Elon University hosted on Feb. 10 the spring conference of the North Carolina Industrial/Organizational Psychologists (NCIOP) professional organization. The conference theme was Current Topics in Leadership, and it was attended by graduate students, faculty, and practitioners from throughout North Carolina.
The morning’s presenter was Marcus Dickson from Wayne State University. His presentation, “Global Leadership: What We Know, What We Don’t, What We Should, and What We Won’t,” discussed the key findings and implications from Project GLOBE, a monumental research endeavor that has spanned the last 12 years and is the largest study ever conducted on cross cultural leadership.
A prolific author and presenter, Dickson was a co-primary investigator on the historic study. His talk concluded a three-day visit to Elon during which he visited with students in their classrooms and delivered a separate lecture to the community.
Consistent with NCIOP’s goal to compliment the academic with the practitioner perspective, the afternoon speaker was leadership development consultant Rob Kaiser. His presentation, “Leadership: The Good, the Bad, and the Reality,” focused on findings that differentiate the relative importance of various skills and competencies across different hierarchical leadership levels.
Also widely published in the academic literature, Kaiser is the president of Kaiser Leadership Solutions, which provides innovative tools for assessment and development. He is a senior partner in the American executive development consultancy, Kaplan DeVries Inc.
Chris Leupold, associate professor of psychology and Faculty Leadership Fellow, coordinated the conference; he is also the 2011-2012 Chairman of NCIOP. Through grants from the Center for Leadership and the Leadership Studies Minor, several Elon undergraduates were also able to attend the conference.
Anyone with questions about the speakers, NCIOP, or any other questions about leadership, is encouraged to contact Leupold at cleupold@elon.edu.