[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-592892-105":59,"doc-detail-592892-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","in-search-of-leadership-practical-perspectives-on-leading-distance-education-organisations-leadership-has-a-price","In Search of Leadership - Practical Perspectives on Leading Distance Education Organisations - Leadership has a price","","A major leadership shift is required in open and distance learning, because leaders must think differently about leadership approaches amid post‑COVID change and pervasive uncertainty. The paper analyzes five leadership challenges, each paired with practical mini-cases grounded in real situations where institutional and leader identities remain anonymous. Targeted strategies and lessons connect leadership attributes, mental models, empathy, cultural agility, and change implementation, concluding with post‑pandemic observations and future research directions.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/in-search-of-leadership-practical-perspectives-on-leading-distance-education-organisations-leadership-has-a-price/592892/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/in-search-of-leadership-practical-perspectives-on-leading-distance-education-organisations-leadership-has-a-price/592892.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Marglet","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the paper argue a major leadership shift is needed in open and distance learning?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Because post‑COVID conditions bring constant change and uncertainty, and leadership decisions and performance cannot rely on action alone; leaders must adapt their approaches to complex organizations and digital-enabled learning contexts.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What structure does the paper use to address leadership challenges?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It revisits selected leadership attributes tied to organizational challenges, and for each challenge it provides a practical mini-case followed by discussion and lessons derived from research and practice.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does the paper conclude about effective leadership in open and distance learning organizations?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It summarizes six intangible attributes and offers preliminary yet fragile observations about leadership after COVID‑19, emphasizing empathy, common sense, sound judgment, calm under fire, cultural agility, and effective change implementation.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592892,1792190802,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":52,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},2336477982702,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","In Search of Leadership:  \nPractical Perspectives on Leading Distance Education Organisations  \nDon Olcott, Jr.  \nAbstract: A major leader shift is needed in open and distance learning. Leaders must think differently about their approaches to leadership. This paper discussed five major leadership challenges, provided mini-cases for each challenge and targeted key strategies and lessons from these cases. They are based on actual situations; identification of the institution and leader is anonymous in all cases. Do you have the right staff around you and do they create the optimum fit? Is your vision viable for growth and agility? Are you willing to accept the leadership deal – all successes to your followers; the leader takes responsibility for all failures? Can you change the way you think about leadership, the organisation and the world? This aligns with Maxwell’s (2019) leadershift framework as well as one of Peter Senge’s (1992) disciplines – mental models. Finally, with all your talents and abilities can you operationalise your vision? Can you design, lead and implement change? More succinctly, can you go the distance and stay the course for your vision and your organisation? The author suggests that intangible value-added attributes of effective leadership may need more focus in the future. The paper concludes with a summary discussion of a few observations about leadership in open and distance learning organisations post-pandemic and future research. The author argues that leaders that display empathy, commonsense, sound judgment, calm under fire, cultural agility and the capacity to lead and implement effective change can use these value-added attributes to assist in executing and leading effective organisational transformation.  \nKeywords: Leadership, transformation, online learning, leading change, empathy, distance education.  \nIntroduction  \n‘Winning has a price. Leadership has a price.’ Michael Jordan (2020)  \nLeadership is at a crossroads. The new normal from the post Covid-19 global crisis is still emerging but we all live in a different world that we did a few months ago ( Bozkurt et al. , 2020; Ice, 2020) . Going forward change continues to be a constant, uncertainty is pervasive, and we adapt at home, at work, and within our communities. A brave new world on the educational horizon? Only time will tell (Bozkurt, A. & Sharma, 2020; Huxley, 1932) .  \nIndeed, although the crisis has served as a catalyst for online education given the global restrictions of mobility due to stay-at-home lockdowns, this is not the purpose of this paper (UNESCO, 2020; [https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse](https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse) Without question, the educational community’s response from primary schools through major universities to major ODL associations was inspirational, motivating and certainly reframed the potential of digital technologies in society.  \nAt first glance we may opt to celebrate until we recognize that action is not synonymous with great leadership nor great performance. Leaders make decisions and act every day; but many of these are indicative of poor judgment and justification. The scorecard on how effective and qualitatively sound the online mass migration was is incomplete; and it will take time to sort out some of the long-term transformational effects ( Bozkurt et. al. 2020; Olcott, 2020a, 2020b; Ice, 2020, Monash, 2020) particularly on sustainable and innovative leadership models. As in any crisis and certainly one of the magnitudes and global reach of Covid-19, questions of leadership emerge. We ask what should our leaders have done? How should they have they responded? What were their failures or weaknesses as leaders? Finally, what did we learn for the future? Moreover, we also pause and ask do our approaches  \nto leadership work, are they sound, do they reflect the arsenal needed to lead complex 21st organizations?  \nThis paper revisits selected leadership attributes ","cbCaiexKU3mEkWBY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiexKU3mEkWBY","pdf",298001,"English","# Introduction\n## Literature Review: A Selected Synthesis Approach\n## Five Leadership Challenges and Mini-Cases","[{\"question\":\"Why does the paper argue a major leadership shift is needed in open and distance learning?\",\"answer\":\"Because post‑COVID conditions bring constant change and uncertainty, and leadership decisions and performance cannot rely on action alone; leaders must adapt their approaches to complex organizations and digital-enabled learning contexts.\"},{\"question\":\"What structure does the paper use to address leadership challenges?\",\"answer\":\"It revisits selected leadership attributes tied to organizational challenges, and for each challenge it provides a practical mini-case followed by discussion and lessons derived from research and practice.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the paper conclude about effective leadership in open and distance learning organizations?\",\"answer\":\"It summarizes six intangible attributes and offers preliminary yet fragile observations about leadership after COVID‑19, emphasizing empathy, common sense, sound judgment, calm under fire, cultural agility, and effective change implementation.\"}]","In Search of Leadership - Practical Perspectives on Leading Distance Education Organisations - Leadership has a price | PDF",1792076129,25]