Effective Leadership Across Distinct Institutions: Understanding Similarities In Leadership Across The Military, Business, And Higher Education

There is currently a trend of former military leaders transitioning into leadership roles in higher education and the corporate world. From an outsiders perspective, the leadership styles needed to be successful in each of these institutions is remarkably different, however, the former military leaders are seeing successes in the new leadership role. This thesis delves deeper into what specific skills and techniques the military teaches that allows the leaders to successfully transition into the new institution. Through a series of interviews with former military leaders who have successfully transitioned into a leadership role in higher education and/or the corporate world, five consistent themes are discovered and analyzed. Within each of these themes, there are many skills and experiences that allow these themes to expand and to transform into tangible methods of leadership that can be applied to all those interested in becoming intentional leaders and improving the teams and organizations that they lead