Leadership Skills and Competencies for Extension Directors and Administrators

The primary purpose of this study was to identify the major leadership skill areas and specific leadership competencies within each skill area needed by Extension leaders. A purposive sample of administrative heads of agriculture from 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions was selected to participate in qualitative interviews. Seven individuals participated in long interviews (Creswell, 1998; McCracken, 1988) designed to identify leadership skills necessary to be a leader within the CSREES. Participants identified six major leadership skill areas needed by Extension leaders: human, conceptual, technical, communication, emotional intelligence, and industry knowledge skills. A total of 80 specific leadership competencies were developed and clustered under one of the six leadership skill areas.