Leadership Strategies for Community College Executives. (2003). Gunder Myran, George A. Baker III, Beverly Simone, and Anthony Zeiss. Community College Press. 130 pp., $38.00. ISBN 0-87117-347-6.

Review by: Jacqueline M. Slaughter

Director, New and Transfer Student Transition

Norfolk State University

Myran, Baker, Simone, and Zeiss have written a very practical and thorough handbook for new and aspiring community college executives. Gunder Myran has over 40 years of experience as an educator and is president of a higher education consulting firm. George A. Baker has written much about community college leadership and works with North Carolina State University . Beverly Simone runs one of the largest technical colleges in Wisconsin , and Anthony Zeiss is President of Central Piedmont Community College in North Carolina .

These authors are well positioned to discuss some of the challenges and strategies of being a community college executive. They assert the need for thoughtful leadership while always keeping in mind the true mission of community college: The community as a whole is most important. At the beginning of the book, they cleverly described a leader as an architect of a ship who must design the craft for a successful journey to its destination.

The book is divided into 11 chapters. In Part I, the authors give an overview of leadership strategies. In Part II, they discuss executive strategies, and in Part III, they address strategic issues to be considered. They offer a refreshing approach by discussing applied leadership, and they allow the reader to consider actions that can be implemented immediately to fulfill institutional goals.

The institutional examples provided throughout to highlight the text are other strengths of the book. The authors made a good decision to incorporate these demonstrations of institutional practice into the text.

This is a must-read for new presidents, executives, and any persons interested in learning more about the issues involved in leading a community college.