Higher Education Managers/Executives/Administrators
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of an effective counseling center director.
METHODOLOGY Participants in this study consisted of counseling center directors, their immediate supervisors and their direct subordinates. Counseling center directors from five Public Master's Colleges and Universities I in the Midwest were selected were participate. Directors completed the Leadership Practices Inventory and their staff completed the LPI-Observer (N=20). These results were then compared to effective leadership behaviors and characteristics determined through a Q-sort procedure and semi-structured interviews.
KEY FINDINGS Enabling was the leadership practice most frequently engaged in, followed by Encouraging, Modeling, Challenging and Inspiring. This order was relatively the same as perceived by observers. Self scores were systematically higher than those from observers.