FOUR GENERATIONS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEADERSHIP

Abstract

Four generations of community college presidents are identified and described: the founding fathers, the good managers, the collaborators, and the millenium generation. Using the framework developed by Bolman and Deal (1991), the leadership styles of these four groups are compared, with particular attention given to the current and emerging generations. A shift in style is predicted from the participatory approach preferred by presidents in the 1990s to one that allows for just-in-time responses to workforce training needs and dramatic changes in higher education resulting from globalization and the technology explosion.