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UI LEAD:  Leadership Education, Assessment, and Development

UI LEAD: Vision

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Identifying, developing, and sustaining effective leaders is a core competency of healthy, thriving, and successful organizations.  Effective leadership is critical to meeting the goals of The Iowa Promise, which is The University of Iowa’s current strategic plan.  

Our Vision

It is our vision that The University of Iowa will have leaders at all levels who are able to nurture a healthy, humane, and competent culture.

UI LEAD engages the individual participant, providing focused attention and resources to enhance leadership skill and ability. Additionally, each participant’s own supervisor or faculty administrator is involved in the process to share insight, performance objectives, and support.

UI LEAD recognizes that individual development leads to organizational success.

Strategies for Vitality

"Nurture creative leadership throughout the University by
increasing opportunities and support for leadership development”

—The Iowa Promise, A Strategic Plan for The University of Iowa, 2005-2010

Engaging Leaders

Why is leadership development critical on our campus?

Leadership development is often cited as a best practice for creating engaged workplaces, and to cultivating organizational excellence over time. Not only does it promote individual success, it fosters collective success—both in the “now,” and also over the long run. 

While the concept of employee engagement is not new, the connection to leadership is gaining momentum.  “Research has shown that not only are employees with strong leaders more engaged, but also that the quality of their relationships with their supervisors or managers is the most critical factor in determining whether or not they choose to stay or leave a job.” (Source:  “Creating a Culture for Engagement,” Rich Wellins, Ph.D. and Jim Concelman, Workforce Performance Solutions, April 2005.) 

The 2008 Working at IOWA, a campus-wide climate survey, explored engagement of UI faculty and staff.  Since that time, many of us on The University of Iowa campus have been asking, “How do we respond to the top needs identified by faculty and staff?" (Source:  Responses for “all position classifications” in the 2008 Working at IOWA Survey Results)

The follow-up question then becomes, “What resources are available to support supervisors, directors , and department chairs or heads?”  Programs such as UI LEAD is an innovative, and systematic approach to developing organizational leadership competency by supporting the growth of individual faculty and staff leaders.

UI Leadership Competencies

For more information on future leadership development needs and the process of establishing competencies of UI faculty and staff leaders, please visit:

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