Leadership Development
Public Service Leadership Program
Overview
By making leadership development and service core components of students’ educational experience, the School reinforces his belief that successful individuals must have more than education, experience, and credentials.They also need the ability to effectively motivate and influence others by realizing their own leadership potential. There are many opportunities for leadership development at the Bush School. Numerous speaker series, many coordinated with the Bush Library Foundation, provide students with unique opportunities for interaction with knowledgeable leaders from across the globe. These series are often offered exclusively to Bush School students, faculty, and staff as “Conversations in Leadership,” a concept developed collaboratively by students and faculty. With “real-world” lectures to enhance classroom experiences, students gain important insights in leading and managing in the public and nonprofit sector from those who have experienced these roles first-hand. Unique among peer graduate institutions, the Bush School’s Public Service Leadership Program integrates leadership development into the curriculum, conducts relevant research and outreach, and produces publications related to leadership studies. The program was developed to underscore the belief that while education, experience, and credentials are important career elements, successful individuals must also have the ability to effectively motivate and influence others. The program provides experiences, self-analysis, and self-development opportunities that will help students inculcate habits of life-long learning and leadership self-development. Formal leadership instruction is augmented with workshops, seminars, and exercises that enhance students’ skills in effective public management and leadership.
Public Service Leadership Program
The Public Service Leadership Program (PSLP) integrates the development of student leadership knowledge, skills, attributes and values throughout the two-year Bush School experience. Leadership education is reinforced in three ways: through the academic curriculum (courses, workshops, and lectures); experiential learning (participation in internships, the public service organization, the student government association, intramurals, and community activities); and self-study (individual development plans, and self and peer assessment instruments).
Welcome Message
From the beginning, President George Bush emphasized the importance of public service and leadership as key components of a Bush School education. The leadership program is intended to explicitly reinforce our founder’s commitment to educating principled leaders for careers in government and public service. The program staff continues to work with experts in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to find effective ways to provide student-centered leadership education and development.
Tailored for our students
The Bush School’s Public Service Leadership Program is tailored for students of public and international affairs. One guiding idea is that leadership education is integrated into the two-year program. The Bush School emphasizes leadership and team work starting with its admissions process and candidate interview weekend, and during new student orientation week. Every master’s student takes a core, graduate-level, leadership course. These activities early in the Bush School experience help establish class identities and reinforce a commitment to personal and professional leader development.
Individual Learning and Leader Development
The program also emphasizes individual learning and leader development and recommends that students design their course work to provide a base of knowledge and skills as a foundation for their desired career paths. These efforts are guided by coaching from faculty advisors, and supplemented with the opportunities to interact frequently with a diverse group of experienced practitioners, faculty experts, and visiting speakers. The students’ final core course is a team-based CAPSTONE research project under faculty direction for a real-world client.
Additional Developmental Areas
In addition to coursework, the Bush School also emphasizes two additional developmental areas. The second area includes experiential learning through leadership positions in the student government association, public service organization, intramurals, internships, and community service. The third area includes personal development or self study. The program’s Assistant Director runs an assessment center that includes a menu of tools for improving self-awareness, such as assessments of personality profiles (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), individual learning styles, management skills, personal values, and emotional intelligence.ew
Dean’s Leadership Certificate
Earning a Dean’s Certificate requires formal education and training (coursework and program workshops); self-study and assessments (personalized feedback and individualized leadership development planning); and experiential learning activities (involvement in extracurricular organizations, events, and service projects).
View The Dean’s Leadership Certificate ChecklistCertificate Requirements
Formal Education and Training
Leadership Program Workshops (must attend four workshops)
Self-Study and Assessments
Myers Briggs Type Indicator
CliftonStrengths
Individual Leadership Plan
Professional Coaching Session (with Holly)
Experiential Learning Activities
Formal Leadership Experience
Service Project Participation
Assessments
- Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory
Students complete the Kolb’s LSI to help them understand how their learning style might impact their graduate learning experience, problem solving, teamwork, conflict management, and communication.
- CliftonStrengths
CliftonStrengths is a development program that will help you identify and develop your talents and strengths. After completing the CliftonStrengths, you receive a customized report that lists your top five areas of talent (themes) and action items to develop and use your talents to achieve academic, career, and personal success.
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
The MBTI provides personalized feedback to students about their preferences for each of the four dichotomies in Jung’s theory. With their MBTI results, students participate in a workshop focusing on temperament type to help them identify their “best fit type.”
- Personal Values Questionnaire
The PVQ provides self-awareness to students when thinking about core values, leadership development, decision making, ethics, and a future in public service.
Conversations in Leadership
Each semester, Bush School students have the opportunity to meet prominent public service leaders during informal luncheon conversation sessions. The Bush School’s Conversations in Leadership series is a monthly (normally three times a semester) opportunity for Bush School students to discuss various aspects of leadership with visiting leaders from the university and from public and nonprofit agencies. These sessions are organized by Bush School students in coordination with the Public Service Leadership Program staff.
Past Speakers Include:
Mary Kate Carey
Former presidential speechwriter and George Bush Presidential Library and Museum Advisory Board Member
James Clapper
Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence
David Davenport
President & CEO Capital Area Food Bank of Texas
J. R. Starch
Former U.S. Marine Corps aviator and defense company CEO
Jim and Meredith Olson
Bush School faculty, “Our Life in the CIA”
Mayor Ben White, College Station
“A Career in Local Government and Nonprofits”
Ms. Erika Prochaska and Lorelei St. James, Government Accountability Office (GAO
“My First Six Months at GAO: What It’s Really Like”
General Hornburg
U.S. Air Force (Retired), “Ethics in Leadership”
Dr. Deborah Kerr
Bush School faculty, “Ethical Leadership, Performance Management, and My Career in Public Service”
Dr. Rod Magee
Independent Management Consultant, “Developing Your Leadership And Professional Capability – Consistent Keys To Success”
Dr. Rod Magee
Independent Management Consultant, “Developing Your Leadership And Professional Capability – Consistent Keys To Success”
Mayor Nancy Berry, College Station
“College Station: Looking Back, Moving Forward”
Former Acting Dean Andrew Card, Bush School
“When Perfection Competes with Reality (Managing Expectations): Leadership”
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