Teaching Leadership in the Experience Economy Paradigm

Anyone involved in higher education today faces challenges. We are being asked to provide the best, most relevant education for today’s diverse student population while facing increasing budget cuts, and at the same time assess and demonstrate the student learning taking place. The argument can be made that students are an educator’s customers. It can also be argued that leadership educators strive to engage students (customers) through the various teaching strategies they employ within their programs, classrooms, or other contexts. In a world with greater emphasis being put on the bottom line of education, we cannot deny the importance of recruiting happy customers (students) who continue to return to our programs. For leadership educators, this means we must meet the needs of our “customers” without diluting or devaluing the educational process and intended outcomes of higher education.