Aligning Leadership Education: Linking Interpersonal Skills Development to Business Needs

A disconnect has long existed between what is typically taught in management education programs and what real-world organizations seek in their leadership candidates, particularly regarding interpersonal skills. Primary complaints from the business community revolve around issues of curriculum relevance and delivery methodologies that do not facilitate the transfer of skills learned in the classroom to the workplace. A review of the literature yields very few examples of business programs that have added courses, or topics within existing courses, that address interpersonal skills. We describe a graduate-level course designed to intentionally develop interpersonal skills to meet the needs of local hiring managers, maximize organizational outcomes, and enhance leaders’ career opportunities. The course is delivered via active, experiential instructional methodologies to facilitate the transfer of new knowledge and skills to the workplace. A pre- and post-test comparison of students’ results on a competency-based behavioral model of emotional intelligence showed an increase in students’ scores, indicating that the course has been effective in developing students’ practical interpersonal skills. This article describes the fundamental design and delivery elements of this successful leadership course that can be replicated and implemented at other universities to more effectively align what students learn with what organizations need.