How College Leadership Programs Prepare Students for Real-World Teamwork - Lori Throupe & Lacey Grey Hunter

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/how-college-leadership-programs-prepare-students-for-real-world-teamwork-lori-throupe-lacey-grey-hunter/

Most leadership programs focus on preparing people to take charge — but students spend much more of their lives contributing within teams where they do not hold the formal title. Lori Throupe and Lacey Grey Hunter share how Christopher Newport University redesigned its leadership education approach to help students understand their influence, advocate for their ideas, and contribute more effectively from every position.

Lori Throupe is Leadership Studies faculty and Faculty Director of Academic Success at Christopher Newport University. Lacey Grey Hunter is Director of the President’s Leadership Program and Adjunct Professor of Leadership Studies. Together, they helped integrate a new course into CNU’s leadership curriculum focused on helping students understand how they participate in teams beyond traditional leadership roles.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why leadership education needs to prepare students to influence without authority
• How a university designed a course around real-world team participation
• Why students gain confidence when they recognize their own influence
• How understanding different roles changes relationships between students and leaders
• What educators can do to create more complete leadership development programs

Books 

The Power of Followership, Robert Kelley

Followership, Barbara Kellerman

The Courageous Follower, Ira Chaleff

Leadership is Half the Story, Marc Hurwitz and Samantha Hurwitz

Other References

Collegiate Leadership Competition
www.collegiateleader.org

 Radical Candor
www.radicalcandor.com

Global Followership Conference, March 24-26, 2023
www.followershipconference.com