It is no longer a secret that community college leadership is experiencing an unprecedented level of turnover. Baby boomers’ mass exodus into retirement is paralleled only by the immense expansion of community college campuses created in the 1960s and 1970s. This millennium’s first decade will see more than three-quarters of its twoyear college presidents and senior administrators leave their posts to begin other stages of life. According to American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) research, each year sees fewer and fewer would-be employees entering the pipeline to fill leadership voids.

So, what does this mean for institutional stability? From what positions and areas will our leaders emerge? And, does this convergence of sociological factors offer an opportunity to fix problems whose solutions have evaded colleges for years — namely, the lack of diversity among college administrators?

Leadership development institutes (LDI), also known as “grow your own” programs, have entered the lexicon at campuses of many technical and community colleges. Traditional professional development workshops are yielding to lengthier leadership development programs. Hopes are aimed towards creating and strengthening current and future leaders in order to ensure that qualified applicant pools are in place as today’s leaders become tomorrow’s retirees. Remarkably, outcomes from many of these institutes are showing not only positive individual change but unexpected institutional transformation.

History provides evidence of these programs’ continued success. Before 2001, fewer than five leadership institutes were documented in the literature. In 2008, hundreds of programs are flourishing. Recently, researchers have begun assessing the qualities of effective leadership institutes. The common threads have been an unwavering commitment to changing the views about leadership, the way employees perceive their own abilities and places in the college, and a desire to create a future healthier than the one the colleges would have inherited otherwise.