Based on ten years of testing a skill building strategy with graduate students, this manual attempts to provide a knowledge base in community leadership, a schema for theoretical discussion, and opportunities for group interaction and critique. The conceptual skills developed in the strategy include the ability to screen information, identify informal structures within organizations, predict trends, establish priorities, allocate resources, and analyze power structures. The strategy utilizes M.S. Knowles's concept of andragogy (self-directed inquiry). The sequence of the presentation includes steps on building a knowledge base, examining the theory, developing a rationale, defining the phenomenon, positing assumptions and hypotheses, and developing, presenting, and defending a model. (Author/WD)