Richard Field returns to the PLLC with the goal of fostering the next generation of leaders

The College of Social Sciences and Humanities is pleased to announce that Professor Richard Field of the Alberta School of Business has been appointed as the director of the Peter Lougheed Leadership College (PLLC). Field stepped in as interim director on Nov. 1, and will hold the position for three years. 

“I am so excited to have Richard Field take on the role of director for the PLLC. For me, and so many other students and faculty members, Richard is synonymous with the word leadership,” says CSSH Dean Marvin Washington. “He was one of the original instructors for the PLLC and has taught hundreds of undergraduates, MBAs and executives leadership during his time at the U of A. His wealth of knowledge will greatly enhance the direction of the college. I look forward to working with him!”

Field previously held the position of interim director for a one-year term starting July 1, 2021. According to Field, this past experience training the leaders of tomorrow contributed to his appointment. 

“I’m so happy to be involved again,” Field says. “It will be great working with Marvin and his team because they’re so positive and forward-thinking. I’m keen to get started.”

The PLLC offers students from faculties across the university the opportunity to learn strong, vital leadership skills. It accomplishes this by offering networking opportunities and lectures, forums and other opportunities that students can attend. 

Students will also be encouraged to get involved with leadership opportunities in the community, such as receiving mentorship from industry leaders. Those who go through the PLLC receive a Certificate in Interdisciplinary Leadership Studies. The organization has a simple but meaningful motto: “Connect. Grow. Lead.”

Field has decades of experience working with the U of A. His research has run the gamut from the interplay between leadership and technology to the exploration of management and supervisor roles within the workplace. He taught as an associate professor starting in 1985, then became a full professor at the university in 1992. 

Prior to that, he earned a bachelor degree in mathematics from the University of Waterloo in 1973, specializing in statistics and computer science. He earned his master degree in business administration at McMaster University in 1976 and his doctor of philosophy at the University of Toronto in leadership and organizational behavior in 1981. 

‘Connect. Grow. Lead.’

The PLLC is named for Alberta’s first Progressive Conservative Premier, who was an active member of the university community as a sports editor of the Gateway and a football player with the Golden Bears. He graduated from the Faculty of Arts in 1951 then the Faculty of Law in 1952. 

In his previous appointment with the PLLC, Field aided in the development of a plan for the organization’s future, penning a document that helped guide its transition from its early years to where it is today. The plan included finding online and hybrid learning opportunities. So far, three of the four courses Field helped imagine are being offered to students, he says. 

The first course is designed to be accessible to first-year students, and it teaches some foundational concepts such as the impacts that leaders can have in their places of work and the broader community. The second course is “soft-skills”-based, Field says. 

It teaches listening skills, communications skills, motivational skills, how to have difficult conversations and other practical parts of leadership. The third course explores leadership in different settings, such as government bodies, charities, non-profits, the private sector and others. The fourth course is still in development, he says, but it’s meant to be a “capstone” year, full of practical and hands-on learning opportunities. Its deployment is part of his goals for his appointment. The courses can be taken on different timelines, he adds.

According to Field, around 1,500 students are currently enrolled. Many come from the Alberta School of Business, he adds, with interest in the PLLC spanning diverse faculties and departments. “It’s very exciting that we connect with so many students at the university, and from so many different faculties,” he says. 

That said, one of Field’s goals is to expand the PLLC’s reach into other faculties. He says that the skills the PLLC offers are a great complement for those offered at the U of A, regardless of faculty. 

“A student can learn the skill set and ideas of leadership to be used to do better in whatever they’re trying to accomplish,” he says. “These are really foundational ideas.”