Institute for Leadership Advancement

About the Institute for Leadership Advancement

Students develop effective leadership skills through ILA programs.

The Institute for Leadership Advancement (ILA) in the Terry College of Business was established in 2001 to develop a new class of business and community leaders. For the founders, "new" meant more than the creation of a replacement pool for today's leadership. It meant leaders who embraced a leadership perspective grounded in values that serve their communities and organizations.

To accomplish this goal, ILA develops capabilities, layered on top of the student's academic major, that promote:

On-going self-development
Compelling communication of vision
Effective implementation of organizational goals
Adaptability to the changing environment
The ability to create high performing teams
Strong business acumen

Two undergraduate leadership programs form the centerpiece of ILA programming: The Certificate in Personal and Organizational Leadership (for students in any UGA major) and the Leonard Leadership Scholars Program (for Terry College majors). These programs aim to create a new class of leaders who are well trained and embrace ILA's values.

ILA Values

Responsibility: We hold ourselves accountable for both actions and outcomes.
Stewardship: We aim to serve others within ILA, the university, and the community.
Excellence: We strive to achieve a high standard of quality in all that we do.
Integrity: We require and embody honesty, trust, and fairness.
Purpose: We are intentional with our behaviors and decisions.

Top of Page

Our Approach

ILA students provide leadership throughout the University of Georgia community.

Organization leaders today are faced with challenges of globalization, digitalization, a heightened emphasis on performance and more complex organizational contexts filled with a more diverse population. To be effective, leaders are needed at every level of the organization who can used multiple intelligences to make decisions, lead innovation and promote teamwork.

Leading organizations recognize that the development of leadership skills occurs beyond the classroom, in action learning situations, often by providing the individual with challenging work with coaching and feedback. Our approach to leadership development in ILA mirrors these best practices by providing students with self-assessments, coaching/mentoring, action learning and feedback focused on the development of greater emotional competence.

Top of Page

Our Future

The Institute for Leadership Advancement is proud of all we have accomplished; however our expectations for the future are even higher. We intend to expand our efforts to develop leaders who enhance the performance of their organizations and communities.

The envisioned future of ILA 10 years from now

ILA will:

Be known as a model for undergraduate leadership development
Be a resource for graduate leadership development
Be a place that corporations and executives turn to for consultation on leadership issues, development, and programs
Have strong corporate-academic partnerships throughout all of the programs of ILA
Have a strong impact on the community through the programs and activities of ILA.

The Institute for Leadership Advancement would not be possible without the participation of outstanding faculty, staff, students, corporations, and partners involved in our programs. Our on-campus partners include: