Students often hear professors quote Shakespeare: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
Well, no offense to the bard, but it’s hard to argue that some are born great when so few people seem to be able to naturally lead. The consensus is that leaders are made, not born.
So what does that mean for college students? No matter where they are in their academic careers, they can orient their lives toward success by developing the traits every leader needs to make a difference.
Leadership training is especially important for students in a period of deep exploration of their likes, careers, personalities, and management styles. It’s the reason there are more than 1,000 extracurricular leadership programs on college campuses. (And probably the reason professors keep quoting Shakespeare.)
Even for those who are already campus leaders, leadership training programs are more essential and relevant than ever–here’s why:
1. Students need to learn more soft skills to prepare them for the workplace
“Leadership” is too often used as a vague umbrella term for programs that don’t have clear outlines and goals for teaching skills. This is perhaps contributing to the perceived skills gap among employers and college graduates–few business leaders find the skills they seek in recent graduates. At the same time, many students believe they’ve learned them. For instance, 33 percent of employers believe college graduates are proficient in leadership compared to 70 percent of graduates.
Charles Knippen is president of NSLS. Knippen joined NSLS as a consultant in 2008 and became president and a minority owner in 2012. Under his leadership, NSLS has added more than 600 chapters, achieved accreditation with American Council on Education and National College Credit Recommendation Service, and provided more than $1 million in scholarships.
Before joining NSLS, Knippen was a corporate intrapreneur at Monster Worldwide (Monster.com) and started the Monster Diversity Leadership Programs. During his seven years with the organization, the programs impacted more than 10,000 students.
Knippen is also an executive board member at YPO and a Federal Club member of the Human Rights Campaign.