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JMD
36,5 The role of volunteer
organizations in leadership
skill development
712 Pamela Ann Gordon
Department of Academic Affairs, University of Phoenix,
Received 19 June 2016
Revised 20 November 2016 Pembroke Pines, Florida, USA, and
Accepted 23 February 2017
Brett Anthony Gordon
University of Phoenix, Miramar, Florida, USA

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of service learning and the use of volunteer
organizations as a means for members to learn and hone leadership skills that can be transferred to their
full-time corporate positions.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study incorporating a phenomenological design was
utilized to interview 30 past presidents of two volunteer organizations in Florida, Junior League and the
Masonic Fraternity. The goal was to explore the participants’ thoughts and experiences related to
transferable leadership skill development.
Findings – Emerging themes confirmed that accepting leadership roles within volunteer organizations is
conducive to learning, testing, and evaluating new methods of leadership and skill enhancement. These skill
sets can then be transferred and applied to different corporate settings.
Practical implications – Organizational leaders should consider the value-added benefits of encouraging
employees to become involved in volunteer organizations and accepting leadership roles. This not only
promotes good corporate social responsibility, but provides the employee with leadership skill development,
which may ultimately benefit the firm.
Originality/value – Participants belonging to two separate volunteer organizations presented viewpoints
regarding the value of volunteer organizations in developing and honing transferable leadership skills.
Previous research has not addressed direct skill transference from leadership experiences in volunteer
organizations and therefore, this research is unique in its contribution to the literature.
Keywords Transferable skills, Leadership skills, Service learning, Volunteer organizations
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Twenty-first century business sustainability requires the implementation of dynamic
leadership practices. The general business environment is constantly evolving as global
interaction and technological enhancements continue to broaden the competitive landscape.
While corporate training within an employee’s place of business may provide professional
development in the latest leadership techniques, the outcome may focus more on theory
rather than provide actual hands-on application, or the training itself may be reserved for
only a select few (Zheltoukhova, 2014). The corporate environment may also present
limitations for the number of available promotions to higher-level leadership opportunities
(Mogensen, 2008). Also, training certainly does not guarantee a work promotion or the
ability to immediately implement the learned skill sets (Bates, 2004).
Self-accountability, self-directed learning, and embracing an andragogic perspective are
important components for leadership skill development. Knowles (1975), who developed the
adult learning theory, recommended that individual should seize “the initiative, with or without
Journal of Management
Development the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying
Vol. 36 No. 5, 2017
pp. 712-723
human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0262-1711
strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes” (p. 12). Active membership in volunteer
DOI 10.1108/JMD-06-2016-0099 organizations: civic, fraternal, professional, or religious, may provide employees with not only
an introduction to new skills and techniques, but a way to hone higher-level leadership skills in Leadership
a non-threatening and more collaborative environment. There is limited available literature on skill
this important topic to present the rationale for encouraging employees to pursue leadership development
roles as members of volunteer organizations. The purpose of this study explored whether the
volunteer settings of the identified organizations provided an environment conducive to
learning, testing, and evaluating new leadership techniques and if participants were able
to transfer and implement these skills in their full-time employment setting. 713
Background
Review of the literature
In the latter part of the twentieth century, Drucker (1988) coined the term knowledge worker
and envisioned the emergence of employees with specialized knowledge working at
information-based organizations. He argued that while opportunities for specialized
knowledge may increase, openings for advancement may not be as prevalent due to a
diminishing number of middle management positions. This leads to more employees
changing companies to climb the corporate ladder (Drucker, 1988). In a later paper, Drucker
(1999) suggested “making knowledge workers more productive requires changes in attitude
not only on the part of the individual knowledge worker, but on the part of the whole
organization” (p. 92). Moving from a knowledge worker role, as envisioned by Drucker, to a
leadership role follows the paradigm proposed by Seliger and Tolchinsky (2010), who
classified leadership as leading self, leading others, and leading the organization.
A classic study conducted by Mintzberg (1973) revealed that a leader spends time at
work engaged in numerous activities that are segmented into three competency categories:
interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. These management skills are
more effectively gained through practical experience rather than through theoretical
training (Gosling and Mintzberg, 2004; Redelinghuys and Fellow-Smith, 2005). Further
study results demonstrated that employees who gain new knowledge from an alternate
venue help to develop their own workplace by connecting this learning transferred from one
venue to another (Mintzberg, 2011).
Innovative leaders possess cognitive ability and emotional control (Patterson et al., 2009).
Sternberg’s (1988) triarchic intelligence and Goleman’s (1995) emotional intelligence frameworks
challenged the impact of intellectual intelligence (IQ) in leadership success. How a person
balances the analytical, practical, and creative components of the mind form the basis of
triarchic intelligence. Goleman (1995) argued that the mind consists of a thinking component
and a feeling component and people who can effectively management the feeling
component tend to be more successful. Both Sternberg (1988) and Goleman (1995, 1998)
contended that individuals could develop and improve these intelligence components through
experience and practice.
Self-directed learning leads to transformative learning (Meyer and Murrell, 2014).
Extensive research by Service (2009) disclosed evidence that leadership skills are learned
behaviors and require an understanding of the interaction between leaders, followers, and
the environment. Service and Arnott (2006) developed a complex, yet practical matrix model
known as the Leadership Quotient or LQ©. The model features 12 leadership factors,
termed quotients that consist of eight natural and nurtured strengths and eight natural and
nurtured weaknesses, resulting in 192 dimensions. The 12 quotients are: appearance,
behavior, communications, desire, emotions, intelligence, knowledge, management, people,
reality, situation, and experience. The resulting formula for leadership entails improving
strengths and reducing weaknesses in the 12 categories to effectively interface with
followers and the environment (Service, 2009).
The corporate organizational environment is competitive, which could lead to a lack of
mentoring and produce knowledge silos (Cilliers and Greyvenstein, 2012; Engle, 2013).
JMD A 2014 survey of over 500 companies resulting in more 200,000 responses found that
36,5 25 percent of those surveyed did not believe they currently possessed the necessary skills
that lead to success. In addition, two-thirds of the respondents expressed concerns that
mentoring and training opportunities appeared limited (Tinypulse, 2015).
Identifying leadership skills needed for the twenty-first century business sustainability
presents a daunting task. Leadership roles within volunteer organizations may offer the
714 needed venue for skill attainment. The following sampling of skill recommendations
presents some of the more diverse knowledge and expertise needed within the dynamic
corporate environment. Bracken (2008) suggested that skills are needed in foresight, agility,
a broader perspective, and leveraging resources. Carroll’s (2005) study explored leadership
skills needed by women; however, the author admitted that these skill sets are certainly not
gender specific: personal integrity, strategic vision, teambuilding, technical abilities, and
interpersonal skills. Personal survival skills were also noted as extremely important since
these include “political sensitivity, self-direction, self-reliance, courage, a competitive and
entrepreneurial spirit and candor” (Carroll, 2005, p. 151). Seven traits identified by Cannon
et al. (2015) encompass the strategist competency model: humility, commitment to right
action, strategic perspective, versatility, authenticity, ability to inspire followership, and
innate collaboration.
“Service-learning integrates community service with experiential learning, an effort to
develop leadership and organizational abilities, enhance professional knowledge and
promote social justice” (Lai, 2009, p. 106). Research results indicated that employees view
membership in volunteer organizations as a mutually beneficial opportunity; promoting
ways to support individual goals, as well as the volunteer organization’s philanthropic/
educational goals (Basinska and Jeran, 2014; Dwyer et al., 2013). The Delphi method
study, conducted by Nistler et al. (2011) emphasized McClelland’s theory of the need for
achievement, power, and affiliation as a motivational source for accepting leadership
roles in volunteer organizations. Other study results supported more altruistic reasons for
employees seeking out-of-office volunteer leadership opportunities ( Jain et al., 2012).
Regardless of the reasons for pursuing active membership in volunteer organizations,
an employee’s corporate organization may benefit from leadership skills developed
in the volunteer capacity. Leadership skills practiced and honed within the volunteer
arena strengthen the employee’s skill sets and confidence level for use within the
corporate setting (Watson and Ripley, 2013). Organizations with voluntary
leadership can be viewed as a managerial skill incubator for use within the employees’
full-time organization.

Theoretical/conceptual framework
Knowledge management (KM) was the general theoretical framework that guided this
study. KM refers to “[…] finding, unlocking, sharing, and altogether capitalizing on the most
precious resources of an organization: people’s expertise, skills, wisdom, and relationships”
(Bateman and Snell, 2011, p. 7). The knowledge transfer life cycle usually refers to a cycle of
learning and transferring or sharing knowledge between individuals or groups. The cycle
process entails the following stages:
(1) identifying: determine what knowledge needs to be transferred;
(2) capturing: accumulate the essential knowledge that needs to be transferred capture;
(3) sharing: establish methods for transferring the knowledge share;
(4) applying: use the knowledge that is transferred; and
(5) assessing: evaluate the benefits of the knowledge that is transferred (Project
Management Institute, 2015, p. 5).
While the knowledge transfer cycle is normally applied to collaborative knowledge sharing Leadership
between workers, the same concept may be applied when volunteer workers transfer skill
acquired or honed skills between a volunteer organization and a corporate workplace. In this development
case, the sharing stage could be replaced with the word transferring to denote the move
from applying the skill set in one venue to a different venue. All other steps of identifying,
capturing, applying, and assessing remain the same.
715
Methods
Design
The overarching research question for the study was:
RQ1. How does accepting a leadership role in a volunteer organization impact
transferable skill development?
Qualitative research was the chosen methodology. The findings incorporated a descriptive
and interpretive design. This methodological design provided the proper format for
uncovering the actual lived experiences of the participants.

Research venues
While there are many different volunteer organizations, the Junior League and the Masonic
Fraternity were the chosen venues for researching the topic. The Junior League is a non-profit,
philanthropic women’s organization that promotes leadership training and volunteer
experiences in community involvement (Association of Junior Leagues International, 2016).
The Masonic order is a “worldwide fraternity emphasizing personal study, self-improvement
and social betterment via individual involvement and philanthropy” (Grand Lodge of Florida,
2016, p. 3). Both authors are long standing, active members of these organizations, and have
also held leadership roles within the respective organizations.

Participants
All participants in the study were members of local organizational chapters located in Florida.
The idea for potential research was verbally presented to each organization’s leadership team at
a regular board meeting to see if they had an interest in being involved in a study of this nature.
As part of the institutional review board (IRB) process, the current leader of each organization
provided a signed approval form to allow the authors to recruit potential participants.
A recruitment e-mail was sent to all past presidents/masters of the lodge representing
the past 30 years – the first 15 members who responded from each organization became the
final research sample (30 total). The sample size was appropriate for a phenomenological
study as evidenced by an examination of 560 studies which showed a median sample size of
31 and mean sample size of 28 (Mason, 2010). The chosen sample size helped to ensure
saturation of information, which further supported the study results.
Each participant signed an informed consent form and scheduled a convenient, private
interview time. Taped interviews captured participants’ responses to the interview
questions. Some participants held managerial roles with direct reports within their full-time
organizations, while others did not (some were staff employees and others were
self-employed). The interviews consisted of three open-ended questions that were applicable
to participants with experience in managerial positions with direct reports or participants
who are/were employees practicing self-leadership:
(1) In what ways, if any, has the Junior League/Masonic Fraternity allowed you to
develop and implement new leadership skills?
(2) In what ways, if any, has the Junior League/Masonic Fraternity helped you to hone
the leadership skills you currently possess?
JMD (3) In what ways, if any, have you actually applied the leadership skills used in your
36,5 volunteer leadership role to your full-time organizational position?
(4) In what ways, if any, has your leadership position within the Junior League/Masonic
Fraternity helped prepare you to assume a new or higher-level position in your
full-time organization?

716 Trustworthiness of the qualitative study

Specific research practices incorporated the components of credibility, transferability,
dependability, and confirmability to ensure the rigor of this qualitative research
(Guba, 1981). To ensure credibility, the researchers conducted member checking and peer
examination (Guba, 1981; Krefting, 1991). Member checking required the researchers to
review the collected data with interviewed participants to ensure the accuracy of the
captured information. Peer examination entailed discussing the research process, interview
questions, and results with impartial individuals who were familiar with qualitative
research and the specific concepts explored in this research (Krefting, 1991).
Guba (1981) recommended purposive sampling as a means to ensure transferability.
While qualitative results cannot be generalized, they can be viewed as applicable or
transferable to other venues (Guba). The researchers chose to interview participants who
reached the highest level of leadership within the two selected organizations. To reach the
level of President of the League or Master of the Lodge, individuals must previously serve in
various other leadership roles before being elected to the top position. Recruiting these
individuals as participants ensured that each had extensive leadership experiences within
the selected volunteer organizations.
Dependability refers to constancy or reliability of results (Trochim, 2006). While this is more
difficult to achieve with qualitative research methods, the researchers followed Guba’s (1981)
code-recode technique. The data were initially coded by each researcher and the results
compared. The coding process was then repeated and compared two weeks later. The coding
and recoding procedure reinforces the researchers’ understanding of consistent coding practices.
Confirmability is the ability to substantiate the results of the study (Trochim, 2006).
One of the ways that Guba (1981) suggested to ensure confirmability was through
triangulation of data whereby at least two sources should be cited to support each claim.
This process was followed in the Findings and analysis section of this paper.

Ethical considerations
The authors obtained IRB approval from an academic institution prior the start of the study.
The approved research protocol was followed to maintain ethical practices throughout the entire
study. All participants’ names were coded to protect their confidentiality. As part of the informed
consent, individuals agreed to have any of their directly quoted responses presented in the paper.

Findings and analysis

In total, 15 current or past Presidents of Junior League and 15 current or past Masters of the
Masonic Fraternity participated in the study. Participant ages ranged from 38 to 73.
After coding and recoding the responses, and conducting frequency distributions, three key
themes emerged. These themes related to training, application, and transference. Each
theme is explored below and verbatim responses presented to reinforce a descriptive
sampling of the shared viewpoints.

Theme 1: training
Participant responses demonstrated that membership in the volunteer organization
presented unique opportunities to learn new techniques and strategies through formal and
informal training sessions. Each organization has a formal training committee that regularly Leadership
surveys the general membership to provide specific seminars or workshops in identified skill
areas of need related to leadership skills. Additional training is provided to those who hold development
official roles within the organizational structure. One-on-one mentoring was also repeatedly
mentioned as a way participants acquired new skill sets. The most mentioned training
topics related to communication, leading teams, time management, developing a unified
organizational culture, and conflict resolution: 717
The [Masonic] Fraternity has allowed me to interact with a wide variety of people from all age
groups and backgrounds and has provided me with an opportunity to learn how to influence
people more than I had in the past. Since the members of the Fraternity can’t be fired if they don’t
do what I ask them to do, I’ve had to develop better skill sets in how to persuade them that my
ideas are worth trying.
My experience in the Junior League showed me the importance of both formal.
[League] training and turning problems into training opportunities.
The training theme from our research coincided with previous research conducted by Farmer
and Campbell (1998). Study results from Farmer and Campbell indicated that through the use
of learning pairs, training, work shadowing, and mentoring, the 21 librarians taking part in the
study were able to identify transferable skills they currently possessed and skill areas still
needing further development. In another study, Bee and Hie (2015) analyzed 105 job
advertisements and concluded that employers were most interested in employees possessing
skills sets in communication, teamwork, planning and organizing, self-motivation, ability to
handle pressure and responsibility. These were the same skill sets developed and honed by
participants in their leadership roles in our study.
Training is valuable and important to any organization. Not all companies are willing to
invest in training for all employees due to constraints involving scheduling, costs, and
resources (Benton, 2014). Volunteer organizations may fill this void by offering members the
necessary training opportunities to gain experience in these valuable skills that can then be
transferred to workplace situations.

Theme 2: practice
Interview responses indicated that both organizations allowed the participants to practice
newly acquired skills or hone techniques in using current skills. Participants clearly saw the
benefits of practicing these skills in what was considered a safer environment as compared
to the corporate workplace. The environment within these volunteer organizations was
viewed as a training ground where leaders are less competitive and more willing to help
each other achieve goals. Fear of failure was not apparent, and calculated risk-taking was
highly encouraged. Participants who did not currently hold managerial positions within
their workplace were especially aware of how the volunteer organization provided a venue
for them to learn about leadership and professionally grow:
I had never held a management position in my company until a few months ago, but I had served as
the head of the Lodge [Masonic Fraternity] and chaired many meetings, etc. Therefore when I held
my first meeting with my new staff, things ran very smoothly.
Practicing a variety of communication styles with my committee in Junior League has been
beneficial. It has given me insight into how I perceive and handle work situations.
Gaining proficiency in performing a task can prove challenging. This becomes especially true
in a workplace situation where risk-taking and failure may lead to adverse consequences.
Buckley et al. (2014) conducted a review of the literature involving 16 clinical trials with 309
participants. Study results showed the use of surgical simulations had a positive impact on
JMD performance outcomes (Buckley et al., 2014). Similar to the results in our study of practicing
36,5 leadership skills in volunteer organizations, this example using surgical simulations became
“an educational platform whereby proficient candidates set proficiency levels and novices
‘practiced’ the procedure until proficiency was achieved” (Buckley et al., 2014, p. 152).
Experiential learning is especially important in developing leadership skills.
Wilson and Collins (2006) developed an educational model for physical therapy
718 students based on experiential learning and service learning principles in the dual roles of
clinicians and managers. The students embraced leadership roles and practiced skills long
before entering the clinical workforce. This level of early, practical, hands-on experience
fostered confidence building and empowerment, as well as genuine skill development
(Wilson and Collins, 2006). The participants in our study were able to achieve the same
outcomes from their experiential and service learning experiences with leadership roles in
volunteer organizations.

Theme 3: transference
Participant responses demonstrated an understanding of how skills gained or developed in
one organizational venue could be transferred and applied in another venue. Many of the
responses specifically noted the opportunity to try something new in the volunteer setting
and gaining confidence before implementing the technique in their workplace.
Other participants mentioned how they garnered leadership techniques from their duties
in the volunteer organization with hopes of building a skill portfolio to use when seeking
promotions or new jobs in the workplace:
In my full-time job, I am the department head of a product that as of November will have 70 team
members. Junior League gave me hand’s-on experience in how to lead and organize a large event.
I will use some of the innovative strategies with my new work team.
I’ve always wanted to try some managerial techniques that I learned while getting my MBA, but
never had the chance in my current job. This place [Masonic Fraternity] allowed me to try some
new things without fear of getting fired if something went wrong.
The ability to transfer and implement knowledge and skills from one venue to another is
actually a learned skill with three phases: acquisition, retention, and transfer (Phye and
Sanders, 1994). Results from a survey by Stevens and Miretzky (2014) of 357 self-assessment
responses from teachers in rural learning institutions and departments of education
incorporated these phases in the process of mindful skill transfer. The study results
emphasized the importance of possessing transferable skills, such as problem solving,
critical thinking, and logic to ensure that teachers incorporate an array of experiences in
teaching situations (Stevens and Miretzky, 2014).

Discussion and practical implications

The results of the study affirmed the value of volunteer organizations in its role of
leadership skill development from the volunteer’s viewpoint. In answering the overarching
research question, the authors conclude that accepting a leadership role within a volunteer
organization clearly provides opportunities to develop new skills, as well as further hone
currently held skill sets. The volunteer who assumes a leadership role has the potential to
gain personal and professional confidence. The themes that emerged from this study:
training, practice, and transference, closely align with KM theory and the knowledge
transfer life cycle. In gender-specific volunteer organizations, there appears to be no
difference between the opportunities for men and women to learn and practice leadership
skills. The skill sets gleaned from the leadership roles within the volunteer organization are
transferable and applicable to the participants’ full-time work organization.
 Maintaining a personal reflections journal may be an option for volunteers to evaluate Leadership
what they accomplished and learned from their leadership role experience. Reflective skill
journaling of the experiential learning activity provides the volunteer with a two-pronged development
thinking and learning assessment: the reflection of the actual experience and evaluating the
experience (Goldberg, 2012). This type of critical analysis promotes the blending of learning
and application. The volunteer reflects on the experience, analyzes lessons learned, draws
conclusions, and applies outcomes to other venues (Russell and Fisher, 2014). 719
While meaningful reflective journaling has the potential to enhance the volunteer’s
learning experience, implementing the technique requires a strong commitment to ensure
robust and substantial journal entries (Hubbs and Brand, 2010).
Workplace leaders and HR personnel should consider promoting the value of service
leadership to their employees. The results could provide win-win outcomes for the
corporate, as well as the volunteer organization. Employees lead and serve in the volunteer
organization as representatives of their full-time company. This promotes corporate social
responsibility and community service. Opportunities to serve and lead within volunteer
organizations provides chances to learn and practice skills, which sustains the volunteer
organization, with no risks or costs to the corporate organization. As employees gain
proficiency in leadership skills while supporting the volunteer organization, they can then
transfer these skills for use within the corporate institution – employees will either be more
prepared for future promotions within the company, lead more innovatively in current
managerial roles, or utilize skills for self-leadership.
There are numerous ways that organizational leaders can encourage employees to
volunteer in service leadership roles. Allowing employees paid time off to lead special
volunteer projects is one idea ( Jones, 2010). Incorporating volunteer activities into the
annual performance review, in a supplemental skill development category, is another way to
promote service leadership (Hallogen Software Inc., 2016). Finally, incorporating corporate
recognition programs to acknowledge outstanding service leaders is another method used to
encourage employees to serve in an official capacity within volunteer organizations
( Jones, 2010; Yim and Fock, 2013).

Limitations and recommendations for future research

Research results tend to resemble an iceberg. The presented results may be just the tip of the
iceberg of potential information. Additional critical analysis reveals the larger, unseen
portion, which reflects the limitations of the current study and the possibilities for future
research. This study was a preliminary exploration of the role of volunteer organizations in
leadership skill development.
The study design focused only on the volunteers’ perceptions of their own experiences.
These perceptions related to experiences from the volunteer leadership experience and the
potential to apply new or honed skills to another venue. In many instances, perceptions
tend to be viewed as reality. This becomes a limitation of the study because after
committing time and energy to a leadership position, volunteers may be more apt to react
positively to the experience and assume that they can apply this knowledge in other
professional settings. Without an actual assessment tool measuring the specific skills
gained and actual applied knowledge transfer, it is difficult to demonstrate the true value
of the volunteer experience.
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2006) four levels of evaluation may offer a theoretical
framework on which to base future studies. The four stepwise levels are reaction, learning,
behavior, and results. Information gleaned from each level builds toward to next level.
Collectively, the information demonstrates the acquired learning from a specific activity
(DeSilets, 2009). Future researchers may want to consider using a series of surveys, pre- and
post-activity assessments, and 360-degree feedback from the volunteer’s full-time
JMD employment supervisor, coworkers, and volunteer organization team members to provide a
36,5 more comprehensive picture of the actual learning and applied transfer of knowledge.
Further study is also needed to examine the role of different types of volunteer
organizations in leadership skill development. The current study used two gender-specific
organizations. Future studies might explore less gender-specific associations, since that may
better reflect the actual workplace.
720 Choosing an alternative methodology is another option for future research in this area.
A quantitative study using the structural equation model with emphasis on uncovering and
ranking specific leadership skills gleaned from volunteer organizations may be beneficial.
This would allow employees to choose a volunteer organization that not only matches their
personal interests but would also provide opportunities to gain desired professional
leadership skills.

Conclusion
Managers within business settings should consider the value-added benefits of encouraging
employees to become involved in volunteer organizations and accept leadership roles.
Not only does this promote good corporate social responsibility, but the skill development
and enhancement could further benefit the firm. Employees may not always have
opportunities for continuous upward advancement within the business organization;
however, gaining new skills could add to the breadth and depth of knowledge and skill sets,
as well as helping employees to reach a higher level of potential.

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Further reading
Mintzberg, H. (2009), Managing, Berrett-Koehler and Pearson, San Francisco, CA.

About the authors

Dr Pamela Ann Gordon received her Doctorate Degree in Business Administration with a Specialization in
Management from the Northcentral University. Her three Master’s Degrees are in Human Resource
Management, Organization and Leadership, and an MBA with a Specialization in Marketing. She has
22 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with 17 of those years in corporate Leadership
management/leadership positions. She has more than 13 years of teaching experience and currently works skill
for University of Phoenix fostering faculty development. Her research interests are in the areas of
management, organizational behavior, marketing, and human resource management. development
Dr Pamela Ann Gordon is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: pam.gordon@phoenix.edu
Dr Brett Anthony Gordon holds a Doctorate Degree of Organization and Management with a
Specialization in Training and Development from the Capella University, along with a Masters Degree
in Project Management and MBA Degree with a Specialization in Marketing. After spending 11 years 723
in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr Gordon began teaching in the post-secondary arena where he has
also served in the positions of the Dean of Academic Affairs.

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