A Brief History of the International Leadership Association

By Cynthia Cherrey and Shelly Wilsey

In 1994, the Kellogg Foundation supported a four-year initiative at the University of Maryland intended to create for the first time a national community of scholars in the field of Leadership Studies. The goal of the Kellogg Leadership Studies Project (KLSP) was to produce and disseminate knowledge that advanced leadership theory, education, and practice. KLSP brought together a group of the best scholars in the field to produce a series of working papers on topics such as Leadership and Ethics and Transformational Leadership.

In early 1998, the Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland sponsored a leadership conference to further expand the network of scholars active in the KLSP and to promote interaction between scholars in KLSP, educators and leaders. The conference, a "meeting of the minds between those who study leadership and those who practice it", took place November 13-15, 1998, at the University of Southern California. An overwhelming majority of the 150 people present strongly supported the idea of forming an association committed to serving all those with a professional interest in leadership, and they recommended that the organization have an international focus.

A year earlier, the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond and the Academy of Leadership co-sponsored the Leadership Educators Conference. Instead of continuing it as a separate conference, a decision was later made to include these past participants in this new effort.

The International Leadership Association formally established in 1999. Participants of the KLSP worked with Academy of Leadership staff members Barbara Kellerman and Scott Webster to recruit a founding Board of directors. The Board named the organization the International Leadership Association (ILA) and established organizational goals, which included: 1) to generate and disseminate cutting-edge work in leadership theory and practice; 2) to strengthen ties among those who study, teach, and exercise leadership; and 3) to serve as an arena within which those with a professional interest in leadership can share research, resources, information and, above all, ideas.

Less than a year later, the first ILA conference was held in Atlanta, October 22-24, 1999. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation supported this effort with a $50,000 grant. This conference was attended by 240 participants and it featured more than 30 panels, roundtables and workshops, four plenary sessions and a leadership book fair. Six sections held meetings (Leadership Scholarship, Leadership Education, Leadership Development, Multicultural Leadership and Community Leadership). The first ILA Distinguished Leadership Award was presented to U.S. Representative and Civil Rights leader John Lewis. Other keynote speakers were: Perry M. Smith, Major General, US Air Force (Ret.), and President of Visionary Leadership; Robert H. Rosen, President, Healthy Companies; and Jean Lipman-Blumen, Thornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy, Claremont Graduate University. ILA published the Selected Proceedings of the conference.

Larraine Matusak and Roger Sublett of W.K. Kellogg at the ILA 2000 conference in Toronto, Canada

Based on the broad support of the conference, the ILA Board decided to hold the second conference outside of the U.S., in Toronto, Canada. Larraine Matusak volunteered to serve as the conference chair; she involved the sections in the selection of session proposals and the development of the conference program. The ILA Board of Directors voted to institute a membership structure for ILA to support the growth and expansion of the organization; the Academy of Leadership pledged to foster the organization until it developed adequate resources to operate as an independent entity. In August 2000, a part-time executive director, Cynthia Cherrey, and a full-time program director, Shelly Wilsey, were hired to staff the ILA. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded a second $50,000 grant.

The inaugural membership campaign was announced at the second annual conference, held in Toronto, November 3-5, 2000, which was attended by 300 participants from every continent except Antarctica. In addition to 50 concurrent sessions, two (free) pre-conference sessions were held: an intensive workshop on designing leadership programs, and the Scholarship Roundtable with ten scholars presenting their latest research on transformational leadership to small discussion groups of scholars, educators and practitioners. The second ILA Distinguished Leadership Award was presented to Francis Hesselbein, chair of the Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management and former CEO of the Girl Scouts. Other keynote speakers included: Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada; James O’Toole, research professor at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California; and Kisuk Cho, assistant professor at Ewha Women’s University in Korea. Instead of compiling a traditional conference proceedings, a committee selected the best post-conference submissions for ILA’s new publication, Building Leadership Bridges.

The ILA Board held its first strategic planning retreat at the Academy of Leadership in February 2001. Key decisions included the creation of the Global Learning Communities (GLCs) to promote networking between people with similar interests, encourage research and participation from a number of disciplinary perspectives, and to help ensure that ILA meets the needs of these five constituencies: Business, Applied Leadership, Education, Scholarship and Public Service. In addition, a goal of 300 inaugural members was set. With an eye toward building ILA’s infrastructure, the following committees were established: Constitution and by-laws, Internet Technologies, Membership Services, and Marketing. The Board also decided to alternate the location of the annual conference inside and outside of the U.S. to expand the number of international participants without losing its base members in the U.S.

2001 Miami, Florida conference keynote speaker, Meg Wheatley, converses with conference participants after her talk.

The next conference was scheduled for November 1-3, 2001 in Miami with Larraine Matusak continuing as conference chair. The Global Learning Communities recruited volunteer proposal review teams and the GLC conveners played an active role on the conference program committee. In early September, registration for the Miami conference was on pace to be double that of Toronto but after September 11 all registration activity ceased. Realizing that a conference on leadership was more important than ever, the Board voted to hold the conference and the program was adjusted to specifically address issues concerning leadership in times of crises. Despite travel bans, anthrax, and hurricane Michelle, the conference was a success with over 300 participants from about twenty countries. Pre-conference sessions included four revenue generating workshops and a free scholarship roundtable. Keynote remarks were presented by Margaret Wheatley, president of the Berkana Institute, and the Outstanding Leadership Award was presented to the Fire Department of New York, an organizational member of ILA. Robert House, shared the major highlights from the GLOBE project, and a World Knowledge Café gave participants a chance to explore key ideas in leadership. The post conference publication, Building Leadership Bridges 2002 reflects the diversity and quality of the conference. For the first time BLB was produced in partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership.

In February 2002, the Board met in Los Angeles for its second strategic planning session. It was reported that the organization met its first year membership goals and that the Miami conference made a profit. The Board finalized the Constitution and By-laws, and began working on a formal mission statement and a five year strategic plan which includes the development of chapters in Europe and Central America. The Board identified the following priority focus areas: marketing, strategic planning, fundraising, creating partnerships and organizing the annual conferences.

John Jacob Gardiner volunteered and was approved by the Board as the chair the 2002 Seattle conference. The Board decided to create a theme for each conference and Bridging Boundaries and Borders in Leadership was adopted for Seattle. Carol Fimmen was appointed by the Board to serve as conference chair for the 2003 conference in Guadalajara. Volunteer Debra DeRuyver donated over 100 hours of work to create an online proposal submission and review processes and a system to facilitate the GLC peer review and selection process. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation continued supporting ILA with a grant of $25,000 and a conference sponsorship program was established.

Paul Arnston at ILA 2002 in Seattle, Washington addresses a crowded room during the session, "Core Leadership Theories."  Other presenters at this session included Laurien Alexander, Bruce Avolio, Richard Couto, Gil Hickman, and Peter G. Northouse

In November, the Seattle conference broke attendance records with 530 participants from 24 nations, including ten members of the Guadalajara conference planning committee and 100 people from western Washington. A Scholarship Roundtable “Toward a General Theory of Leadership” and seven pre-conference sessions presented a wide variety of options for participants. Keynote speakers were presidential advisor David Gergen, activist and scholar Arun Gandhi, and the former President of Ireland and outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. The ILA Outstanding Leadership Award was presented to the leadership scholar James MacGregor Burns and the conference closed with a reception featuring Mariachi bands sponsored by the Guadalajara Office of Visitors and Conventions. Once again, the Center for Creative Leadership continued partnering with ILA on the annual publication, Building Leadership Bridges 2003.

In February 2003, the Board met in Guadalajara for its third strategic planning session and to participate in a panel discussion organized by the Guadalajara local committee. After finalizing the Mission and Vision Statement, the Board continued its work on the Strategic Planning document and Action Plan, focusing on five initiatives: 1) Increase and share quality leadership knowledge, 2) Recruit and sustain a rich diversity of ILA members, 3) Develop and implement a marketing/branding plan, 4) Create and sustain strategic partnerships and 5) Acquire financial stability to reach our goals. Board members volunteered to serve in coordinate roles for each initiative, with a focus on involving ILA members in their activities. At the Board meeting, it was reported that ILA’s membership reached 575, exceeding the 2003 membership goal a year early; Deb Moriarty and Herb Rubenstein were approved as the co-chairs of the 2004 conference in DC; and the first events of the future ILA Europe chapter were discussed. Shaping the Future Through Leadership: New Forms, New Faces, New Places was selected as the theme of the 2003 conference. Looking ahead, the Board approved Jeffrey Beeson to serve as chair of the 2005 conference in Europe and it authorized the staff to explore Chicago as the 2006 site.

2003 was a year of progress. The Board finalized and approved the Strategic Plan. The ILA worked with a designer to develop a new logo for the organization. ILA’s first intern, from the Netherlands, redesigned the ILA web pages. For the first time, a local committee participated in the planning and hosting of the conference. Ground work was laid for the development of a chapter in Latin America and Europe. Munich was the site of the first ILA forum, organized by Jeffrey Beeson and Ted Baartmans. The Strategic Plan and Action Initiatives were mailed to all ILA members to invite their involvement. The staff was expanded with the hiring of a Membership Services Coordinator, Debra DeRuyver, and she immediately created The Member Connector, a bi-monthly electronic newsletter and began expanding the ILA member benefits.

ILA Executive Director Cynthia Cherrey and board member Ted Baartmans prepare to embark on a bus to the Business Leadership ILA 2003 preconference session at the Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara, Mexico

Guadalajara proved to be a perfect site for the 2003 ILA conference. For the first time, the pre-conference sessions were organized by local sponsors and held off site. Tec de Monterrey organized “Leadership Education: Many Nations, Many Approaches,” Universidad Panamericana presented “Business Leadership in Mexico: A Critical Analysis” and the state government of Jalisco hosted “Public Service Leadership: Mexican Perspectives.” These sessions set the tone for a terrific conference attended by about 360 people. Keynote speakers included: Arjan Overwater, Chairman of Unilever of Russia and Ukraine; Luz Lajous Vargas, President of Pro-mujer; Joanne Ciulla, the Coston Family Chair in Leadership and Ethics at the Jepson School of Leadership; and Isabelle Bleas, Senior Development Specialist at the World Bank Institute. The Mayor of Guadalajara and the Guadalajara Office of Visitors and Conventions sponsored a reception at the Mayor’s Palace.

During these first few years of existence, the ILA has grown from an idea into an organization. It has developed an infrastructure and a strategic plan to support the next level of growth. The 2004 conference in DC is certain to bring new recognition to the association as ILA’s international, multidisciplinary, multi-sector membership convenes to explore the conference theme Improving Leadership Around the World: Challenges, Ideas, Innovations.
 

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