Service Leadership Education Embedded in a Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Framework

Abstract

Despite the importance of services in Hong Kong’s economy and the role of leadership in the services sector, little is known about how Hong Kong’s universities played a role in nurturing future service leaders. Drawing on the notion that “everyone can be a leader” which rejects the trait-based perspective of leadership, we demonstrate how City University of Hong Kong (CityU) pioneered the development of service leadership education that is embedded in the social innovation and entrepreneurship framework. We elaborated CityU’s approach to service leadership and showcased how we implemented the framework in two undergraduate courses that embrace the spirit of service learning and social entrepreneurship. We conclude that universities in Hong Kong need a “paradigm shift” in how they sharpen and unleash the creative potential of their target beneficiaries and should give a greater focus on discovery-enriched learning to better prepare young future leaders in the fast-changing world.