Graduate Program Philosophy, Values and Goals

Your values. Your career goals. Combine them through graduate studies at Eastern Mennonite University and prepare to transform your world for the common good.

What is ‘Leadership for the Common Good?’

Leadership for the common good is a belief that developing authenticity in people is the way to help them transform their world, that the common good is established each time a person, organization, or community reaches beyond individual self-interest for the sake of the greater whole. To that end, our graduate programs are led by scholar practitioners who are experts in their fields and who focus our curriculum on personal formation, competency, and relationships in developing leaders who work to transform their world and enhance the common good in their workplaces and communities.

Personal Formation

Developing authentic leaders on a journey of integration, spiritual growth, and maturity. Our graduate students become leaders who understand that personal, organizational, and community existence are tied to the sustainability of local and global systems. 

Competency

Developing transformative leaders who design organizations and nurture communities to be resilient and sustainable with skills in entrepreneurship, shared vision development, mutual accountability, financial integrity, continuous innovation, empowerment of people and teams, and systems thinking.

Relationships

Understanding that in community we build and maintain trustworthy relationships with each other and the Sacred and that problem-solving must be contextual based on constituent and community life conditions. In this context, we transform personal, organizational and community conflicts into healthy outcomes.

Our Values

Values that are part of the Anabaptist Mennonite tradition – on which EMU is built – are woven across the curriculum of all programs. People from many denominations and faith traditions appreciate these values and are a part of the EMU community. 

Growing Spiritually

As leaders we are on a journey of spiritual formation and growth, drawing on our spiritual resources to improve our communities and organizations

Honoring Community

We live, learn, grow, and thrive in relationship with others. We believe that learning occurs best in the context of diverse community.

Leading as Service

Transformative leadership starts with self-awareness and leads to empowering and serving others.

Upholding Justice and Building Peace

We recognize that all human beings need acknowledgement of their dignity and a dignified way of earning their living; this implies a fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth, sensitivity to the impact of growth, and a commitment to living in right relationship with others and with the planet. Peacebuilding requires upholding these values by applying one’s personal and professional skills and resources to the problems, reducing violence, and promoting just relationships and structures.

Planning for Sustainability

Business, organizational, community, and global economic success are vital for healthy societies as is a recognition of our interdependence with the environment.

Global Citizenship

We are interdependent and mutually accountable to local, national, and global communities. As a result, we believe in interdisciplinary, intercultural, and interfaith engagement around world problems.

Health and Healing

We support practices that enhance personal health and wholeness. Resilience in the face of personal and collective trauma is critical to health, healing, and reconciliation.