Chapter 15 A Journey from a Traditional to a New Learning Model using Cascading Leadership

Abstract

We follow Dr. Luc Verburgh through his first two years as CEO of Wellant College. He arrived there in the middle of a major strategic change and his mandate was to implement a change away from a traditional learning model to a new one. His first task was to define, with the executive team, the college's overall vision and strategy. Once that was accomplished, he turned his attention to the task of cascading both the vision and the strategy down throughout the organization and quickly implementing them. He achieved this by focusing on four areas: (1) making sure that the right people were on the team; (2) changing Wellant College's organizational structures and processes to promote communication and to manage performance; (3) communicating clearly and transparently throughout the entire process to all of the stakeholders about the changes taking place and the evolution of the strategy, seeking their views when appropriate; and (4) gradually changing from a top-down approach to one that had clearer guidelines and regulations, as well as allowing, even encouraging, more local ownership.

Citation

Verburgh, L. and Lane, N. (2007), "Chapter 15 A Journey from a Traditional to a New Learning Model using Cascading Leadership", Hooijberg, R., (Jerry) Hunt, J.G., Antonakis, J., Boal, K.B. and Lane, N. (Ed.) Being There Even When You Are Not (Monographs in Leadership and Management, Vol. 4), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 255-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3571(07)04014-X