Meet Your Leadership and Management Faculty: Michelle Newsome, PhD
Dr. Michelle Newsome is an Army active-duty military spouse and has the opportunity to live and travel around the world. She has a diverse background in the automotive industry working in various business functions such as Marketing, Human Resources, and Software Implementation. She has a passion for learning, conducting research, and mentoring others. Dr. Newsome earned her Doctorate of Philosophy in Management with a specialization in Leadership and Organizational Change from Walden University, an MBA in Human Resources Management from The University of Phoenix, and an undergraduate degree in Marketing from East Carolina University.
Dr. Newsome currently teaches in UNH College of Professional Studies leadership and management programs. We sat down with her to ask a few questions about her teaching experience, and why she loves what she does.
What attracted you to pursue a career focused on leadership and management?
I was attracted to the field of leadership and management because I was a leader in the corporate sector. I found it fascinating studying the different types of leaders and the various dynamics of an organization.
What was your college experience like?
As I was the first person in my family to go to college, a key to my success was having wonderful mentors that helped encourage and guide me in reaching my goals. (Even though my parents had no/or limited experience with college themselves, they encouraged and expected I would attend and complete my degree.) I was also highly self-motivated to learn as much as I could. This drive and determination led me to obtain my bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees. I had a wonderful college experience every step of the way.
What do you enjoy most about teaching adult students?
The majority of my students are working professionals and juggling school with family, volunteer commitments, and some even on military deployments. What I like most about teaching adults is that they connect learning concepts with their real-life personal and professional experiences. I love it when my students tell me that my class or an example that I used helped them think about things in a different perspective or that my class helped them become a better leader.
What’s your favorite course to teach and why?
One of my favorite courses to teach is LD810 – Change Management and Communication. This is a course that I redesigned. It is primarily focused on self-reflection for students to understand and gauge how they perceive and process change. Every time I teach this course, I am flooded with messages of how the management simulation activity is an eye-opening learning experience for them. Messages like these are why I love teaching!
What is a key advantage of studying leadership?
Being an effective leader requires a great deal of personal self-reflection and emotional intelligence. Studying emotional intelligence makes students more aware of their strengths and weaknesses so that they can better collaborate and lead others. In our leadership courses, students participate in meaningful weekly discussions in which they are encouraged to share their professional experiences as it relates to the course material. Our use of educational simulations allows students to apply course concepts into real-life scenarios so they can experience various opportunities and challenges that an organization may experience.