PPL 373: Leadership in the Public Policy Setting

Dr. Joseph (Jody) Holland earned his Ph.D. in Public Policy Administration from Mississippi State University, and teaches many courses in the area of leadership/organization for the major. His expertise includes food policy, economic development, and technology policy.

Strong leadership from all academic disciplines will need to work together to solve the world’s most complex problems. This advanced PPL course is designed to provide a basic introduction to leadership by focusing on what it means to be a good leader. Students work on their own leadership performance while examining topics such as:

• the nature of leadership,
• developing leadership skills,
• creating a vision and setting the tone,
• listening to out-group members and handling conflict, and
• addressing ethics in leadership.

This class enables students to develop strong leadership tools that assist in self-assessment, emotional intelligence, leading teams, handling conflict as well as other leadership concepts.

“There is a reason that Public Policy Leadership includes a leadership element. Dr. Holland’s leadership class challenges students to think about what leadership means to them and how they want to lead. More than any other class I’ve taken in college, leadership has encouraged me to reflect on the choices I’ve made and the person I’m becoming.” – Anna Hall