Incorporating Leadership Knowledge and Skills into the Dental Education Community

Designing the Dean’s Leadership Course

Working closely with an organization strategy and development expert, we designed an eleven-week leadership course, specifically tailored to teach important leadership knowledge and skills relevant for a research-intensive university and for a school of dentistry aligned with its parent institution. Participation in the course was opened to the entire community through a brief application process. The class size was intentionally limited to fourteen participants to foster small-group discussions and practice sessions. Twenty applications were submitted, and fourteen applicants were selected representing faculty, staff, D.D.S. students, dental hygiene students, and residents. Selection criteria emphasized balancing participants among faculty, students, and staff members and also placed priority on more senior students. Further, the entire dental school community was informed that this selective course offering would be available every winter and fall trimester.

The emphasis of the leadership course was placing leadership in the context of the nonprofit sector with complementary applications to the private sector. The course consisted of eleven weekly topic discussions, complemented by extensive reading materials and assignments between each session. Each session was a continuation of the previous week, and participants were expected to be active contributors in each session by learning the concepts, discussing real-world applications, and supporting each other in the learning process. The topics for the course included:

• Defining Leadership Within the School of Dentistry

• Communication Styles and Listening

• People Management: Creating and Leading a Team

• Building Coalitions and Conflict Management

• Fiscal and Budget Management

• Creating an Environment of Trust and Integrity

• Driving for Results

• Grant Writing and Research

• Managing Change

• Ongoing Personal and Team Development

Each session was initially led by the facilitator or selected topic expert, who engaged participants in case studies, selected literature, and directed dialogue and reflections derived from the participants’ past and present experiences with leadership. The course was purposely designed to engage faculty, students, and staff together, with the intent of encouraging discussions from all perspectives within the dental school community. The course provided many opportunities to discuss “leadership moments” within the school and identify opportunities for applying the leadership concepts.¹⁴ As pre-work for the communication topic, for example, each participant completed a self- assessment. Then, during the session, we discussed the individual assessments, and the facilitator led group discussions to describe the results of the self-assessment, answer any individual questions, and then identify specific methods for increasing communication effectiveness, utilizing strengths identified. This self-assessment information was also used in the subsequent session on conflict management.

The Course Evaluation

At the culmination of the initial eleven-week course (extending from January to mid-April 2006), an anonymous evaluation was conducted to learn whether the participants had found value in the experience. Participants were asked to rate the value on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being low value and 5 being high value. All participants rated the course as high value (5), with strong recommendations to continue making this course available to others. As a result, the selective has been scheduled for winter and fall 2007.

Several weeks after the course concluded, the facilitator met with participants to discuss their experiences following the course. In an effort to confirm our initial hypotheses, participants were asked to provide specific examples of how they applied the knowledge they had gained. Participants felt that their experience in the Dean’s Leadership Course was instrumental in increasing their individual leadership skills and developing their organizational and team-building skills. Following are their specific examples:

“The course helped me identify my individual strengths and how to recognize and capitalize on the strengths of faculty, staff, and students.” (Faculty Member)

“The course confirmed my appreciation for the necessity of building coalitions, especially when introducing major changes within an organization. When we were introducing the new adhesive principles in the restorative dentistry section of the D.D.S. curriculum, I led two coalitions: one focused on the restoration of the posterior dentition; and the second was focused on the conservative restoration of the anterior dentition. The approach was a success, and even though a large amount of work is still required to perfect the faculty calibration process and refine the clinical setting, the changes have significantly impacted the content of teaching at all levels of the D.D.S. program.” (Faculty Member)

“I gained a greater appreciation of the importance of communication. The course provided me with the ‘push’ to establish a communication program where all dental hygiene clinical faculty members will be able to communicate and have discussions online.” (Faculty Member)

“One of the most important things I learned is that no one leadership style works best in all situations. It is important to focus on the end results and create an environment to optimize skills, capabilities, and all types of resources.” (Faculty Member)

“The course helped me acquire a better awareness and understanding of the importance of acknowledging and respecting individual beliefs, ideals, and values that served to improve my ability to lead and make a difference. The course brought into focus the importance of strong leadership skills that begin with self-awareness in order to understand, lead, and appreciate the existing diverse resources, specifically the talented people that make up our organization, in order to continue operating at world-class caliber as it relates to research, submissions, and administration. Additionally, the course gave me a practical perspective in understanding people and how to effectively apply communication leadership techniques appropriate to our research center. I have also instituted additional changes as a result of the course: I have rotated functions at the research center to increase the effectiveness of research operations.” (Staff Member)

“I have been in management for over twenty-five years, and the Dean’s Leadership Course served to reinforce my style of management. I think it is our duty as leaders to seek out the strengths of our coworkers, to encourage their growth, and to serve as positive role models.” (Staff Member)

“The course helped me to organize my staff meetings in a more efficient manner that has enabled me to accomplish my goals. The knowledge I acquired from this course will help me continue to develop leadership skills and to share with other staffsome of the course ideas.” (Staff Member)

“From a student perspective, perhaps the most valuable aspect of this course was that it opened my eyes to the concerns of the faculty and staff at the USC School of Dentistry. Many of the areas in which I felt the school could improve were the same areas in which faculty and staff also saw a need for improvement. By providing an avenue for discussion among faculty, staff, and students, the course has brought individuals from different levels of the school together to find innovative ways of improving the educational experience at USC.” (Student)

“Words like alignment, SMART goals, conflict management, managing change, self-leadership, and organizational reengineering mean more to me today after participating in the eleven-week Dean’s Leadership Course. The course has made me realize the importance of learning the art of constructive criticism and the importance of nurturing strengths in a team rather than concentrating on weaknesses.” (Student)

“To be a professional, it is important to be a lifelong learner, recognizing that learning does not stop at graduation. Although additional courses are offered through continuing education, few, if any, focus on individual learning. The Dean’s Leadership Course was an opportunity to learn more about ourselves while also learning about leadership. It was a chance for self-awareness, a chance to discover what kind of leadership styles will best fit my personality, analyzing what makes a good leader, and interacting with other intellectuals—faculty, students, and staff—on a similar quest.” (Student)

“Being a student in the problem-based learning (PBL) program, it seems that just about everyone in the school is open for constructive critique and improvement. Hence, the implementation of the Dean’s Leadership Course is a true celebration of that PBL spirit. Times of change inevitably create uncertainty and conflicts of interest between those used to the old ways and the pioneers. This is true especially in the USC School of Dentistry since our school is constantly evolving, with a mission to create lifelong learners who can both change constantly and create changes. Therefore, our group developed ‘we win when we ALL win’ as our philosophy/slogan aimed at forging an environment of collaboration instead of competition, all with the common goal of improving the School of Dentistry.” (Student)

Summary

Although only qualitative data were gathered from participants, both in the form of an end-of-course evaluation and from follow-up perspectives on participant application of knowledge and skills gained through the course, we believe that we have created a unique learning opportunity that is positively impacting the USC School of Dentistry. We are now conducting the third offering of the Dean’s Leadership Course, and the overall experience continues to be favorably received. We have created a unique forum for faculty, students/residents, and staff members to participate in learning leadership skills and tools. Furthermore, these participants are speaking highly about their experience in the course. Word of mouth has increased applications for participation each time we have offered the course.

It is becoming increasingly evident that we have extraordinary opportunities and challenges today and well into the twenty-first century within academic dental institutions, and dealing with them requires leadership.^1–5,14,15 It is also readily apparent by evaluating demographics in dental schools around the nation that our profession of dentistry and dental education will soon reach parity between men and women.^10,11 These shifting demographics, including profound changes that increase cultural diversity in America, clearly assert that leadership is not connected to gender or ethnicity. In tandem, we must also acknowledge that the pool of individuals seeking careers in academic dental education is declining and to further share the emerging realization that there are national shortages in qualified university-level clinical faculty coupled with shortages in qualified leaders within our academic dental institutions. We need to identify and nurture individuals with the passion and skills to frame discussions around complex issues, ensuring that there is an open dialogue amongst the various stakeholders (e.g., larger society, many publics, governmental agencies, policymakers, foundations, educators, clinicians, scientists, and organized dental professional groups) and mobilizing critical human resources that can and will solve complex problems in the twenty-first century.

This brief article has summarized but one approach towards cultivating and nurturing leadership and leadership skill-building at the University of Southern California to enhance leadership within the dental education environment. This course model appears to have met the needs and expectations of a small and select group of faculty, staff, and students. The selective course allowed the learners to feel comfortable while exploring their individual leadership styles and skills. The approach was “learner-centered” and was fostered as a derivative from our problem-based learning strategy used within the D.D.S. academic program. We continue to offer this course as both fall and winter trimester offerings. And we assert that the fundamentals of this selective learning opportunity are readily transferrable to dental schools around the nation.