Drexel Leaders: Advancing Dragon Leadership
Drexel Leaders: Advancing Dragon Leadership helps experienced leaders at Drexel University expand their leadership capabilities. Program members attend workshops where they learn from their own experiences, their colleagues' experiences, and experts in the field. Drexel Leaders: Advancing Dragon Leadership participants use assessment results to reflect on their leadership practices and create action plans for future development. Participants have the opportunity to learn with and from Drexel colleagues and discover resources to help them in their leadership journeys. An online platform allows members to seek out additional resources and share their leadership discoveries with others.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will:
- use the results from a comprehensive feedback process to create a plan for their own leadership development;
- explore the impact of their own leadership and communication styles on their working relationships;
- discover ways to influence organizational structure, both generally and specifically at Drexel;
- partner with colleagues to identify strategies for practicing inclusive leadership;
- construct a proactive plan for navigating through change;
- build and share a compelling vision for their team; and
- collaborate with other participants to enrich the leadership experience at Drexel.
Application Process
Candidates can self-nominate or be nominated by a leader in their unit. Candidates should be faculty or professional staff members with at least five years of management experience (of either people and/or projects) and a history of engaging in their own professional and leadership development.
Please follow the process below to nominate a candidate or self-nominate.
1. The nominating representative communicates with the potential candidate and their manager/department head to notify them of the intent to nominate, OR the candidate discusses their interest in the program with the leadership in their unit, including their direct manager.
2. The candidate or nominating representative submits a nomination form using the link provided in the annual call for candidates. The nomination form will include:
- Name of nominator (first and last)
- Nominator's email address
- Nominator's position title and department
- Name of candidate (first and last)
- Candidate’s email address
- Candidate’s position title and department
3. Drexel Human Resources (HR) will contact the candidate to invite them to submit an application, which will include:
- A general information form
- Two letters of recommendation; at least one must be from a leader in the unit in which the candidate works
- The candidate's resume or brief CV
- The candidate's leadership story — in a format of their choosing (prose, video or other visual medium, audio, etc.) — describing what they will bring to/take away from the program, their leadership trajectory, the watershed moments in their lives that influenced their leadership journey, people who had an impact on them and how they lead, and how their values impact their leadership
4. The Drexel Leaders: Advancing Dragon Leadership Advisory Committee reviews all submitted applications. Once the cohort is selected, HR will notify all applicants of the final decision.
For additional information, email questions to Kathy Choy, Assistant Director of Talent Development, at klc323@drexel.edu.
What Participants are Saying About the Program
Dorilona Rose
Director, Policy and External Affairs
College of Engineering Office of the Dean
"Drexel Leaders (DL) 20/20 provided me with the opportunity to reflect on my personal leadership style while giving me the tools, time, and space to work to become a thoughtful and engaged future leader. I appreciated the creation of a 'gracious space' in which to interact with a small cohort, allowing for open and insightful conversation. The opportunity to have a peer coach to learn from and with whom I could connect outside of the workshops provided a different and more personal way to talk through current work situations and future opportunities. Kathy is a wonderful guide for this program and helped to maintain continuity, even when we had to pivot mid-stream to go virtual. Although I have completed the program itself, the Drexel Leaders 20/20 Teams site is a place for Drexel Leaders: Advancing Dragon Leadership alums to further share ideas and connect. I recommend anyone looking to take that next step in leadership development to apply to this program."
Joseph H. Hancock II, MS, PhD
Professor, Retail and Merchandising
Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
"The Drexel Leaders: Advancing Dragon Leadership enriched me as a faculty member to see where professors truly can lead at Drexel University. This program enabled me to envision a balance between teaching, service and scholarship as well as administration and enriching me with professional development and understanding of others to build collegiality. Because of Kathy Choy and her mentorship, I am prepared to be a future leader and a strong collaborator for our institution. I recommend this program for every faculty leader at Drexel University!"
Yassine Sellami
Sr. IT Business Systems Analyst
Information Technology
"As a Drexel Leaders: Advancing Dragon Leadership graduate, I'm thrilled to share my transformative experience. This program, formerly DL 20/20, significantly enhanced my leadership skills and professional development. The program's customized approach, focusing on personal leadership styles, proved highly effective. Through interactive workshops and valuable feedback, I honed my leadership and communication skills, positively impacting my team and organizational role. A standout aspect was collaborating with colleagues from various departments, enriching my understanding of Drexel's organizational dynamics and fostering inclusive leadership. This collaboration built more robust networks and broadened perspectives. The program's emphasis on creating an inclusive, visionary team and strategic leadership propelled my professional growth. It enabled me to implement positive changes in my daily work and team, benefiting the wider Drexel community. I wholeheartedly recommend this program to those seeking leadership advancement. It offers invaluable skills and networking opportunities, enhancing individual, team, and departmental effectiveness at Drexel University."
Sandra Strang
Director, Communications and Events
Graduate College
"The Drexel Leaders 20/20 program helped me successfully transition into the next phase of my Drexel career. The program forced me outside of my comfort zone and pushed me to think about my professional and leadership development in a concrete way. The sessions and activities provided a forum for sharing different ideas, perspectives, and experiences with a small cohort of Drexel colleagues, and allowed us to plan for how to approach scenarios in our daily work. The session on navigating a VUCA environment (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) was especially helpful as we unknowingly approached the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. As a result of the program, I was able progress in my role and navigate and lead change with confidence."
John Wiggins
Director, Services and Quality Improvement
Drexel University Libraries
"I started the DL20/20 program feeling pretty confident about my role within the Libraries but looking for connections across the University, as well as skill development and new approaches that could help me develop into a more effective supervisor and teammate. The DL20/20 program really delivered! The variety of topics we covered taught me how to understand the breadth of my opportunities as a leader within Drexel, and strengthened my responses to novel situations within Libraries leadership and with inspiring my direct reports. The DL20/20 experiences I shared with my fellow participants established some great connections that are still strong today; the trust we built over the course of the program has led to easy connections among us, which helps us work together easily to solve problems for students and faculty, and improve the university experience for all of us. The DL20/20 program has contributed a lot to my skills addressing complicated situations with equanimity and clarity. I highly recommend it to other folks at Drexel!"