Teen participants in the Ohio 4-H Teen Community Leadership College (n=64) perceived their leadership skills to be much higher after the program. They appeared to need improvement in initiative, assertiveness, and objectivity. (SK)

The 4-H program can be improved if Extension agents administer rather than conduct the program. This means that leaders will have to be well-recruited and trained, and take responsibility for conducting much of the program. (Author)

Through Project EXCEL (Excellence in Community Elected and Appointed Leadership), 63 participants (Ohio county commissioners) completed simulation exercises in 7 assessment centers. Participants received personalized feedback on 15 behavioral dimensions. (SK)

An assessment of Georgia Extension's Community Leadership Program showed that the 12-week training increased networking, improved visibility for local extension staff, developed a unified spirit, gave people a feeling of responsibility and accomplishment, and served as a catalyst for goal setting and action plans. (SK)

Leaders of ad hoc teams lack traditional influence tools to exchange for cooperation. Transformative leadership is not based on exchange but on individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence. A survey of 10 leaders and 47 team members found that these qualities have a very strong positive…

Despite the impression that extension agents had about volunteers not wanting to participate in training, a needs/interest assessment demonstrated that volunteers for 4-H recognize their need for leadership development. (SK)

A survey of 67 participants in a leadership development program (85% response), interviews with 7 program directors, and 6 focus groups of program alumni revealed the following results of participation: more willingness to challenge the status quo and take risks, broader perspective on leadership roles and responsibilities, improved problem…

Over 3 years, agriculture and home economics faculty were matched with 21 minority undergraduate majors for 8-week summer internships. Qualitative and quantitative assessments showed that interns developed leadership skills and career awareness and had high levels of satisfaction with the professional contacts and linkages they acquired. (SK)

Describes Why Weight, a program to train community leaders to recognize an effective diet plan and prepare leaders to teach it to others. Why Weight successfully used television to train more than 300 community leaders. (JOW)

Controversy in the educational environment is a naturally occurring phenomenon. A change model is presented to show alternative ways of dealing with controversy and using it to bring about change. (MS)

A survey of 400 senior 4-H participants in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico received 238 usable responses identifying the top three 4-H activities contributing to leadership development: holding office, teaching younger members, and fairs. Greatest involvement in leadership activities was in implementing and evaluating; few were involved in…

A survey of 118 alumni of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program found that the higher the age and the greater the income, the less satisfied they were with the program. Results suggested that leadership development may spark less community participation among those of higher rather than lower socioeconomic status. (SK)

4-H Youth for Community Action (4-HYCA) is an after-school leadership development program targeting teens in inner-city middle schools. The program provides opportunities for inner-city youth to learn and practice leadership skills in a service-learning environment. 4-HYCA participants actively engage in problem-solving activities that teach…

Describes a Dimensional Leadership workshop designed to help extension service professionals become more effective leaders by discovering and improving their leadership style and by discovering and recognizing different kinds of effective and ineffective behavior. (EM)

This special section features research concluding that volunteers find the time because they believe they have more time to help (Rowland); an extension program using volunteer master teachers (Feather); use of volunteer marketing professionals (Fromer); retaining volunteers through leadership training (Balliette, Smith); "problem" volunteers and…