Hayden named director of executive programs for Spark
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Higher education veteran and leadership scholar, Josh Hayden, has been appointed director of executive programs for Spark: Lipscomb’s Idea Center in Williamson County and downtown. He will develop customized leadership programs for the unique space at Spark.
Hayden comes to Lipscomb University from Cumberland University, where he was executive director of general education and assistant professor of leadership studies. In his new appointment at Lipscomb, Hayden will develop customized leadership development programs for corporate partners as well as other professional development opportunities at the university’s new Spark facility in downtown Nashville, set to open in January. Hayden will also facilitate the vital connection between the educational needs of the downtown community and graduate degree programs at Lipscomb.
“Dr. Hayden will provide a key resource for Nashville’s business community as we seek creative and innovative ways to meet its needs and to have an impact on this city,” said John Lowry, vice president for development and external affairs as well as executive director of Spark at Lipscomb University. “He has extensive experience in leadership in higher education, and has numerous relationships with Nashville’s business community. He will provide tremendous leadership as Lipscomb develops its downtown presence in the coming months.”
Hayden said he is passionate about the impact higher education has on people’s lives and that he is eager to develop programs for Lipscomb that will make a difference in the community. He has experience teaching mid-career professionals and executives as well as with consulting and coaching in both the public and private sectors.
“This opportunity is a wonderful way for the academic rigor of Lipscomb’s faculty to serve the practical and relevant needs of organizations downtown and in Middle Tennessee,” Hayden said.
Hayden has been an active member of the International Leadership Association, a worldwide community of practitioners and scholars advancing leadership scholarship and education.
“Leadership is a topic that is hard to study without practicing and becoming a better leader yourself,” he said. “It is a concept often confused with authority or position, rather than a process and relational approach that can be learned. I am a big believer in leadership research having a practical effect for people in the workplace and I see our team’s role as finding ways to do this.”
“Executives rarely have the time to reflect on their approach to managing and leading their organizations. Yet we know that the most effective leaders place a premium on finding the place and time to get perspective and understand how to foster teamwork, manage change and conflict, and build a strong culture around core values,” he continued.
Helping build programming for the new Spark facility is also something Hayden said he looks forward to.
“Nashville is a rapidly growing city and in the midst of that fast-paced growth the difference between organizations that are sustainably successful and those that are not is how they invest in their people,” he said. “But instead of telling executives how they should do this, I am excited about the fact that we are seeking to serve them in an adaptive way as they articulate their needs and challenges.”
“I’m excited about bringing higher education into the core of the city,” he continued. “But it’s about place, a beautifully designed place to build a powerful educational experience and an opportunity for a community to grow and to build long-term relationships with Lipscomb.”
Hayden said Lipscomb University’s reputation for having faculty, staff and administrators “thinking creatively and innovatively about education” drew him to the challenge of helping shape the downtown programming and presence. He was also drawn to Lipscomb’s emphasis on faith in its academic programs and practice.
“Lipscomb seems to be a place that not only is committed to modeling Jesus’ servant leadership, but living that out inclusively and authentically,” he said.
Prior to his appointment at Lipscomb, Dr. Hayden was on faculty at Cumberland University, where he served from 2010 until beginning his assignment at Lipscomb this month. While at Cumberland, Hayden taught graduate and undergraduate leadership courses, such as organizational behavior and socially responsible leadership, the latter of which involved a trip to serve in Haiti. Administratively, he led the general education core, created the “Connect” program, and shaped the quality enhancement plan effort focused on the academic transitions of first-year students.
His teaching and consulting interests include cultural change management, adaptive leadership, and fostering collaboration and trust, among other topics. His research interests in the field of leadership include leading social change, strengthening organizational culture, authentic spiritual leadership and fostering student growth and development.
Hayden began his career as assistant director of the President’s Leadership Program at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. He also worked abroad with the International Foundation in Washington, D.C., leading a service team that developed mentoring and leadership programs for underserved youth in India, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Brazil. He also is a leadership consultant and professional coach and worked briefly in the health care industry coordinating a leadership development initiative at Spheris Inc. Hayden currently serves on the boards of The Joseph School in Haiti and the Salvation Army in Davidson County.
A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Hayden spent much of his childhood in Arlington, Virginia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in leadership studies from the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Hayden also has a Master of Education degree in organizational leadership and a Doctorate of Education degree in higher education leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development. He has also been published in numerous leadership and education journals.
Hayden lives in East Nashville with his wife, Anna, who is an instructor in Vanderbilt University’s Dance Program and at Rejoice School of Ballet and works for Vanderbilt Medical Center. They have four children: Collier, 6; Caleb, 4; Joseph, 2; and Abigail, 7 months.
For more information about Spark: Lipscomb’s Idea Center, visit spark.lipscomb.edu.