| It has been well documented that the education provided by Canada's colleges and technical institutions contributes to the country's well-being in ways that benefit individuals and through them, society. It has also been recognized that the people who have been given the responsibility of leading and managing these organizations through periods of economic, political and social change are the presidents and CEOs. The significance of their leadership, and the strategies they employ in ensuring that these educational organizations continue, must not be underestimated. Therefore understanding how successful presidents adapt their leadership styles and exploring the strategies they use to respond to the challenges of changing environmental forces is a critical area of study.; Since their conception in the 1950s through the 1970s Canada's colleges and technical institutes have experienced a steep trajectory in their growth. This period of remarkable growth provided opportunities and access for all learners to take advantage of educational opportunities, while providing the economy with a skilled and educated workforce. During this period, the presidents of the college and technical institute system were architects and builders of access and promise. The challenges for these early leaders were relatively straightforward: building new campuses, developing curriculum, and hiring faculty and staff.; Over the past decade, however, societal, economic, political and technological forces have driven the rapidly shifting landscape. These forces have created pressures that have cumulated into substantive challenges for both the post-secondary institutes and their presidents. Today, faced with new pressures and their accompanying challenges, presidents are struggling to discover and implement innovative approaches to meet the needs of a growing and vocal stakeholder group. This group is demanding everything from accessibility, affordability and responsiveness to flexibility, quality and accountability. The current pace of change and the resultant pressures are not likely to abate in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, there is every indication that the environment and its inherent challenges will continue changing, taxing the sustainability and possibly the future existence of the colleges and technical institutes. Entering the next decade, the task of the presidents of these institutions will be to respond to the new challenges by adjusting their leadership styles and leading their organizations with innovative solutions and action.; The topic of strategic and innovative leadership has been studied extensively from the perspective of business and industry. The literature has shown, however, that there are few studies conducted on leadership in public colleges and technical institutes in Canada. In fact it has been acknowledged that the task of studying the role of president and CEO in the college setting is more complex than in other settings (Birnbaum, 1989). As a result, the leadership strategies which presidents use to enable their organizations to adjust to the current conditions are not well known. Clearly, more empirical research aimed at exploring innovative strategies which have been successful in achieving sustainability is needed.; This qualitative study examines four presidents of Canadian colleges and technical institutes, who (through peer selection) were identified as being effective leaders. The focus of the study was, first, to gain a deeper understanding of the contemporary issues facing presidents and their organizations and, second, to discover which strategies they are implementing to ensure their organizations adapt. |
