The Center for Rural Affairs has developed a partnership with a newly developed organization, Leadership Consulting Associates, that focuses on developing rural leaders. The organization consists of experts in the field of leadership development, all of whom have extensive experience and expertise in developing community leaders.

Associates offer training in many facets of leadership and skills, and include Doctors: Dan Wheeler, Vern Barrett, Jeff Hart, Anita Hall, Heath E. Harding, Michael Huckabee and Kelly Phipps.

Examples of trainings they offer include:

• Full Range Leadership: Each participant receives 360 degree feedback for their leadership style, and each participant develops a short and long-range plan for improvement.
• Working across Generations: Helps participants understand how to engage persons of all generations.
• Introduction to Adaptive Leadership and the Fine Art of Influence
• Understanding the Basis of Conflict
• Creating a Vision and Mission for Organizations and Communities
• Creating Change in Organizations and Communities
• Identifying Community/Organizational Strengths as Pathways to Change
• Ethical Decision Making

You can contact Leadership Consulting Associates through Dr. Daniel Wheeler at 402.570.6126.

Biographies

Daniel (Dan) Wheeler, Ph.D., has over 35 years designing leadership development programs and addressing organizational effectiveness. For 25 years he was an internal consultant, faculty member and department chair at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dan has consulted with a wide range of clientele including communities, schools, health care, businesses and non-profits. He has many publications particularly in the area of leadership practice and development, staff and organizational development, and program development.

Dan has taught a wide range of courses on leadership and is the co-author of the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ). He was the co-facilitator of over 40 visioning sessions across Nebraska for the Kellogg-supported Nebraska Network 21. Dan has degrees from Antioch College, Cornell University and The State University of New York at Buffalo. He has received numerous awards for various development programs. Dan is a Senior Fulbright Scholar. You can reach Dr. Wheeler at Dwheeler1@unl.edu.

Vern Barrett, Ph.D., Leverne ‘Vern’ Barrett is a native of Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelors of Science, Masters of Education and Doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. He has over 30 years of experience teaching and leading seminars in leadership and organizational development, nationally and internationally.

In 1980 he joined the staff at the University of Nebraska, where he is currently Professor Emeriti of Leadership. He held a joint appointment in teaching and Extension. Vern taught and developed many leadership courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, while serving as coordinator of the doctoral program in leadership studies. He had the opportunity to advise many master and doctoral research studies in leadership, ranging from interpersonal leadership to organizational development. His Extension appointment was in community leadership development where he worked in the direct application of leadership theories.

He served as leadership consultant to the governor of the Bio Bio Province in Chile SA as well as a leadership teaching fellow at the Universidad de Concepcion Chile. He has a wide interest in various leadership development topics and specializes in the personal dimensions of leader development that lead to personal and organizational change.

Vern has received numerous awards for his teaching, from both the college and university as well at the national level. He is a founding member of the Academy of Distinguished University Teachers at the University of Nebraska.

While not traveling he enjoys being with his family and attending to his fruit trees and vegetable garden. He is frequently seen talking politics and encouraging citizens to get involved in our democracy. During the winter season he can be found in his wood working shop.

Jeff Hart, Ph. D., has been a professional educator for more than 37 years, working with and learning from all ages of youth and adults in public schools, higher education institutions, state and federal government agencies, and diverse communities. He has worked with groups and individuals as a teacher, counselor, coach and consultant.

His overall goal is to share educational knowledge and experiences with other groups and individuals so they might enrich their lives through personal growth and development. Jeff is a MBTI® (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Master Practitioner, using MBTI for leadership and organizational development, team development, youth development, goal-setting and personal development, working with diverse audiences, including rural Tribal and Hispanic communities.

Jeff received degrees in Education at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), including an Ed D in Human Sciences and Leadership. He has 15 years experience as a public school educator, 11 years experience in state and federal government including community planning, and 11 years experience as a faculty educator at UNL.

Heath E. Harding, Ph.D., has a wide range of experiences developing the leadership capacity of individuals and groups in both community and academic settings. His areas of expertise are personal leadership development, personality (MBTI certification), creating visions, teambuilding, and ethics. He prefers to use collaborative methods to engage individuals in their leadership development process.

He served as a graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he taught courses on interpersonal skills, ethics in agriculture and natural resource contexts, and leadership in environmental contexts. Heath completed his doctoral degree in leadership studies at UNL in May 2011. Previously, he served as Assistant Director of Leadership Studies and Programs (now the School of Leadership) at Kansas State University, where he taught courses and presented on a range of leadership topics.

Anita Hall, Ph.D., specializes in leadership development reflecting personal growth and self awareness. Her main focus is adaptive leadership and understanding how to orchestrate momentum towards positive change.

Dr. Hall received her Bachelor of Science degree from UNL in 1977 and began working in the Nebraska Counties of Boone and Nance teaching youth and family education. While completing her Masters Degree she spent two years as a family support worker. In 1989 she resumed her government career in Antelope County, Nebraska.

Anita is a promoter of the human spirit and what it can achieve. This has led her to the leadership discipline and years of teaching leadership classes across the state of Nebraska. In 2007 she received her Ph.D. in leadership from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

A resident of Neligh, Anita and her husband Allen are the parents of two grown sons. She is also the caregiver of her 92 year old father. In her spare time she loves to read and quilt and play the piano for church.

Michael Huckabee, PhD, PA-C, has been professor and director of the Physician Assistant Program at Union College in Lincoln, NE for over 14 years. He blends his expertise in leadership with the demands of health care and clinical education, developing teachable leadership skills appropriate to patient care environments.

Dr. Huckabee has been project director for four federal grants totaling over $2 million, in additional to several smaller state and private grants. He has 26 years of clinical practice, primarily in rural family practice and emergency medicine, and more recently in pediatrics.

He graduated from Northwest Nazarene University with a BA in Education and received his master’s degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center as a Physician Assistant. He completed his PhD in Leadership Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2008.

Dr. Huckabee has co-authored articles and led workshops on the application of servant leadership in health care, continues active research on cultural competencies in medicine, and is a regular speaker on medical ethics. He has written two novels, The Torch, and Healing Noelle, and when time avails, pursues beaches or mountains with his family.

Kelly Phipps, Ph.D., J.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to joining Rockhurst, he was an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

While at UNL he served as Director of Leadership Education for the ACE Leadership Institute, a year –long leadership development program. Kelly also served as Executive Director for The Mediation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, consulting widely in conflict resolution and group process. He began his professional life as a lawyer, working as a civil rights and criminal defense litigator in Iowa.

Kelly holds a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law. His areas of expertise include conflict management, leadership development, large group decision making, and spirituality and leadership.