Leadership in Recreation and Leisure Services

Leadership in Recreation and Leisure Services presents cutting-edge guidance and helps students apply their newfound knowledge as they prepare to enter the rapidly changing leisure services field.

This text presents fresh insights on leadership from the most prominent voices in the field today. The contributors present a comprehensive look at modern leadership, identify the challenges future leaders will face, and reveal how future leaders can best prepare to meet those challenges.

Leadership in Recreation and Leisure Services provides

• a detailed look at the collaborative approach to leadership in leisure services that represents a new direction in the field;

• insight into classical leadership as well as innovative and modern leadership theory and best practices; and

• an understanding of the roles and functions students will fulfill as they enter the profession.

The material, designed for undergraduate recreation and leisure services leadership courses, is presented in three parts. Part I explores personal leadership issues, including communication skills, negotiation strategies, and leadership styles. Part II delves into professional leadership, examining topics such as group dynamics, supervision practices, and team leadership. Part III explores organizational leadership, including internal and external leadership and professional development.

The authors present new theories of leadership from research in the field of recreation and leisure. Several learning aids—including chapter-opening scenarios, key terms, glossary, references, and chapter-ending questions for reflection and discussion—appear throughout the text. In addition, each chapter features a Leisure Leaders sidebar that profiles a leader in the field who addresses preparation for the job, a peek at day-to-day work, and advice for aspiring leaders. And a Best Practices sidebar showcases an organization whose innovative leadership has led to positive organizational outcomes.

Leadership in Recreation and Leisure Services helps students understand the range of leadership skills they need to develop for successful careers.

Timothy S. O’Connell, PhD, is a professor of recreation and leisure studies at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. He has taught group dynamics since 1997 and has been a wilderness guide since 1991. A member of the National Recreation and Parks Association, the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, the Association for Experiential Education, and the Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario, O’Connell has developed outdoor recreation curricula and coedited the Journal of Experiential Education. He has received many awards for his teaching. An avid outdoor recreationist, O’Connell enjoys rock climbing, sea kayaking, and home brewing in his spare time.

Brent Cuthbertson, PhD, is an associate professor of outdoor recreation, parks, and tourism at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He has been a wilderness educator and guide for more than 25 years and coeditor of the Journal of Experiential Education. He has written book chapters, papers in refereed journals, and a variety of other refereed and nonrefereed contributions. Cuthbertson has received awards for his teaching excellence. In his leisure time he enjoys wilderness canoeing, sea kayaking, woodworking, and sailing.

Terilyn J. Goins, PhD, is a career management and independent consultant is Yorktown, Virginia. She worked for 19 years for Christopher Newport University as a professor of communication studies and leadership studies. She also served for four years as chair of the communication studies department at the university. Goins received the National Speaker’s Association Outstanding Professor Award, was voted Professor of the Year at Christopher Newport University by the student body, and has published numerous articles for trade and academic journals related to personal and professional growth and development.