• Leadership Practice (LP):  The unique scheduling of this program enabled the opportunity to participate in an assistantship while simultaneously growing in the classroom through exposure to new leadership ideas, practices, frameworks, and real-world applications. The ability to gain on-site experience in both teaching and coaching while actively studying new content enhanced my understanding of leadership in both dynamic and practical settings. The program also provided numerous opportunities to apply what we learned to be in practice, including delivering presentations, recording speeches, completing a consultation project in LDR 610: Organizational Leadership, Governance, and Culture and participating in an internship/field experience during the J-Term. These hands-on components helped bridge the gap between theory and practice, reinforcing our growth as emerging leaders.​

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• ​Leadership Spirituality (LSP): In our LDR 609 Leadership and Spirituality course, we engaged with our faith in a new way. Steve challenged our current paradigm of faith and introduced a new lens to look through at faith. A lens that encourages us to recognize that we "get to" live this life, rather than feeling like we "have to." Before this course, I viewed faith as focusing on what we are not allowed to do, rather than finding God in the ordinary moments of life.

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• Leadership Development (LDE): In terms of leadership development, this portfolio stands as the most tangible representation of our growth. I would not have this collection of insights, nor the depth and breadth of understanding on the topic of leadership, if it weren’t for this program. All ten courses offered a unique perspective on the complex and multifaceted nature of leadership. While leadership can be difficult to define, it is often deeply felt and this portfolio captures that reality. It reflects not only what we learned intellectually, but also what we experienced and internalized throughout this transformative year.

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• Leadership Ethics (LE):  In our LDR 604: Professional & Ethical Decision Making course, we engaged with numerous ethical frameworks, including Utilitarianism , and explored how to implement them in our personal judgment and leadership. We examined ethics through the lens of Scripture, our current news stories and in the context of our daily decisions both big and small. This course challenged us to sharpen our discernment and reflect deeply on how we arrive at the choices we make as leaders. 

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• Leadership and Cultural Intelligence (LCI): One significant outcome of this program was our engagement with cultural intelligence in relation to leadership. This was most clearly encapsulated in the course LDR 602 : Cultural Intelligence for Christian Leaders. The course empowered us to analyze our own biases through both interviews and research. We explored how to move a team from multicultural diversity to an intercultural community, where differences are not only recognized but also appreciated and leveraged. The culminating research paper in this course allowed us to synthesize our understanding of cultural competency and apply it directly to our specific field of interest or vocation.

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• Leadership Strategy (LS): We learned at least one key leadership strategy within each course, yet this was most evident in LDR 601: Leadership Theories & Practice and LDR 605: Strategic Leadership, where we engaged deeply with the concept of leadership strategy. In Leadership Theories and Practice, we explored and analyzed the three core areas of leadership: technical, human, and conceptual skills. Studying these dimensions helped us assess our personal leadership strengths and identify areas for growth in order to develop effective leadership strategies. In Strategic Leadership, we applied our learning by creating strategic plans to improve existing organizations and even designed our own organization, all while focusing on building trust and fostering candor.