The Leadership X Factor 

Strong leadership is essential for the success of any office, particularly in education abroad. With its mix of student relations, campus-wide reach, and geopolitical sensibilities, this sector calls for a deft hand to navigate complex waters.

But as many education abroad leaders affirm, leadership in their offices doesn’t reside within a single person. For an office to succeed, these responsibilities are spread throughout the team—and staff can gain leadership skills both within the education abroad office, across campus, and more broadly throughout the entire field.

“Anyone can be a leader,” says Christine Gettings, director of international programs and partnerships in the School of International Service at American University and contributor to NAFSA's Guide to Education Abroad, Fifth Edition (GEA). “My entire team embodies leadership qualities.”

“Having leadership in your title or being director doesn’t mean you’re the only one who should be leading,” says Lorie Johns Páulez, who also contributed a chapter to GEA and is the director of education abroad at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Everyone should be leading from where they are.”

The converse is also true. “You can be a supervisor or a manager and not be a leader,” says Gettings. People commonly mistake having authority with leadership, and while the two often overlap, they are not the same thing.

“Leadership isn’t a title, it’s more of a way of being,” says Jeff Simpson, director of the Center for Global Learning at Oklahoma State University and GEA contributor. “It’s taking ownership and responsibility for the mission