An Instrumental Case Study Analysis of Anticipatory Leadership Practices in Community Colleges

This qualitative instrumental case study explored the experiences and
perceptions of seven community college leaders of their use of anticipatory
leadership. Two research questions guided this study: (a) How do community
colleges use anticipatory leadership to respond to internal and external
changes? (b) How do community college leaders use anticipatory leadership
principles for problem solving? The themes that emerged to address
question one were engagement with others is required to respond to
change effectively, data analysis and currency of knowledge are required
to identify gaps and to respond to them, leaders must be willing to take
calculated risks, and leaders must communicate effectively in order for
change to occur. The themes that emerged to address question two were
analysis of data is instrumental to identifying and closing the gaps in
institutions, leading to better informed decisions; and anticipatory leadership
reduces the need to use reactionary leadership practices. The findings
of the study are that the participants identified and supported that anticipatory
leadership practices are effective for responding to change. The
anticipatory leadership practices highlighted as needed by the participants
included the need for leaders who are engaged, have the skills and ability
to utilize data to make decisions, are current in their higher education
knowledge, take calculated risks when needed, and can communicate
effectively. These skills are needed for community college leaders to be
able to be proactive versus reactionary in their decision-making, as well as
effective with their gap analysis identification, trend predictions, decisionmaking,
and problem solving.