The Use of a Citizen Leader Model for Teaching Strategic Leadership

Strategic leadership is perhaps the area where undergraduate students have the least experience. Therefore, a focus on developing these skills is critical for college-level leadership educators. Teaching strategic leadership requires that educators design programs that make explicit, direct, and formal links between theory and practical experience, opportunity to reflect, solve problems, work in teams, and engage in active learning. The Citizen Leader Model (CLM) for student engagement goes beyond volunteerism and service learning through its focus on bringing about substantive change in organizations and communities. This article describes a teaching method for teaching strategic leadership using the CLM, sample projects, and outcomes.