The Leadership Educator Podcast

In this episode, Dan and Lauren are joined by the three co-editors of the newest New Directions for Student Leadership issue: Dr. Kerry Priest, Professor and Director of Leadership Studies at the Staley School of Leadership at Kansas State University; returning guest Dr. Jason Headrick, Associate Professor of Leadership and Community Development at Texas Tech University; and Dr. Haley Traini, Associate Professor of Leadership Education at Oregon State University. Together they co-edited NDSL #188: Leadership Learning for Systems Thinking and Practice — the 20th episode in the TLE–NDSL partnership series.

Kerry, Jason, and Haley trace the issue's origins from a 2023 keynote by Mary Uhl-Bien in Copenhagen to a call for submissions deliberately open to stories, case studies, and reflections. They walk through the three questions that structure the issue — how we develop systems capacities, how we teach them, and how we evaluate systems-level change — along with tools like Human Systems Dynamics and its "what, so what, now what" adaptive-action cycle. The conversation is full of classroom-ready metaphors, from tracing how ice gets made to why an iPhone is merely complicated while mayonnaise is truly complex. As Kerry reminds us, in systems work the goal isn't winning or losing — it's staying in the game.

 

Resources and works mentioned in this episode include:

New Directions for Student Leadership, Issue #188: Leadership Learning for Systems Thinking and Practice

Human Systems Dynamics Global, co-founded by Glenda Eoyang and Royce Holladay

21st International Studying Leadership Conference, Copenhagen Business School, December 2023

Complexity Leadership: Insights on Adaptability from Professor Mary Uhl-Bien

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

In this episode, Dan and Lauren are joined by Dr. Laura Greenhaw, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Leadership in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication at the University of Florida. Laura's path to the leadership classroom ran through a ranching family in rural New Mexico, years teaching high school agriculture, and a Ph.D. at Texas Tech — where she first watched a fellow doctoral student weave film clips into teaching and never looked back.

The conversation explores how Laura has turned film into a deliberate, evidence-based tool for teaching team leadership and group development. Students arrive already knowing what leadership and teamwork feel like, she argues, but they rarely share the same mental model of the words — and film creates a shared experience the whole class can debrief together. Laura walks through the research arc she has built with collaborator Matthew Gold: applying Tuckman and Jensen's stages of small-group development to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, examining how Hogwarts house identity shapes team decision-making, and comparing inductive and deductive sequencing with The Imitation Game. Along the way, she and the hosts trade the practical craft of film-based teaching — student choice, "REEL" analysis papers, showing full-length films as students' viewing habits change — and talk candidly about navigating sensitive content with intention. Dan connects it all to his own long-running "Leadership in Film" assignment and the Collegiate Leadership Competition's curated clip library.

Resources and works mentioned in this episode include:

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Gold, M., & Greenhaw, L. L. (2024). Harry Potter and the Leadership Educator: Using Film to Teach Team Leadership. Journal of Leadership Education, 23(2), 121–127.

Dyment, M. A., Gold, M., & Greenhaw, L. (2026). The Science of Sorting: Analyzing Team Decision-Making in an Agricultural Communication and Leadership Course Using Hogwarts Houses. Journal of Agricultural Education, 67(1), Article 18.

Gold, M., Greenhaw, L. L., & Bunch, J. C. (2025). Decrypting Enigma: Utilizing 'The Imitation Game' to Analyze the Impact of Abstraction Order on Team Development Comprehension. Journal of Leadership Education, advance online publication.

UF/IFAS Leading Teams series — Greenhaw's Extension publication series on the stages of group development

Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. C. (1977). Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. Group & Organization Management, 2(4), 419–427.

Wimmer, G., Meyers, C., Porter, H., & Shaw, M. (2012). Learning Vicariously: Students' Reflections of the Leadership Lessons Portrayed in The Office. Journal of Leadership Education, 11(2), 52–71.

Collegiate Leadership Competition — Dan's curated film-clip library

Dr. Gaea Hock — Professor of Agricultural Education, Kansas State University

Matthew Gold — Ph.D. student, The Ohio State University

In this episode, Dan and Lauren are joined by Dr. Kathy Guthrie, Professor of Higher Education and Leadership at Florida State University, and Dr. Gayle Spencer, Senior Director of the Illinois Leadership Center at the University of Illinois. Together, Guthrie and Spencer co-edited New Directions for Student Leadership Issue #187: General Principles for Advancing Leadership Programs (Fall 2025) alongside the late Rian Satterwhite. This conversation honors both the issue and Rian's foundational contributions to the work.

Kathy and Gayle share how the issue came together and how it works: each of the five core areas of the ILA General Principles — context, conceptual framework, content, learning, and metrics/outcomes/assessment — gets one chapter that deepens the knowledge base and one that shows real application. Listen for why the general principles are a living document worth revisiting early and often, especially as the contexts leadership educators teach and lead in keep shifting. This marks the 19th episode in the TLE–NDSL partnership series; find all NDSL episodes in The Leadership Educator Podcast archive

 

Resources and works mentioned in this episode include:

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New Directions for Student Leadership, Issue #187: General Principles for Advancing Leadership Programs — Guthrie, K., Spencer, G., & Satterwhite, R. (Eds.). (Fall 2025)

ILA General Principles for Leadership Programs (2nd Edition, March 2026) — available via search at ilaglobalnetwork.org

International Leadership Association (ILA) — home of the Committee for Advancing Leadership Programs (CALP)

ILA Webinar: What's Next for Leadership Learning: Adapting the ILA General Principles for an Unsettled World— with Denny Roberts, Kathy Guthrie, Oliver Seale, and Jay Gary

Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) — referenced by Gayle Spencer in her role as CAS president

Taylor, J., et al. — chapter on applying content and designing for where students are. Josh Taylor, Hargis Leadership Institute, Oklahoma State University

Seale, O., et al. — chapter applying the context principle from an international (South Africa) perspective. Oliver Seale

Hastings, L., & Rosch, D. — chapter on framing metrics, outcomes, and assessment; application to fraternity and sorority life. Lindsay Hastings | Dave Rosch

Jenkins, D. M., & Rocco, M. — co-authored chapter on learning. Melissa Rocco

Dr. Kathy Allen — cited by Gayle Spencer for her work on reflection and intentional practice in leadership learning

In this episode, Dan and Lauren are joined by Dr. Cris Wildermuth, Professor of Leadership and Program Director for the Master of Science in Leadership and Innovation and the B.S. in Organizational Leadership at Barry University. Cris is also a member of the ILA Leadership Education Academy facilitation team and brings more than two decades of experience as a leadership educator, researcher, and consultant.

The conversation explores how generative AI and technology-enhanced tools are changing what is possible in the leadership classroom — not by replacing good pedagogy, but by dramatically expanding the range of experiences educators can design and deliver. Cris shares how she uses vibe coding tools like Lovable and AI voice platforms like ElevenLabs to build immersive branched scenarios, simulations, and themed course experiences that would have been impractical or impossible before. She walks through concrete examples: an ethics course built around Game of Thrones, an online simulation using John Rawls' theory of justice played out through a dukes-knights-and-peasants game, and an alien-invasion metaphor for leading change. Dan and Lauren reflect alongside her on what it means for educators to be willing to fail, to stay curious, and to use AI as a lever for the kind of creative teaching that has always been at the heart of good leadership education.

Resources and works mentioned in this episode include:

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Lovable — AI-powered vibe coding platform for building apps, simulations, and interactive learning tools through natural language prompts; used by Cris to create branched scenarios, board games, and logic simulations

ElevenLabs — AI voice and video generation platform; used by Cris to create character voices and short video segments for immersive course scenarios

Mollick, E. (2024). Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. Portfolio/Penguin. — referenced by Dan in connection with teachers as skilled prompt engineers; Mollick is an associate professor at the Wharton School and directs the Generative AI Lab

John Rawls' Theory of Justice — discussed in connection with Cris's dukes-knights-and-peasants simulation, used to teach ethical leadership and systems of fairness

Mentimeter — audience engagement and polling tool referenced among technologies that support both in-person and virtual learning spaces

Slido — live polling and Q&A platform referenced alongside Mentimeter and Kahoot as part of the technology toolkit for interactive facilitation

Kahoot! — game-based learning platform referenced in the same context

Barry University — Leadership Programs — Cris's institutional home; she directs the B.S. in Organizational Leadership and the M.S. in Leadership and Innovation

ILA Leadership Education Academy — Cris serves on the faculty facilitation team; Dan also collaborates with her through LEA

In this episode, Dan and Lauren are joined by Dr. Jason Headrick, Associate Professor of Leadership and Community Development at Texas Tech University. Jason's work sits at the intersection of leadership education, rural community development, and inclusive leadership practices. He also serves as director of the Civic Leadership Academy at Texas Tech's Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources — a yearlong program that helps students develop civic leadership principles.

The conversation explores how leadership educators can move students from the classroom into genuine community engagement — and why that shift matters. Jason shares how his own roots as a first-generation college student from Kentucky, deeply involved in 4-H, shaped his understanding of leadership as something lived in community. He discusses community-engaged learning as a pedagogical approach that centers community partners in the learning process, and walks through concrete examples from his Civic Leadership course, including an interdisciplinary asset-mapping project spanning multiple departments and multiple semesters. Dan and Lauren reflect alongside Jason on their own teaching experiences with civic engagement, stakeholder analysis, and helping students see their capacity to lead and make change — now, not later.

 

Resources and works mentioned in this episode include:

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Matkin, G. S., Headrick, J., & Sunderman, H. M. (Eds.). (2023). Developing Human Potential: A Personal Approach to Leadership. Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communication, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. (Free OER — includes a civic leadership chapter focused on developing a personal leadership philosophy)

Komives, S. R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T. R. (2013). Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass. — referenced in connection with the Passion Project Headlines activity and Strategies for Change chapter

New Directions for Student Leadership, Issue #188 — co-edited by Jason Headrick; recently published

Deep Roots Podcast — Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University; Jason was featured as a guest

Association of Leadership Educators 2026 Conference – Philadelphia — referenced by Dan and Jason; registration open