What do leaders need to know? What must they do? During this moment of great change, complexity, and conflict facing formal and informal leaders across sectors, it has become increasingly important to understand the competencies associated with effective leadership, and to be able to apply the appropriate methods through which to develop, assess, analyze, and enact these competencies. Competencies for Effective Leadership: A Framework for Assessment, Education, and Research explores the many ways in which a competency framework can be used within an organizational setting as a model for assessment, education, and research. The Leadership Competency Scorecard, originally developed by Brent Ruben, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Communication and Executive Director of the Rutgers University Center for Organizational Leadership, is examined in-depth throughout this book.The expert contributors delve into the various ways in which this competency framework has been applied in the design and implementation of leadership development programs. They explore how it can be used as a self-assessment and improvement planning guide for individual coaching consultations, as well as a theoretical foundation for advancing leadership and organizational communication research.The Leadership Competency Scorecard continues to be extremely useful for the formal and informal leaders of today-and tomorrow. This interdisciplinary study of the model and its conceptual and applied applications are made relevant and accessible for leadership scholars, practitioners, and educators across sectors.