Liberal Arts and Leadership Honors Archive

By Trevor Kline and Michael Berger

Articles: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/05/14/essay-how-liberal-arts-colleges-promoteleadership
The author Mark Peltz is the associate dean and director of career development at Grinnell College. This
article discusses how a liberal arts education may be a big contributor to the success the business,
government and non-profit sectors. The article uses statistical information taken from actual leaders
that pertains to where they graduated from in order to find out how many of todays leaders graduated
with a liberal arts education. It uses this information to tell us that more successful leaders graduated
with a liberal arts education than any other form of education.

Liberal Arts and Presidential Leadership

http://higheredreporter.carnegie.org/the-liberal-arts-and-presidential-leadership/
The author of this article is Nannerl O. Keohane, Senior Scholar of Woodrow Wilson School of Public &
International Affairs, Princeton University, and former President of Wellesley College (1981-1993) and
Duke University (1993-2004). The article says a liberal arts education hones the mind, teaching focus,
critical thinking, and the ability to express oneself clearly both in writing and speaking. It also mentions
that it helps leaders analyze and solve complex problems of a wide variety.

Ted Talks:
http://www.ted.com/talks/patrick_awuah_on_educating_leaders?language=en
Awuahs Ted Talk focuses on the importance of leadership. He talks about his experiences in his native
Ghana, and he draws conclusions about the importance of developing leadership in individuals.
Awuahs collegiate experience and employment at Microsoft opened his eyes to the value of liberal arts
leadership. Awuah explains that the best way to educate a leader is through the liberal arts. He
suggests that this form of education provides the leader with the flexibility and skills that are necessary
to lead effectively. Awuah proposes that liberal arts are not only the proper vehicle for teaching
leaders, but that the liberal arts are also the way to rescue Ghana and Africa. He has since founded a
university in Ghana that educates its students with a liberal arts background.

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hig3GnPSCC4
John Coleman is a dean of CLA. In this video John Coleman discusses how leadership is effected by the
varied education that liberal arts gives. His main point in this is that a varied education encourages

leaders to look at things from different viewpoints which then carries over to their leadership skills
allowing them to be able to be a more effective leader.
Quotes: The competitive advantages the marketplace demands is someone more human, connected,
and mature. Someone with passion and energy, capable of seeing things as they are and negotiating
multiple priorities as she makes useful decisions without angst. Flexible in the face of change, resilient in
the face of confusion. All of these attributes are choices, not talents, and all of them are available to
you.
Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Godins quote offers us insight into the value of being well connected in todays world. Godin suggests
that a person who has a broad understanding of the world is better suited to address problems. This
person, according to Godin, is much more flexible, and as a result, capable of overcoming more issues.
In essence, the liberal arts gives the individual these experiences and best prepares them for the
challenges of our world.
Most people learn their trade almost always farming from their parents or village communities.
Industrialization changed all that. People had to be able to learn to pick up new skills faster, since the
economy had not only to produce but to continually grow and become more sophisticated
technologically. Learning one frayed over many years would not do. People needed GENERIC skills, to
which only a small amount of extra training would allow them to move around the economy, taking new
jobs and responding to innovation.
Robert Lane Greene, You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics
of Identity
This quote, by Greene, demonstrates the value of a liberal arts education. The latter half of the quote is
particularly important as it offers and explanation to why an education in the liberal arts is so valuable.
In our ever-changing world, it is essential for the individual to be able to adapt to a variety of new
challenges. An education in the liberal arts exposes a person to a variety of academic disciplines, and as
a result, prepares them more effectively to take on leadership roles.