A Radical QuestionLeading to Innovation

A Radical Question

• We don’t ask: “Are we doing things right?”

• We do ask “Are we doing the right things” to educate students for lives of leadership and service?

This Question Changes Everything

• Employers seek people with skills and

values• How, then, is leadership learned?• What, then, are:

• The Center’s mission and values?• People?• Programs?• Student experiences?• Inputs, outputs, structure?• Outcomes?

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2012Job Outlook Survey

1. Ability to work in a team

2. Leadership

3. Communication skills (written)

4. Problem-solving skill

5. Strong work ethic

6. Analytical/quantitative skill

7. Communication skills (verbal)

8. Initiative

Skills Employers Seek

Source: Liberal Education, Spring 2013

“Nearly all employers agreed that ‘a job candidate’s demonstrated

capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major’ (Hart Research Associates, 2013).”

Skills Employers Seek

"I have recruited all over the United States and I can honestly say the students at Hope that I interviewed and hired are second to none!  The

Center’s students’ integrity, ethics and moral compass align with the Dow’s long standing philosophies and attitudes that attract the top performers in the industry.”

Keith A. PotterAccount ExecutiveThe Dow Chemical Company

Values Employers Seek

"Hope College has created a great environment…, attracting and developing students for the real world. The emphasis

on servant leadership, entrepreneurial spirit and the awareness of giving back to our local communities is what I believe stands out the most…. It is these types qualities combined with  a

personal touch…that makes Hope students a great fit with our company.”

Pat DawsonSenior Vice PresidentThe Dow Chemical Company

Values Employers Seek

Dennis R.J. Geppert/Holland Sentinel Staff

“Preparation for leadership does not come from books. Books sometimes give you an insight or an outline, but real preparation consists of hard work and wandering in the desert, much feedback, much forgiveness, and the yeast of failure.”

--Max DePree

How Leadership is Learned

The Center’s Mission

To enable students to experience their faithful leadership potential by engaging them in projects that apply in the real world what they learn in the classroom.

The Center’s Values

• Entrepreneurial

• Student-led and Mentored

• Applied and Consequential

• Integrated and Interdisciplinary

• Community-engaged and Sustainable

• Transformational and Transitional

The Center’s Practitioners

The Center’s Programs

• Integrated Learning/LDRS courses

• A Student Consulting Business

• An Entrepreneurial Development Program

Integrative Learning Experiences

• LDRS 201: Service Learning

• LDRS 231: Lean Start-up and Idea Pitch and Investor Pitch Competitions

• LDRS 391: Participative

Consulting

• LDRS 395: Internships

• IDIS 495: Experiencing New Cultures (Alaska wilderness)

Student Consulting Experiences

Entrepreneurial Development Experiences

The Center’s Inputs

• Working in teams

• Solving real-world problems

• Assisted by a Coach and Mentor

The Center’s Outputs

• Students are more aware of what they are capable of and their calling.

• They have more authentic confidence.

• They have a better understanding of faithful leadership.

• They are more skilled communicators, learners and creative, critical thinkers.

The Center’s Model

• Working in Teams• Solving Real-world Problems• Assisted by a coach and mentor

• More aware of capabilities and calling• More confident• More equipped for faithful leadership• More skilled at communicating, learning, and creative

critical thinking

Integrated Learning

StudentConsulting

Entrepreneurial Development

OtherOpportunities

through…

leads to students being…

The Center’s Outcomes

“Virgil, Thanks again for all your guidance with Lindsay (and

Steve VanderVeen also). I still can’t believe how progressive and effective your program is. I think the program really prepares people like Lindsay to

really WOW job interviewers, such as she did at Dow.”

-- Lance Allward

"This experience was life changing."

-- Russell Fyfe

What Makes Us Grow?

“Now faith is the confidence of what we hope for and

assurance of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).