State Administrators' Perceptions of the Environmental Challenges of Cooperative Extension and the 4-H Program and Their Resulting Adaptive Leadership Behaviors

Society has changed since Cooperative Extension and the 4-H youth program began. Over time the purpose for Extension has been challenged. Yet, there has been little empirical literature published on the administrators' role and perspectives of the organizational environment or on the resulting leadership behaviors. A qualitative study was conducted to develop a baseline. State Extension Directors (n=7) and State 4-H Program Leaders (n=13) from 15 regionally-representative states were interviewed. Participants were asked to conduct a SWOT Analysis on both the Extension system and the 4-H program in their state and their leadership behaviors were explored. Extension administrators emphasized the organization's relevance to society and that the mission would remain focused on agriculture, although with an expanded focus on agriculture as more than production. Administrators did recognize many specific environmental shifts, including a changing funding model; challenges and importance of serving a diversifying population; the tension between urbanizing populations and shrinking rural communities; and, the changing role of technology for programming. Administrators described that they were experiencing shifting focus friction from historic audiences that were afraid of losing services due to the aforementioned environmental factors. Administrators' leadership behaviors were reflective of the Adaptive Leadership behavior construct introduced by Heifetz (1994). Communication was the key behavior that is required to lead effectively. In order to successfully implement a strategy, trust with stakeholders needed to be established. Diversity in feedback was important for the administrators to feel confident in their ability to understand the changes in the organizational environment.