| The purpose of this quantitative study was to provide updated information on leadership skills businesses need and the leadership skills taught in a community college curriculum. The quantitative methodology was utilized with a descriptive research design to assess the leadership skills as perceived and taught by faculty at twelve Illinois community colleges and businesses within the boundaries of those colleges. The community colleges used in this study were selected because these colleges offer an international honor society's leadership development curriculum. Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI) leadership model, The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, was given to the participants to answer the research question. The practices are Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart, which are identified in this study as dimensions one through five, respectively. The primary findings revealed that the businesses scored higher on all five dimensions than the colleges overall; however, not necessarily on individual survey items. The leadership skills identified under dimensions one, Model the Way; five, Encourage the Heart; and four, Enable Others to Act were ranked the highest by both groups. Item discrepancies under dimensions one through four are discussed and suppositions are given. Recommendations for future research are also given. |
