Exemplary Leadership: Five Practices & Ten Commitments

Leadership is a set of behaviors and actions that are available to everyone. Leadership is in the actions that you take. It emerges from the values that guided your decisions and behavior. It results for the visions you have for yourself and others. It is evident in the changes you initiate and the challenges you accept. It appears in the trust you build and the connections you strengthen. It’s about how you others up and how you make others feel values. (James Kouzes and Barry Posner)

This session is developed around the five practices of leadership identified in the research of James Kouzes and Barry Posner and presented in their book The Leadership Challenge (7th Edition, Wiley, 2023). 

1. Watch the "Introduction to The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®" Video. 

The introduction video introduces leaders to The Five Practices, giving an explanation and examples for each. This is an opportunity for leaders to think about their own experiences and times when they were at their best on their leadership journey.

Learn More about the 5 Practices

To learn more about each of the Five Practices go to the videos on the Leadership Challenge Website: Leadership Challenge Workshop Videos . Select from the  additional 10 short videos that  present each of the five Practices and simplify understanding and implementing the five Practices as a leader. 

2. Read Chapter 1 "Leadership is Not a Position" from Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. (Included in the Guided to Leadership Practices - Part 1 and attached to this session as a full page download.) 

Chapter 1 introduces you to the five practices: 

1. Model the way.
2. Inspire a shared vision.
3. Challenge the process.
4. Enable others to act.
5. Encourage the heart.

3. Use the Worksheet "5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership" (attached) to develop practical ideas and strategies for applying the five practices to catechetical ministry (or parish ministry, in general). Download the worksheet and use it to prepare a report with your ideas and strategies. The results of your worksheet can be used in the your assignment (below). 

Assignment: Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership

Use the five practices of exemplary leadership to describe how you currently practice leadership in your setting (1-2 pages) and  develop practical action-ideas that you can use to strengthen your practice of leadership (1-2 pages).

Online Class Discussion Weeks 3 & 4

Engage in conversation with your co-learners by responding to the starter prompts offered below, along with reading and replying to comments offered by others.