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The material presented in this book is a combination of real leadership experiences and academic sources. I am a professor of rural sociology who served 10 years as chair of a 15-20-person university department. For the last eight years I have been the 4th ward representative on the Columbia, Missouri City Council. This seven-member group is responsible for legislative actions in a city of 75,000. For three years, I also served as mayor pro tem. In addition, I have had leadership positions in many other City and University organizations and groups.

I have taught the Rural Sociology 205, Leadership in Today's World course for some 10 years. During this time several hundred students have read and commented on this text. It is not unusual for the students in the course to include officers from campus organizations. These, similar to I, bring a combination of experiences and academic knowledge to the subject.

I am very grateful to the many people, students and colleagues, who have made very helpful comments and suggestions.