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Center for the Development of Leadership Skills
Rider University has a long tradition of supporting effective leadership training. The Center for the Development of Leadership Skills complements and expands this tradition.
The CDLS defines leadership as a process in which individuals influence others to attain goals for the common good. To lead effectively requires skill in communicating, influencing and teamwork. The CDLS believes these are interpersonal skills that can be learned.
The CDLS credo is:
- Leadership is a process, not a position or a set of personality traits; it can be learned.
- Opportunities to make a difference exist at all levels of organizations and society.
- Each of us is a leader or a role model for someone.
- Ordinary people can become extraordinary leaders.
- None of us knows our true strength until challenged.
- It is our collective task to discover and liberate the leader within each of us.
The CDLS supports the concept that true leadership occurs when we work together to:
- Ensure that whoever comes into contact with Rider has a positive experience.
- Develop a culture where everyone feels appreciated, involved, supported and challenged to their best.
- Leave an improved Rider University to the next generation of leaders.
The CDLS was launched in Fall 2004 and joined other co-curricular activities at Rider like CREWw (Cultivating Resources for Excellence in the World of Work), the Emerging Leaders Program and DAARSTOC, which share the commitment to encouraging students to become leaders.
Beyond organizing activities at Rider to cultivate leadership, the CDLS offers a Leadership Development Program, which is a university-wide program that welcomes all majors. During Fall 2004, 100 students were selected to be the inaugural group of students enrolled in the program. The guiding assumption underlying this program is that every one has opportunities to be a leader and a role model for someone. A person does not have to be a CEO, elected official or a designated leader in order to make a difference.
To find out more about this program, call (609) 895-5776 or by email at cdls@rider.edu.
