ABSTRACT
Leading internationalization can be greatly enhanced by grounding such leadership in foundational theories and principles. This chapter highlights a few primary concepts espoused frequently by Josef Mestenhauser. Mestenhauser asserted that knowledge and thinking patterns from multiple disciplines facilitate navigating the complexities of leading internationalization. International education leaders are uniquely suited to model interdisciplinary thinking. At the core of internationalization, according to Mestenhauser, are cognitive skills of critical, comparative, and creative thinking. Key skills within creative thinking include cognitive complexity, cognitive integration, and cognitive flexibility. Some implications of creative thinking for leaders include: redefining issues and challenges using different frames and allowing time to consider insights and ideas that may emerge from across a wide variety of information sources. Mestenhauser defines a systems perspective as a framework for examining “the relationship among parts and their interdependent relations within the whole, as well as their interaction with the environment”.
