provides a context within which individuals can enhance individual skills to foster organizational and community-based goals.

Workshop Goals:

• To examine the effect individual outlooks have on the ability to set goals, manage projects, work with others, and provide leadership
• To foster individual self-examination and growth in leadership
• To build a strong sense of organizational identity and purpose

Overview and Approach: A series of three six-hour workshops will be offered for a total of 18 instructional hours over four months. Individual development begins with administration of individual assessments that prepare participants to create an action plan for leader effectiveness. Instructional strategies include video clips and case studies with suggestions for reflective journals and assigned readings.

Content: Day One will focus on experiential approaches to trust and teamwork, discussion of individual leadership profile assessments, and types of personal and collaborative leadership. The remainder of the workshop series will lay the foundation for the elements important to mastery of self, mastery of relationships and mastery of action in the balanced and effective leader.

Instructor: Melba Cooper's career spans 34 years of dedicated service to Georgia, 20 of which were with the University of Georgia. Most recently, as director of the J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership since 1991, Cooper was responsible for initiation collaborative linkages with other local, state, and national agencies and organizations having an interest in leadership development. She has taught both in formal educational settings (as a teacher in business education at the secondary and post-secondary level) and in numerous leadership development programs for Georgia's youth, adults, organizations and communities.

Cost: The series is presented at no cost to participants due to the sponsorship of USDE/RSA Special Project & Demonstration Grant: Community Intervention/Self-Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities awarded to the UGA College of Education.

Premises:

• Mastery of self involves increasing one's understanding of who s/he is and knowing what one has to offer, recognizing one's strengths and limitations and knowing what one believes and values and why; it requires having true self-knowledge.
• Mastery of relationships involves increasing one's understanding of the importance of working for others' interests, as well as one's own; it embraces the opportunity to practice openness and to listen in a way that shows respect for others' ideas and thoughts.
• Mastery of action involves increasing one's understanding of the value of practicing leadership that embraces performance, responsibility, meaningful work and impact.