Emerging Leaders

Entering into the Southern Leaders program, all students begin their journey as Emerging Leaders. The Emerging Leaders tier is based on the tenets of transformational leadership developed by Kouzes & Posner’s (1987) Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart.

Students will engage with each of these practices of leadership and more through the Emerging Leaders’ curriculum, which includes: 

• LEAD 1000: Self Leadership
• Emerging Leaders events
• Complete the first portion of your LinkedIn project

During the Emerging Leaders tier, Leaders get the opportunity to learn more about the Southern Leaders program as a whole. Emerging Leaders will participate in events that help them get to know other people in the program. Each Emerging Leaders event is put on by the Southern Leaders staff as well as a group of upperclassmen Southern Leaders known as Facilitators. Throughout their first year, participating in these Emerging Leaders events will help to make new Southern Leaders feel a strong sense of belonging within the program and will be a great way to forge life-long friendships with your fellow leaders!

Learning Objectives

After completing the Emerging Leaders tier, students will be able to:

• Explain their personal definition of leadership
• Identify their personal core values and character strengths
• Explain how values and character strengths influence the leadership process
• Describe different styles of leadership
• Articulate the key aspects of their personal leadership style
• Describe the role of ethics in self-leadership
• Explore intersecting identities and how these inform leader identity
• Examine the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership ®

Leadership Competencies

Through Emerging Leaders, students will develop the following leadership competencies (Seemiller, 2014):

• Self-Understanding
• Personal Values
• Ethics
• Reflection & Application
• Self-Development
• Empathy
• Vision

Leadership Certificate

After finishing the curricular and co-curricular requirements for Emerging Leaders, students will receive a certificate at the end of the year.

Last updated: 5/16/2023