The LIOS Learning Community

LIOS Graduate College leadership training is rooted in self-development through integrated, rigorous course work in the science of training a professional, competent practitioner.

Experiential Learning

The LIOS educational setting may be seen as a laboratory. The student is both scientist and participant in the systematic exploration of self, and self in relation to others. Because course content is related to the student's immediate experience, the educational process takes the form of a series of discoveries about others, about self and about the ways perceptions and judgments affect interactions, choices and actions.

The LIOS education is conducted in the following forms:

• Individual
• One-on-one
• Group work
• Focused simulations
• Lecture
• Videotaped interactive presentations
• Consistent feedback from faculty and peers

Students have numerous opportunities to apply their acquired knowledge, practice their skills, experiment with change and resistance, and shape events and interactions.

Cohort Learning

The LIOS educational process is enriched by the context in which it takes place, a community committed to learning, especially from its own socio-economic, racial, cultural and gender diversity. Additionally, the faculty-to-student ratio stands at 1:8.

A key aspect of LIOS experiential education is the Residential Conference format of class delivery:

• Classes are scheduled for a sequence of days (four to five in a row)
• Residential stays are encouraged for the duration of the conference (Students are highly encouraged to stay in Residency at the hotel during all seven conferences, but residency at the first and fifth conference is mandatory.)

This format provides an environment that:

• Fosters community growth and development
• Helps to build trust
• Encourages learning without outside distractions

Residential Conference course work takes the student out of known contexts and relationships, and immerses them in an educational experience that is transformative and enriching.

Applied Behavioral Science

Applied behavioral science (ABS) refers to the collection of theories and skills that places the self of the practitioner in the center of observed events. Rather than approaching events from the outside, as a detached observer, applied behavioral scientists recognize how past and present experiences influence their perceptions of and responses to events.

ABS studies rest on the premise that dynamic leadership training starts with the self. The goals of this conscious-raising process are:

1. To contribute to the health of any human community
2. To promote healthy systems in every context through responsible interventions

ABS can be defined as "the art and science of getting things done through and with others."

Systems Theory

“A system is an integrated whole whose essential properties arise from the relationships between the parts.  Systems thinking is a way of perceiving the world- an ability to see the parts/wholes in relationship with each other. ” (Catherine Johnson, 2005)

Systems theory recognizes a system as an entity that maintains its existence, and functions as a whole, through the interaction of its parts. A key component of systems theory is the belief that you cannot understand a particular system by analyzing the learning model,individual parts or components, but rather by analyzing or engaging in the system in its entirety. At LIOS, students learn the skills needed to analyze and improve a system and its processes whether with a client, group, or organizational.