**1.1 Leadership: multiple interpretations; increasing relevance**

The study of leadership has long been relevant to academic disciplines that span the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural and physical sciences; and all readers of this paper can point to artists, athletes, businesspeople, gurus, military officers, politicians, and others of every stripe who have been or are regarded as leaders. Nevertheless, there is not a simple consensus definition of the concept.

Yes, some experts do provide similar definitions. While Maxwell says, "… leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less ([1], p. 13)," Cashman ([2], p. 4) says "Leadership is courageous, authentic influence that creates enduring value." Gardner defines leadership as "the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers ([3], p.1). Pulitzer Prize winning historian Kearns Goodwin pushes back with a fundamental question: "What is the difference between power, title, and leadership ([4], p. xiv)?"

Meanwhile, over the decades, forces have been at play that have contributed to emerging challenges at local, regional, national, and global levels [5]. Contemporary challenges are complex and characterized by greater degrees of interdependence among humans and between human and non-human ecosystems [6].

Such developments have placed a premium on leadership, especially relational leadership. Relational leaders recognize their credibility is based not on a position they hold within an organization, but instead on the respect they have earned from others, and on their ability to understand the nature of a challenge, to articulate a purpose and a pathway for addressing circumstances, and to motivate others [7]. That brand of leadership is central to collaboration, an important way of addressing the complex realities of the 21st century [8].

### **1.2 Leadership and a liberal arts education**

The author maintains, as do others, that for young adults a liberal arts education provides the strongest foundation for the development of relational leadership. Via a liberal arts education, undergraduates receive exposure to multiple disciplines and are encouraged to employ interdisciplinary thinking as they contemplate issues and learn to communicate ideas. Furthermore, since the typical enrollment at a liberal arts college numbers between several hundred to a few thousand, opportunities exist for all students to engage in groups to achieve a common purpose.

In a wonderful study of leadership written more than 30 years ago, Gardner eloquently makes the case.

*"Versatility is built into the species, but the modern world diminishes it drastically through specialization. Young potential leaders would do well to hold on to their birthright* (Italics in the original)*.* … At the college level, the best preparation is the liberal arts education ([3], p. 164)."

Epstein [9] agrees with that line of thinking. He explains that in the current era, there is a stronger need for generalists than for specialists; nonetheless, there is a tendency in many arenas of human life to cultivate specialists.

Despite such advocacy, most liberal arts colleges do not have structured leadership development programs open to all their students.
