Leadership Development

Icebreakers for Adults

Taylor Nash and Megan Stein

This document outlines strategies to use when building a team culture and gives examples of simple activities to build rapport within teams or groups.

Leading Difficult Conversations Series #2: Preparing for the Conversation

Christy C. Chiarelli

In this Leading Difficult Conversations series, the first topic to explore is preparing for the conversation. The components of proper preparation include clearly defining the issue and considering the motive behind the conversation.

Leading Difficult Conversations Series #3: Creating a Safe Conversation Environment

Christy Chiarelli

Earlier in this publication series, the foundational principles of preparing for difficult conversations were established: (1) defining the issue and (2) determining your motive for the conversation. Once those principles are put into practice, the next phase of having a difficult conversation is creating a safe environment for the conversation. Components of creating a safe environment include recognizing a conversation's content and conditions, understanding the threats to a safe environment, and utilizing skills to overcome threats to restore safety.

Leading Difficult Conversations Series #1: Introduction

Christy Chiarelli

Leading Difficult Conversations Series #4: Communication Styles under Stress

Christy C. Chiarelli

This new 3-page publication of the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication focuses on helping leaders better understand their communication style when under stress. Even with adequate preparation, difficult conversations can still be stressful. By understanding their communication style under stress, leaders can better regulate their personal responses to ensure a productive conversation. Written by Christy C. Chiarelli.

Building a Professional Environment for Self-Awareness

Savannah Bailey and Megan S. Cantrell

Creating spaces that encourage self-awareness is essential for personal growth and for fostering a stronger, more effective team. This publication will explain how individuals can build a professional environment that facilitates self-awareness. These strategies can be used by a wide range of individuals, such as leaders and team members in the workplace, teachers in a classroom, and Extension professionals working with communities. Written by Savannah Bailey and Megan S. Cantrell, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, February 2026.

Conducting Productive Team Meetings

Carrie N. Baker, Matthew Gold, Sarah A. Bush, Laura L. Greenhaw, and Rachel Biderman

This publication outlines tips and strategies for team leaders running meetings. Written by Carrie N. Baker, Matthew Gold, Sarah A. Bush, Laura L. Greenhaw, and Rachel Biderman, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, August 2024.

The Use of Reflection as an Effective Leadership Practice: An Introduction

Christy Chiarelli

The purpose of this publication is to emphasize the practice and importance of reflection for leaders. By highlighting reflective leadership, this publication aims to provide additional resources for leaders navigating their daily leadership responsibilities. This reflective leadership series discusses the importance of reflection, the benefits and barriers to employing reflective leadership, models of reflective leadership, and finally, suggested practices for implementing reflection into one’s leadership practice.

Nonprofit Leadership: Translating Priorities into Mission Fulfillment

Kimberly K. Wiley, Dairys Montes de Oca, and Colby Vasquez

Organizational leaders face competing priorities when making decisions that steer the focus and resources of their organization. Choosing one pathway over another requires consideration of the organization’s needs and capacities. We present four nonprofit leadership priorities central to organizational decision-making: innovativeness, staff-centered focus, strategy, and systems focus (Cameron et al., 2006). These four priorities are present in for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental organizations. Here, we apply the framework to nonprofit organizations. This publication defines the four priorities and explores their relationships. Finally, leaders will be provided tools for balancing these priorities and the associated strengths during decision-making to effectively fulfill their goals. Written by Kimberly Wiley, Dairys Montes de Oca, and Colby Vasquez, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, February 2025.

Utilizing a Four Frame Approach to Provide Best Practices in FFA Programs

Savannah J. Scott, Matthew Sowcik, and Debra M. Barry

The National FFA Organization was started nearly a century ago by a group of young farmers to prepare future generations to feed the population. Today, the National FFA Organization focuses on premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. This publication discusses engagement and student involvement at all levels throughout the National FFA Organization through the lens of the four frames in Bolman and Deal’s leadership framework. Written by Savannah J. Scott, Matthew Sowcik, and Debra M. Barry, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, March 2026.

Theory into Practice: An Overview of Historical Leadership Theories and Approaches

Megan S. Cantrell

The Theory into Practice series is designed to outline a chronological perspective of leadership theories and approaches. Each article will highlight a theoretical perspective or leadership approach, a scenario in which the theory or approach can be or has been used, as well as strengths and critiques of the theory. This first article defines leadership and briefly provides a chronological overview of the theories to be covered throughout this series. Written by Megan S. Cantrell, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, August 2025.

The Use of Reflection as an Effective Leadership Practice: An Overview of Two Reflection Models

Christy Chiarelli and Anne Parrish

Reflection is an important component of leadership, and developing a habit of reflection may lead to increased leadership effectiveness. This publication, which is part of The Use of Reflection as an Effective Leadership Practice series, aims to highlight models of reflection and demonstrate ways leaders can utilize frameworks to build reflective habits. Written by Christy Chiarelli and Anne Parrish, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, December 2025.

Action Research: A Methodology for Organizational Change

Dale Pracht, Andrew Toelle, and Brent Broaddus

Change is inevitable. When working within an organization, figuring out what needs to change can be a big issue. Having quality information available for use can make the decision process clearer and more effective. Action research is a methodology that can be used by people internal to an organization to identify what changes need to be made. This new 3-page publication of the UF/IFAS Florida 4-H Youth Development Program was written by Dale Pracht, Andrew Toelle, and Brent Broaddus.

Navigating the Unprecedented: Leading Remotely Unexpectedly

Matthew Sowcik and Megan S. Cantrell

A UF/IFAS numbered peer reviewed Fact Sheet. in support of UF/IFAS Extension program: ==Special Handling==

Leading Teams #7: Adjourning

Sarah A. Bush, Carrie N. Baker, and Laura L. Greenhaw

As a part of the Leading Teams series, this article reviews the fifth and final stage of group development: the adjourning stage. An overview of recommendations for performance evaluations and rewards systems is provided. Additionally, the importance of investing time in the adjourning stage and ways to start a new project after the completion of the original team project are described. Written by Sarah A. Bush, Carrie N. Baker, and Laura L. Greenhaw, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, June 2025.