A River Runs Through It: A Metaphor for Teaching Leadership Theory

Executive Summary Leadership educators are some of the best teachers around when it comes to creating exciting, effective experiential learning opportunities, which teach students leadership skills. Where the curriculum and instruction falls short is when we try to teach leadership theory. Some courses and programs even omit theory as part of the curriculum. This article explores a new instructional metaphor for teaching leadership theory. The metaphor has been an effective tool for helping students understand the historical development of leadership theory as a foundation for the leadership skills they are learning.