CTCH 792 Leadership in Higher Education

EDUCAUSE Institute

2009-05-08T15:20:00.004-04:00

One of my interests is instructional technology so I went looking for leadership development programs for those that work in technology in higher ed. While there are many conferences, there does not seem to be many leadership development programs. The EDUCAUSE Institute is one of the few I found. There are 3 separate programs:

1) Learning Technology Leadership Program: This is for those who have significant experience using higher ed in teaching environments and would like to move on to positions of higher responsibility.

2) Leadership Program: This is for IT managers in higher ed who are seeking higher leadership positions

3) Management Program: This is for IT professionals in higher ed who would like to go on to become managers

All 3 programs are described as a "leadership immersion programs" that aims to assist in transforming people who see themselves as implementers of technology, to people who are able to drive change on campus through the use of technology. I thought this goal was extremely important as technology is often used as a piecemeal, quick-fix effort in education at any level. There is a growing movement to make technology a larger part of a college or university's strategic planning.

EDUCAUSE is an association who aims to assist higher ed with the strategic use of technology in teaching and management. They have an excellent online journal for those interested in technology and pedagogical issues.

The Thomas Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership in Community Colleges

2009-05-07T13:28:00.003-04:00

The Thomas Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership is sponsored by the Presidents’ Round
Table of the National Council on Black American Affairs, an affliate of the American Association of Community Colleges. The Presidents’ Round Table was established in 1983 to bring together African-American community college leaders to focus on the continuation of African American leaders in key leadership roles. Priorities include successful matriculation of African-American students and employment opportunities for African-Americans in community colleges across the nation with special emphasis on grooming future presidents.

The Lakin Institute honors the memory of the distinguished African-American educator, Dr.
Thomas Lakin. Dr. Lakin was Chancellor of Ventura County Community College District and is
warmly remembered as a mentor who inspired and encouraged dozens of promising leaders of color.

This Insitute is by far one of the best in leadership development for African American Community College Leaders who wish to ascend to the position of being a college president. Participants learn from community college president and other leaders in the field. A number of inviduals who have participated in the Lakin Institute have gone on to become community college president.

Leadership development is essential and key in efforts to diversify the pipeline to sustain equity in all phases of education. The Lakin Institute, The NCBAA Midlevel Institute, the National Community College Hispanic Council Leadership Symposium, and the AACC Future Leader's Institute are all exceptional leadership development programs for individuals seeking professional enrichment to pursue high level positions such as president and vice president at community colleges.

The Lakin Institute for 2009 will be held in Chicago, Illinois, October 11-16, 2009.

If you have a moment, please review the following website http://www.brookhavencollege.edu/prt/. Go under announcements and click on Lakin Invitation (Windows Movie Video). I think you find the concept very creative. It is an announcement of the 2008 Lakin Insitute which was held in Dallas, TX. Lakin Invitation (Windows Movie Video)

School of Embodied Leadership

2009-05-06T00:21:00.002-04:00

SOEL - is a summer leadership retreat that GMU sends 20 students to. The retreat is 5 days long in CA, and is intensive training on students can develop themselves into leaders. SOEL teaches leadership from a eastern philosophy; focusing on mind, body, and soul and how you need to be centered with yourself before you are able to be a strong leader. The students sleep in group tents, prepare group meals as a group, exercise, and given opportunities to be team leaders.

So I heard about this leadership retreat today for the first time, and it sounds kind of interesting at first but also it sounds a little iffy as well. I believe that since the retreat is based on living in groups, exercising and cooking with groups, it has great potential to begin the development/teaching of team leadership. What a team leader needs to accomplish, how to manage a group, and how to know when to interfere or not when working towards the goal of the group.

Also think that this is a time that students can become more aware of the Leadership Exchange Theory and the relationship that the students will experience between leaders and being supporters.

It was hard to find any real information on this Leadership program on the web, but I feel that it was a lot of opportunities available to it to teach participants about Team Leadership, Leadership Exchange, and even the Path- Goal Theory due to its focus on working and living in groups. I do not think that the leadership program takes advantage of the group practices as much as they can.

Tempered Radical..Who Me?

2009-05-05T23:38:00.003-04:00

UHHHHHHHHHHH....my whole blog was just deleted before publishing...grrrrrrrr. So this is what I had to say! I wasn't sure if I, Sho Roberts, could be a tempered radical. It's something that I would love to aspire to be, but am not sure if I can do it now. OOHHHH..but that is a lame excuse, cause anyone can be a tempered radical at any point in their lives. That is what is so great about it, its making smaller changes to better the organization in the end, and seeing the BIG picture. So how can I be a tempered radical?? One way I can be a tempered radical is to quietly work towards the changes to be made when the office moves into a new renovated location. I strongly believe that the space, supplies, and resources our office has now are inadequate to fulfill the needs asked from us. There are certain things that I believe need to be in the new work space that others may not have agree with or think about. The way I can go about bringing these changes is to talk about them in the appropriate settings, talk about them with other members of the office, and quietly bring the ideas to the light. By doing this quietly I will be able to bring about the change without making a big fuss, drawing attention, or being aggressive about it...which is totally a tempered radical way.

Go Tempered Radicals!! Wouldn't be great if there was a Tempered Radical Institute on campus that taught us more about how to be a tempered radical?!?!?!

Leadership Program

2009-05-05T21:30:00.002-04:00

The leadership program I decided to examine is the Kellogg School of Management-Women's Senior Leadership Program. The program is designed for women who are a part of corporate America. The program is broken down into four three day session which is done over a 12 month period.

I think breaking up the session through a 12 month period is a great idea. You have a chance to reflect on what happened in the last session or in work atmosphere. As discussed in class, reflection is a key thing in leadership. Each of the four session are different which are "Session 1: Gathering Intelligence,Session 2: Creating a Context for Success, Session 3: Driving Results Session 4: Managing External Constituents". I think that is a good thing to have different topics already prepared. It helps it identifying and use transformation, skills, situation approaches etc.

Another thing discuss is giving feedback during the process. I think that feedback during any training is important to have. Listening to stories for any peers is an important part of learning. In my opinion, having people discuss a topic and not have peer interaction is boring and you do not learn as much if a group was interacting together.

The one thing i do not agree with is the price of the program. To take a part of the program it will cost someone $21,500. I think that is a lot of money for four sessions.

Another thing I would like to see change is the people teaching the course. The only people teaching the class is Kellogg faculty. I would like to see the Kellogg group bring in professionals from outside the group for a different perspective.

All in all i think this is a great program.

Leadership Institute Oops

2009-05-05T20:35:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I'm browsing around and I come across The Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians - http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ppe/highered/programs/acrl.html.

The program focuses on transformational leadership, which I found interesting. Personally, I think I would try to focus on two leadership theories so people can find one or the other more appealing or more easy with which to identify. Otherwise, the curriculum seems to cover self-assessment, effective leaders in higher ed, leadership theory, and planning for change - a pretty comprehensive curriculum for six days.

However, I have two criticisms of the institute.

1. There are no librarians on the faculty staff leading the institute. Hmmmm - seems like a major deficiency there.

2. One of the questions this institute proposes to answer is: "How well-positioned is my organization to meet current and future challenges? The program delivers the information and insights needed to help your library respond to a rapidly-shifting landscape. It is designed for those whose role is to think strategically—about emerging needs of students and faculty, about changing expectations of library staff, about new technologies, and about the long-range plans for the library within a larger institutional context."

Hey - wait, I thought this was to help me improve my leadership skills? I do not think a Leadership Institute should have this as one of its top TWO goals. Instead, I think, it should use the above question as a back-drop for the following question - are you equipped (do you have the leadership skills) to lead your library to address the rapidly shifting landscape, etc... Posing this question but without "librarian speakers/leaders" in the field is a major flaw for the institute. People who attend these types of institutes want to be with their peers to share stories, experiences and to network. Not having "leaders in their field" leading discussions

Leadership Development Program

2009-05-03T23:20:00.002-04:00

The NCAA offers various leadership development programs throughout the year.
The NCAA will host their annual Regional Student-Athlete Development conference again next fall. The mission of the conference is to provide a forum for student-athletes and coaches to develop leadership skills and discuss how issues affect the student-athlete. The goal of the conference is to use your leadership skills and at the conference develop plans that you can incorporate on your own campus. The objectives for the conference are to:

-Learn and practice skills of exemplary leaders.
-Learn how to build and enhance a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
-Discuss Division I issues and legislation.
-Learn about the NCAA opportunities including scholarships, developmental programs, the NCAA governance process and more.
-Grow personally and professionally.
-Develop a team-directed action plan to promote positive change on campus and within the conferences.
-Make an incredible network of friends!

In critiquing this leadership program the program, the program is only limited to two student athletes per institution. There are 350 member institutions in the NCAA and this program is only available to less than 1% of all student athletes. The regional leadership development program rotates annually and participant attendance is restricted to your region only. The regions are Northeast, South, West, and Mid-atlantic. The program will only be in your available in your area every 4 years.This program change to be offered every two years in your region and potentially offered to more student athletes.

Website:http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=628

Leadership Development

2009-05-03T13:23:00.002-04:00

Frank and I did a lot of searches for leadership development seminars, programs, and organizations for our project. Based on all the searches and the readings, there are a wide variety of development programs, all with very specific aims. There are the general development programs such as Academy Leadership which deal with developing leaders in a general sense, and there are organizations like the ones in the reading that develop specific types of people who are under-represented or who lack the opportunities.

For this post I decided to look at the Wallace Foundation . They have a researched method dedicated to k-12 school principles that they believe can speed up development of leaders and make more permenant the advances made in leadership development. It seems that the Wallace Foundation is dedicated to not only provide the training for these school administrators, it also directs it efforts to getting these leaders the support necessary to do their jobs well and not just manage their tasks.

The Wallace Foundation states that there are three main focus areas: clear standards for what is a qualified leader, proper training to foster skills and understanding, and conditions or incentives that keep leaders doing their job well. The issues that plague the qualified leaders in many schools, they say, is the burocracy and it's forced expectations which take up too much of these administrator's time and energy, leaving little behind for them to focus on leading well. Their development program focuses its attention on strengthening these conditions to foster better leadership.

In focusing on leadership training, their program utilizes college programs and other training opportunites in the area to increase state and district standards. I think that this is a good direction to take as it utilizes already in place opportunities, however it assumes that these administrators can attend these univerites. Utilizing universities also allows for various leadership styles to be analyzed.

The issue that I have with the foundation is that it does little to engage or focus on the individual. Many of its initiatives are on a broader range, and although they provide support information for leaders, they assume that those involved are proactive enough to find this information. In a sense it seems that although they are claiming an attempt to remove the "sink or swim" mentality, they do very little to help the individuals.

They did mention a mentoring program that was interesting to help individual administrators accomplish their tasks and learn the necessary skills. I think that more of this passing the torch should be done in many leadership positions.

Learning walks

Seeking Tempered Radicals at HEP

2009-04-30T14:58:00.002-04:00

Whenever I attend meetings, I always say if you bring a suggestion to the table, you should be prepared to carry it through to fruition. So I hope my suggestion doesn't come back to haunt me...

How would I enact tempered radicalism in HEP? I would like to see some kind of a learning community formed. I don't have a clue as to who is who in this program, what they study, what their future plans are, etc. If I didn't sit next to you in class, I don't know you exist. And even then, some teachers (Dr. Lester not included...) do not make an attempt to create a classroom atmosphere where students can get to know their peers -- which is rather sad because I think we are our own best resources when it comes to jobs and internships.

So how can this be improved upon? I know we're all busy with life, work, and school schedules. However, we can use a list-serve of some kind as a way to communicate with our peers. It can be managed by interests. For example, I am interested in community college leadership, transfer of GED grads to college, the use of distance education with low-income workers, and international education. I am sure there are at least 2 other people in our program who can connect with me on at least one of those subjects. However, I will never know, because we don't interact.

What kind of information can be shared over this list-serve? Relevant scholarships, dissertation grants, research information, interesting articles, jobs and internships, info on courses that were great (or really bad...) and just plain old fashioned discussion about the topic at hand.

What do you think?

Tempered Radicals and Servant Leaders

2009-04-30T00:09:00.002-04:00

Like my other colleagues, when I searched for information on Tempered Radicals there was actually very little direct information that I came across. However, I did come across a very interesting dissertation entitled:

TEMPERED RADICALS AND SERVANT LEADERS: PORTRAITS OF SPIRITED
LEADERSHIP AMONGST AFRICAN WOMEN LEADERS

http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/send-pdf.cgi?bgsu1143220309. This is the work of
Faith Wambura Ngunjiri, Bowling Green University, 2006.

Her disseratation focused on African Women in Leadership Positions. The purpose of Dr. Ngunjiri study was to "understand women’s leadership through the lived
experiences of women leaders from Africa. Here study focuses on how these
women leaders navigated the intersecting oppressive forces ranging from gender, culture,
religion, social norm stereotypes, race, marital status and age as they attempted to lead for social justice."

While I have not finished reading the entire disseration it is very interesting see the structure of her disseration and how these women lead in their respective countries and positions despite their obstacles.

The Few, The Absent, The Tempered Radicals

2009-04-29T21:01:00.007-04:00

I googled Tempered Radicals and did not find many entries in News. To date there are only 47 entries. Almost every article referred to reviewing the book that Professor Debra Meyerson wrote earlier in this decade. Why is there so little information in a popular search on the topic? Here’s insight from an article written by Mica Schneider in the March 11, 2002 Business Week.

Perhaps the most disquieting tendency the researchers unearthed is that MBAs say they would leave companies whose values they can't stomach rather than staying and trying to exert a positive influence. "Most MBAs indicate that they would simply opt out and find another job," the report says. "The Enron fiasco is showing that there are going to be serious cases where an organization's values are disputed, or disregarded," notes Welsh. "What do we want people to do in those situations? Not run away. We want them to stick up for their values and try to resolve the conflict."

I think the mobility of professionals upward in an organization compounded by opportunities to move to other organizations works against the concept of tempered radicals. Think about it. If you move up the ladder in an organization you are meeting new people (who are also mobile) and if you move to another organization (populated by a mobile population that is advancing or voting with their feet to other organizations) there are not too many people around who have the time horizons of a tempered radical.

Tempered radicals are moving at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crock-pot speed while we and everyone else is moving at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven speed. When we as a class look in the mirror, we see a lot of diversity, unified by a shared mutual tendency to advance to another position and/or institution/organization. I think tempered radicals is a power concept but it is concept that is reflective of the past rather than looking forward.

The romantic in me really hopes tempered radicals are out there but the realist me thinks they channel their energy in today's environment to updating their resumes. I imagine the Internet doesn't help as job search engines and job sites tempt folks. I hope I am wrong on this but somebody think why there are so few entries for tempered radicals if there are so many of them?

Tempering Space - The Final Frontier

2009-04-28T14:08:00.003-04:00

I wish I could be profound in the tempered radical change I want to bring about, but my attempt is not very exciting or sexy. Many would raise their eyebrows, but my initial radical idea is to empower my College's departments to be responsible for the space decisions they make. Office space, lab space, etc., is at a premium everywhere, but it seems to be especially true of the College of Science. The College is three years old and have "lived" under a very harsh space autocrat (dictator or czar is a term used around the school). My job is a newly created one; and, I am to help get the space situation tightened up, accurately accounted for and properly utilized. Due to the early way things were done - folks tend to lie, cheat and steal space. Before I came onboard, there was a lot of quid pro quo deal making; punishment for disobedience or whatever personal/academic affronts were perceived - resulting in the loss of space, the forced sharing of space or the moving of staff into inadequate space. It really is a huge mess.

Space issues are found at every school. In fact there is a saying that "faculty will fight over money, but they will kill over space." Unfortunately, a terrible precedent has been set within the College of Science, so I am trying to go about changing the way things are done that - so far, is proving to be challenging. As my husband tells me, I am trying to re-engineer the processes and be a "change-agent."

Without going through the bloody details, when I am informed of a space issue: I always request the issue in writing; I request solutions or suggestions on how to address the situation; ask if the change/request is central to their mission of teaching students or conducting research; and I also make them (this I do enforce) work with EHS (lab safety folks) and Facilities to make sure that the proposed use of the space is appropriate and safe. If there are costs, I make whomever and their department chair look at the cost of work to be done and then ask for ideas on funding (90% of which comes out of my budget - but I want to impress on them the expenses involved).

Now, some of this sounds pretty mundane, but realize that this was never done before (and yes, I work with supposed adults)! My TEMPERED RADICAL goal is to quietly train COS faculty and staff to help be a part of the solution and to realize that their use of space impacts many and involves team approaches, most typically. The efforts are far from sexy or "radical, but the long-term result will be: communication, collaboration, sharing of information on costs; and affirmation of mission. I am also training folks to realize that I will be more of a diplomat on these types of requests instead of using space to yield academic power and control.

Job Shadowing

2009-04-27T22:04:00.003-04:00

For my job shadowing experience I chose Chris Clark-Tally from the Alumni Association. Chris is the Associate Vice-President for Alumni Affairs. My job shadowing experience came in three parts: an info session on results from an alumni survey, the Alumni Association Executive Board Meeting, and a follow up interview. Three main ideas in relationing to leadership were to have respect for others and their time; be genuine; and understand that your career is a way of life.

Our discussion closed with Mrs. Clark-Talley sharing Gary A. Ransdell’s view on leadership. She mentioned it is important for her to reflect and read these five principles often:
Leadership is about: VISION, CHANGE, IDEAS, INNOVATION, ACTION, ENGAGEMENT, RISK, AND COURAGE
Effective Positive Leadership Requires: VALUES, INTEGRITY, TRUST, ENERGY, PASSION, LOYALTY, RESPECT, HUMILITY, COMMUNITY, AND PLACE
Effective Leaders Cause Five Conditions to Exist: A SENSE OF URGENCY, A MISSION WORTH ACHIEVING, GOALS THAT STIR PEOPLE AND STRETCH THEIR ABILITIES, A SPIRIT OF TEAMWORK, and a REALISTIC EXPECTATION THAT THE TEAM CAN SUCCEED.
Short-term leadership can be achieved through COERCION or REWARD. Long-term leadership is best achieved through LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY combined with personal STYLE, CHARM, EMOTION, and HUMAN CONCERN.
Be BOLD, be CONFIDENT, be SMART, build CONSENSUS, focus on PRIORITIES that bring dramatic CHANGE, and have FUN!

Good leaders have “sprezzatura,” the ability to do something difficult with apparent ease.

2009 Presidents Roundtable Directory of African American CEOs

2009-04-24T14:24:00.003-04:00

In reference to our conversation last class on gender and equity, here is the 2009 Presidents Roundtable of the National Council on Black American Affairs Directory of African American Community College Presidents and CEOs. - Kevin

http://www.brookhavencollege.edu/prt/docs/2009PresidentsRTDirectory.pdf

Job Shadowing

2009-04-14T16:55:00.002-04:00

For my shadowing experience I followed the president of the Art Institute of Washington. I had the pleasure of sitting in on an Executive Committee Meeting and then conduct my interview. Although I knew the president fairly well, I thought it would be interesting to see what he actually does on a daily basis.

The committee meeting was fairly standard housekeeping. The issues that were brought to the table were mostly being reviewed and there were very few pressing issues to tackle. The numbers for the school were discussed and, as usual, retention was a key point in the discussion. The president showed that he was trying to coach others to become leaders by pointing out things that were working in helping students. He specifially pointed to cases where a member of the staff went beyond their duties to help students through the process or institute change.

What I am sure more people are interested in is the questions about for-profit v. not-for-profit. I did ask him what his thoughts were and other questions that related to this "debate." The discussion mostly fell along the line that no matter the school, there is always a "bottom line" and the goal of student success. Without student success, no matter the model, the school will fail. The school will fail because it doesn't meet the needs to keep the institution afloat. Even not-for-profit models will fall apart or shut down if there is no students for the school.

What is interesting is to look at particular aspects of the models as they relate to their mission. For-profit institutions like the Art Institute typically have a narrower focus than univerisities or community colleges. Their focused goals allow them to specialize and direct their funds in particular ways that might make their facilities stronger than these larger institutions thus meeting the needs of the students they are targeting. In this way there are benefits to a profit based model that might clearly outweigh similar degree programs at larger colleges or universities. (ex: Graphic Design at Art Institute v. Graphic Design at GMU)

The job shadowing experience was fun. And in a recent survey of my campus, it seems that this broader understanding of the campus is needed by everyone. There are some common complaints that students get the run-around or there is a lack of respect for certain departments within the college. Most of this is due to the lack of understanding of the majority of the employees, both faculty and staff, as to what goes on daily in the institution. I think it will be an important team-building exercise to get more members of the college to participate in this sort of activity to come to a broader understanding of what is required of other positions.

Job Shadow Experience

2009-04-13T15:04:00.000-04:00

The Mission Statement of George Mason University (GMU) states that the university will educate the new generation of leaders for the 21st century: men and women capable of shaping a global community with vision, justice, and clarity.
On February 26, 2009, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Kevin A. Holmes, Director of Undergraduate Recruitment at George Mason University. Mr. Holmes is a dynamic, energetic leader who manages a wide range of individuals and deals with the day to day operations of handling special programs for a busy admissions office.
Before I met with Mr. Holmes, I asked myself the following questions: What is the most important thing I expect to learn from this experience? How can I make adequate use of the time I have with him? How could I determine the type of leadership style Mr. Holmes demonstrated in a just few hours? I was presently surprised.
Reporting directly to the Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions, Mr. Holmes works closely with the senior leadership team. In his position as the Director of Undergraduate Recruitment, he is responsible for the Office of Admissions, which includes a staff of 117. He supervises three assistant directors of admissions, four admissions counselors, twenty client services representatives, and ninety student ambassadors. In his daily leadership activities, he collaborates with the entire campus community, and serves as one of the chief strategists in shaping and implementing an enrollment management plan for the university. These enrollment plans focus specifically on strategies in recruitment and retention that advance the interests of George Mason University students.
Mr. Holmes stated that in order to effectively lead an Admissions Office, an individual must be innovative, energetic, and receptive to change. He explained that a senior leadership position in Admissions at George Mason University office requires a minimum of five years of experience in admissions, as well as an advanced degree. In addition to the experience and education, the position requires exemplary skills in speaking, writing, planning, and problem-solving. Mr. Holmes stated that he received his current leadership position by demonstrating success in recruiting a talented and diverse student body and in leading, motivating, and collaborating with other professionals at George Mason University.
Mr. Holmes is definitely a leader whose unique leadership style has transformed his staff and department into a top notch entity at George Mason University. I hope to emulate his enthusiasm, passion, and professionalism if I decide to become an admissions director in the future.

Job Shadowing

2009-04-12T19:19:00.002-04:00

In completing the job shadow, I realized that the best way in learning about leadership is by observing things firsthand. For my job shadow I decided to follow Dean Flagel- Dean of Admissions at George Mason University. There were many things that I learned from this experience. I saw that it is alright to give people jobs before helping them out. As a leader I learned that you can not do everything that people throw at you. As a leader you need to know how to delegate different jobs.

In observing Dean Flagel the different theories which was learned in class became clearer after the job shadow. The three theories which became clearer was Transformational, situational and skills. Looking at situational I saw the Dean Flagel handle two different meeting differently. One group needed to be directed and the other needed support. In Transformational I saw that setting a goal and motivating a staff is key to getting any job done.

Learning from others, in my opinion, is the best way to learn about any topic. Seeing someone complete the job and listening to where they may have made a mistake or done the right thing is the best way to support the reading that is done.

Job Shadowing Experience

2009-04-08T22:12:00.002-04:00

I had the opportunity to "shadow" Dr. Linda Schwartzstein, Asst. Vice Provost/Vice President Academic Affairs for GMU. I took a law class from her and have had the opportunity to participate in university-related meetings. I initially found her to be intimidating - she is tall, serious in expression and demeanor, and piercing gaze (but not an unkind gaze). Since I found her to be a little intimidating, I figured what better person to shadow? I am happy I did as I learned a great deal and have an immense amount of respect and admiration for her.

Three characteristics struck me about her:

1. she consciously helps people professionally, as she was helped early in her career. She makes conscientious attempts to "pay it forward" professionally.

2. she is dedicated to her family and does not allow work to get in the way of her family responsibilities and time with her children. She expects her directors (those reporting to her) to follow the same outlook... work should not take away from personal and family time. She believes and supports work-life balance, and she certainly lives it.

3. her guiding principal in decision-making in her role is "Is the issue/concern/decision best for the student(s) at GMU? I find this very refreshing because in my role, I do not hear this philosophy. For me, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that my most important client is the student.

Week 12: Job Shadow Experience

2009-04-06T23:01:00.002-04:00

I did my job shadow at Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) with Sandi Pope, the Student Activities Advisor. I chose to shadow Sandi because I am unfamiliar with Community Colleges and the field of student activities at the community college level. I never knew that this position was available at community colleges and could be a career possibility in the future. Sandi invited me to an event she was holding on a Friday night, so I would be able to see what types of events she puts on, how well it is attendended by students, and the atmosphere in which Sandi works in. Going to the event was an excellent experience because it showed me how off my impressions of community colleges was. The event was a huge success with between 50-75 students in attendance as well as community members. I could barely find a place to sit, either it be on the floor or a chair!

A few days later I went back to LFCC to interview Sandi, on a day that is usually busy with students coming in and out of her office. The day I went was very quiet due to Chic-Fil-A opening up in town the next day and many of the students camping out in line. They even called Sandi to come and take a video of them in line! The fact that the students felt comfortable to call Sandi on her cell phone and ask her to come and hang out with them for a bit said a lot about the relationship she has with her students.

There were two topics that students visiting her office brought up that interested me. One is the fact that many students are joining the military or army in order to pay for college. One student just joined and will be leaving for boot camp this summer, he does not have a back up plan incase the military does not work out. The other topic was the number of students working more then one job as well as attending college full time. A student worked from 4 -9a.m. took class from 10-2, then some nights worked 4-8. Many students that Sandi works with have to have more then one job in order to pay for their education due. These are two issues that I have not largely encountered as being a student at a four year institution. It was eye opening to hear students talk about these issues openly with Sandi as well as in front of a stranger. I appreciated their honesty. I do believe that the struggles students at Community Colleges are at times different then students at 4 year insitutions. However I think that students attending 4 year institutions will begin to face the struggles of paying for their education as the economy crisis continues.

I enjoyed my job shadow experience and hope to continue job shadowing other members of student affairs.

Week 10: Unethical Leadership in Media

2009-04-06T22:21:00.002-04:00

One Example of poor leadership in public life that immediately comes to mind is the case of former New York State Attorney General and Governor Elliot Spitzer. This is a man who raised the profile of the State Attorney General's Office with his crusading approach to fraud and corporate wrong doings in the securities and finance industry and won great popularity because of it. He used this popularity to run for the Governor of New York. Many people had hopes that his fearless political style would help improve the political culture of one of the nations most dysfunctional state government's. However by being caught as a client of a prostitution ring under investigation by the Federal Government, he compromised his ability to lead the state governement and was forced to resign.

Referring to the ethics definiation handout from class last week, laws are: rules, regulations, or thinking of a nation as to what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable...which are regulary enforced by persons authorized by society. I find it to be unethical leadership when you are a person of great leadership for a state, that people look to improve the political culture and are caught in a great scandal by the Federal Government. If the state's people can have no faith in the leader of their state government, who will they look towards to lead them in the future. By breaking the law in such a scandal, Spitzer lost his faithful followers and for good reason.

Week 11: Job Shadowing

2009-04-05T17:06:00.003-04:00

I had the opportunity to job shadow Mark Bumgarner, the Coordinator for Student Services at the Woodbridge campus of the Northern Virginia Community College. It was a great experience. Mark arranged for the job shadowing to occur during a staff training session. This provided me to witness Mark and his staff interact for several hours. They were working on a visions and value statement for student services.

I later interviewed with Mark a week or so later and the training session was a great way to start the interview because it was something he could refer to during the interview session. He was a great host and ambassador of his school. I learned a little more about student services from a veteran so it was time well spent.

If I may offer some suggestions for a job shadowing experience: 1) Arrange for the interview at least a few days later. This enables you and the subject to have soak time and reflect on the experience. 2) Obtain a resume of the person you are shadowing. This will help you in the interview process. 3) Request an opportunity to see the subject interact with others. Mark picked the training session because he thought it would be the best way to see him work with his entire staff. 4) Consider writing a thank you letter and sharing your work with the person you shadow. Mark did not request either of these but if I was being shadowed, I know I would appreciate it.

Ethics in Medical Research

2009-03-31T19:11:00.003-04:00

In the editorial section of today's Washington Post, there is a story involving the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Five months after the May 2008 edition of JAMA was published, a professor wrote a letter to JAMA to tell them of a conflict of interest involving a researcher in one of their published articles. It seems that the researcher is on the speakers' bureau of the pharmaceutical company involved in research for an antidepressant drug -- a big no no in the world of medical research. The professor got no response after 5 months, then decided to send the letter again -- only this time cc'ing a reporter at the NY Times and mentioned the allegations again in an article he wrote that was published on the British Medical Journal's website. As a result of this professor's actions, JAMA recently announced a change in its complaint policy. Now JAMA states that they will inform all people who make a complaint that they are not to alert the media of their complaint until an investigation is completed.

The ethical problem in this example is that JAMA failed to investigate any conflicts of interest in their research. If JAMA fails to respond to accusations of conflicts of interest -- particularly after 5 months -- why shouldn't the accuser go to the public to make others aware of their unethical behavior?

Ethics in Leadership

2009-03-29T22:18:00.002-04:00

Ethical Leadership is one of the primary tenants of good leadership. In almost all leadership development trainings, leadership courses, and advice from industry leaders, you will hear or be told, to always maintain good ethical standards. Well, if that is the case, then why so many folks violate their code of good ethics?

As I thought about this assignment, I said, I know, I could write about Kwame Kilpatrick, the former embattled mayor of Detroit, who covered up an affair with his personal assistant, however, had a number of incriminating text messages to her that showed that the two were having an affair. When the affair was exposed by a city official, Kilpatrick, used tax payer funds to settle a lawsuit in the hopes that the affair would not be exposed. Unfortunately, the affair and the text messages were exposed to the media, and Kilpatrick was forced to resign and served 4 months in jail. He has supposedly relocated to Dallas, Texas and is looking to start his life over again. I then said, I could write about Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL), who replaced the seat vacated by President Barack Obama. Sen. Burris told a hearing of his peers that he did not have any contact with the offices of then Gov. Rob Blagoavich, who appointed Burris to the senate seat. Well, after further investigation, Burris recanted his original testimony and indicated that he did have contact with Bloagovich's office about fundraising. Burris, came under immense scrutiny, but appears to have weathered this storm. He is being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee, but I believe his ethics storm has blown over.

Next Monday night, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) will crown a national champion. Connecticut, Villanova, Michigan State and North Carolina will all be slated for the final four, out of which one will be crowned, the National Champions. While we were in class last week, Yahoo Sports discovered that the University of Connecticut could be in serious violation of NCAA recruitment rules http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ys-uconnphone032509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns. Last month, the Connecticut Men's Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun, blasted a reporter, because the reporter asked him, how he felt making $1.6 million dollars a year, in a state that has had a significant budget down turn. Calhoun, told the reporter that his program brings 12 Million dollars to the University yearly, do not question my salary! This brought Calhoun under intense scrutiny from university officials and state politicians.

However, this most recent story will probably be the most talked about story during the NCAA Final Four, whether or not Calhoun knew about recruiting violations and to what extent. As a coach with 37 years in the business, 2 NCAA Championships, 805 collegiate wins, and virtually ensured a spot in the Hall of Fame, how could you jeopardize all that you have worked for and that you student athletes have worked for?

If Connecticut wins this year, it may all be for naught? If you read the complexity of the article, you can see how important and how corrupt college recruiting has become. Again, with the outstanding track record that Coach Calhoun has documented, why would allow his program to get involved in something like this? What was his ETHICAL responsibility as a Leader and to his program?

Week 10

2009-03-29T22:13:00.002-04:00

Identify one case of improper leadership ethics in the media and critique.

In recent weeks, the leaders of AIG has given some of their employees a bonus. The part that is improper is the money was from the relief that the government gave them. In my opinion, giving some members of your working community more money is unethical. Adding up all the money that people got as a bonus could give many other people jobs. This action goes back to the discussion that we had with Dr. Lucas. One of the questions that was raised was why do people do unethical things? Thinking about this question there are so many possibilities that come to mind and none of them excuse the behavior of the AIG leaders.

No only was the AIG leaders looked at in a negative light but other leaders was also viewed in a negative way. Some people viewed the people that gave AIG the money in a negative light because they are responsible for the bonuses. Some may think that if the money was not given to AIG could have it been used in a better way? One thing that this example shows is that one decision that one company makes can affects others.

Week 10: A 100 year issue

2009-03-29T21:27:00.003-04:00

As a historian, I would like to share this site, Falling Blossoms http://www.fallingblossoms.com/ethics/ , for insight into ethics from a long term view. The reason is it has an article, "all executives are unethical doing the right thing the moral case for rightshifting" links together two events separated in time. Both have ethical foundations at the root. The question the author poses to the reader is: If executives truly believe people are being as productive as possible – but that is not the case - do they have any right to believe it?

This really is a concern when you supervise men and women. You are ultimately responsible for everything that happens and you cannot assume or hope things are being done right. Hope is not a strategy! As a leader, you have an awesome responsibility to not only be true to yourself but for the ethics of others. The website author, Marshall Goldsmith, quotes Bertrand Russell:“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out,which is its exact opposite."

Another reason I am sharing this site is there are other articles such as "the ethics of transformational leadership" which allows you to enjoy reading about transformational leadership from an ethical perspective. There is also an underlying theme on the website stressing the role respect plays in ethical leadership.

Week 10-Unethical Leadership at Texas A & M

2009-03-29T15:45:00.001-04:00

Identify one case of improper leadership ethics in the media and critique.

In class this past Thursday, Nance Lucas had asked us to identify an individual who we thought was an ethical individual. One of the people that I wrote down was our Compliance staff within the athletic department. Our compliance staff is responsible for enforcing and monitoring the rules and regulations established by the NCAA. If you do violate a NCAA rule, the compliance staff is responsible for reporting the violation. As I was looking for my case, the first article I found relates to compliance issue in higher education. The article, “Rogue Compliance Officer” was posted on Inside Higher Ed on March 27.

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions recently released a report on major violations at Texas A& M Corpus Christi in men's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's tennis. A women's volleyball player competed after her eligibility expired, men's basketball staff violated rules relating to contacting prospective student athletes, and an international men's tennis player received excess financial aid from the university. The two individuals involved within the case were expected to “to deport themselves in according with the general recognized high standards of honesty and sportsmanship normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics.”---these individuals clearly did not believe in this statement.

It turns out that the President of the university was previously aware of the situation and instructed his athletic director to take care of the matter and report the violations. The compliance staff and the athletic director did not report the violations and the NCAA punishment resulted in forfeiting games for the men's tennis and women's volleyball in the season this occurred and for men's basketball reduction in recruiting contact. Texas A&M Corpus Christi is on violation with the NCAA till 2013.

The article concludes by saying that no specific punishments were charged to the two individuals involved. However, Paul Dee, Committee on Infractions chair and lecturer at the University of Miami, said “all details of cases of unethical conduct are housed by the NCAA and can be accessed by institutions that may be considering hiring one of them in the future, or otherwise have an interest in their past. This public reprimand by the NCAA and permanent spot on the committee’s list, he noted, could be considered their punishment.” These two individuals were fired from Texas A & M and subsequently are on a black list with the NCAA. Who would hire either of them for a future positions within compliance.

One of the definitions that we received on Thursday, defined ethics as rules or standards that govern behaviors; sentiment of the community. This is a great example of unethical behavior as the rules established by the NCAA were clearly broken resulting in probation for the entire Texas A & M Corpus Christi community.

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/27/ncaa

Our Legislators and Bankers - still sleeping together...

2009-03-29T14:00:00.001-04:00

The U.S. tax payer is bailing out financial institutions that include banks, insurance, and investment firms. (We won’t discuss the automotive companies…). In light of blatant unethical behavior, Americans are rethinking their support. In the midst of our federal representatives publicly reprimanding larger financial firms for distributing bonuses, redecorating offices, ordering corporate jets, et cetera, it was revealed on March 26 that members of our legislative body continue to accept PAC money from the very banks they publicly chastise. The total sum of money is not huge - in the scheme of things ($2,000 - $250,000), but the amounts serve as a “distraction.”

The scenario, as presented by the media, illustrate the discussions we had in our past class regarding higher education (h.e.) institutes receiving donations from corporate donors that may have questionable practices and policies that run counter to the h.e. mission. Based on this statement, how can our legislators accept funds from the very organizations they criticize? How can financial institutes continue to use tax payer funds to cycle back to legislators who sit on the financial committee, is a majority leader, and so forth? Ethical utilitarianism is not demonstrated very strongly in this regard! Our very leaders are being tasked to confront unethical behavior, yet their behavior does not contribute to the confidence of Americans in their ability and dedication to changing their own.

Leadership Ethics

2009-03-28T20:46:00.002-04:00

I found a case similar to the one mentioned in class by Nance Lucas:

http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/24/24010.html

This story explains that the college president of Ithaca College was faced with student protesting the contract that the school has with a certain food service company. Their issue was similar to the acceptance of money from an organization that is in the news in some way with questionable practices. The president's decision in this case was to remain with the food service company after much deliberation and research into the allegations and options.

The decision falls on that line of ethics that remains grey. It isn't necessarily that the president acted unethically, actually, I would argue that the president acted in the best interest of the college and with a respectable process. I pulled this article because of the perspective of the writer. It showed me that in any ethical decision, there is always people that will still believe that the wrong decision was made. Just as Nance mentioned, most ethical dilemmas are typically between two possible rights and not necessarily between wrong and right.

The article rolls through with the perspective that the president made the wrong decision. The viewpoint is expressed very clearly in this paragraph:

President Williams has studied the issue to her satisfaction. "Ithaca College administration has conducted extensive research on the issue of private prisons and the relationship of SMS and its parent company, Sodexho Alliance, to the private prison industry." The "extensive research" the president speaks of was done "with open minds, in the spirit of academic inquiry, without any predetermined outcome." Independent and objective specialists were consulted. "We engaged outside experts to provide us with objective information on and analysis of criminal justice issues and prison privatization as well as insights into the food service industry and the implications of different possible decisions." Among the "experts" that Williams consulted with were Professor Michael Jacobson of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Strategic Communications, a research and public affairs firm; and John Cornyn of the Cornyn Fasano Group, a food service management consulting firm. It's not surprising that these "objective" experts supported President Williams in her decision to continue funding prisons for profit with student food dollars.

I wanted to sum this up, but each sentence has scathing remarks with regards to the decision and process. The constant quoted words bring an air of sarcasm. The fact that the president took the time and effort to research the matter and weigh all possible implications was obviously not enough for these students.

The other issue that I have with these ethical decisions is the cattiness that ensues once a decision is made that isn't in the favor of a certain group. More often than not the group will target the salary of the president as a new direction to take their gripe. Because the president could not justify spending more college funds on an increased effort (as there is probably better uses, or no flexibility) then the writer decides to mention that the president makes over $400,000 a year. For a major college, that honestly does not sound like much money in relation to some of the numbers that I came across in my search for this article.

This article brings up a true ethical dilemma for the president. It shows that ethical dilemmas typically have winners and losers. In most cases, as Nance also mentioned, losers are sore and will tend to continue their gripes. It is true that as a leader you will not please everybody, but I stand by the president's decision based on the research that took place to justify the decision.

Team Leadership

2009-03-24T08:22:00.002-04:00

As most people have stated, teams and team leadership can have both postive experiences/outcomes or negative ones. I think a large part of that also depends on who is on the team and what attitude they bring to the team. I have been on teams where nobody really knows what is going on, even the leader, and I step up as a "leader" to bring order and focus to the group. I also have been part of a team that has thrived due to the leader having order, knowing what our goal was, encouraging diverse thoughts and open communication.

I would lable myself a team leader kind of person....sometimes that's good and sometimes it kicks me in the butt! It mostly kicks me in the butt when I can't seem to motivate the team to do anything or have open communication, this usually occurs with students I work with. It is frustrating when you try hard to get people involved and still not a peep from everyone. The most recently team that I have lead, had one dominate person. This person would always share their opinions, thoughts, and made it uncomfortable for anyone else on the team to share theirs. This is when I would have to make leadership decision number 2: Should I intervene to meet task or relational needs? I did intervene by saying my thoughts and opinions and asking for the teams feedback, making it easier for them to feel comfortable to state their own. It is important to get team collaboration and team discussions because a team is not defined by one person and their input only. If I were to allow only one person to dominate the discussion, then what would the use of the team be?

Team Leadership - what fun!

2009-03-23T21:04:00.005-04:00

Leadership in teams is either a rewarding and productive experience or a miserable and disheartening one.

Communicating a vision is vital to a successful team leadership experience. Once a leader states the "end goal" then the team-supporters and the detractors emerge. By "detractors" I mean the individual who refuses to even try to be a team member. We have all worked with this individual - the naysayer, thrives on negativity or conspiracy, or wants control. I define supporters as those willing to give the vision or the mission a try - they are supporters of the team.

I just came out of a team meeting whereby I am the designated "leader". I should note that the committee or team I am "leading" was appointed by someone higher up. Having learned my lesson from the LPI, I stated the goal/mission of the group and asked for input on the best means to achieve the goal. Whereby, I was promptly told that our mission was a "token exercise in futility" designed to make a specific group look good. Wow!!! Once that was out, chaos reigned (debating, arguing, and angst). I think I will go back to the individal who built the team and ask his thinking behind assigning this person to the team. With this fresh experience, I can confidently state that a negative team leader leadership experience may result with the emergence of a "second leader."

On a more positive note, an area to watch in a "team leadership" situation is to make sure an individual does not take on too much of the team's work. Always great to have someone willing to contribute, but there is a danger to having one person shoulder the work - it impacts perspective, could prejudice opinions or results. Finding balance within a team as far as sharing responsibilities, opinions and committment is a primary challenge facing many team leaders.

An ideal team leadership experience typically means working with individuals with different perspectives, initiative, and backgrounds with a shared culture to get something done. The best type of arrangement is when the Leader is available to state the mission, serve as a sounding board - providing ideas, insight and advise. I have been fortunate enough to have experienced this several times in my career, so I know it is not a myth - teams can and do work.

Nonetheless, I cannot wait for my next meeting with the committee of "discord" - and the evuhl naysayer!!! Suggestions on how to manage (as opposed to Lead) this individual?

Week 9-Leadership Critique

2009-03-23T20:46:00.003-04:00

Critique your experiences with leadership in teams.

In an ideal work setting, team leadership could be reflective of the exercise that was conducted in class. Team leadership would consist of an analyst, synthesizer, definer, president, interpreter, and emotional stabilizer. One of the factors that affects team leadership is politics.
To me one of the key factors to team leadership is communication. A specific example at Mason relating to team leadership revolves around our Patriot Platoon activities committee. Our committee was brought together to manage and implement activities for the student group. Our committee consists of four members (1 student and 3 staff members). Even though this is a small leadership team it is affective in the responsibilities and roles we play.

To me one of the key issues relating to team leadership is goal achievement and accomplishment. I have not served on many leadership teams throughout my professional career. But the type of leadership team that I prefer to work and be involved on is one that all members are treated as equals. Everyones input is heard in a respective manner and a team that is run as a dictatorship my one individual.

Virtual Team Leadership

2009-03-23T11:44:00.002-04:00

I coordinated a team of researchers for a short term consultancy project a year ago. We were conducting research on best practices in creating educational opportunities for all during natural and political emergencies in developing countries. The work involved consultants from the US, Ghana, Ethiopia, and China. The final product was a paper giving detail of all of our recommendations for the World Bank.

One of the biggest challenges in doing this type of project is keeping in regular communication with people in different time zones across the world. It wasn't always possible to have meetings and be able to get everyone's input because we all had our individual work and family schedules. Culture was a big issue as well. When I work in other countries, it is expected that I adapt to the host country culture and ways of conducting business -- or at least make an honest attempt (I always make mistakes...). However in a virtual environment where everyone is still working in their native cultures, whose culture becomes the dominant culture?

This was the first time I had ever done this type of project so I was feeling out the process as I went along. If I had to do it again (and I am sure the opportunity will come again as technology is improving all the time...) I would develop some kind of process norms so that there would be a general understanding of how all involved should interact with each other. I would also have to configure a way to provide training on how to use the online collaboration tools as some people had issues (most of the ones who had issues were American...).

Blog: To be up soon

2009-03-23T04:33:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone! It is 4a.m. and I am out sitting at Shack-a-thon for Greek Week and just remembered that I forgot to blog this weekend. I don't have my book on my to make any extra awesome points..so I will blog early Monday afternoon! With the craziness of getting ready for Greek Week it slipped my mind! Sorry for the delay.

Working in Leadership Teams

2009-03-22T22:37:00.002-04:00

One of the most difficult things to do in the world of work is to work in a team that is not on the same page. One of the most rewarding things you can do is work in full collaboration with a leadership team to achieve a common goal.

I am asked to work on leadership teams all of the time. In my experience the hardest thing to do is to have people leave their "egos" at the door. Sometimes this can be extremely difficult. However, if handled properly, it can prove to be beneficial, because it gives you insight on how certain "leaders" think, and what their style/s may be when faced in working as a team.

Recently, I was asked to design a team that would serve as an ad hoc committee for a data base that I am designing that will contain data that will be uploaded by member institutions. My team consisted of 7 leaders who all came from different perspectives, but who all had the content/area knowledge that I was seeking to complete the initial stages of developing the first stages of the data base. The team consisted of myself as the project coordinator, the director of MIS (Member Information Services), the director of Research, a researcher, two company vice presidents, two members of the Board of Trustees, and 3 member institutions who would serve as "testers" of the initial soft launch of the project.

Right off the bat, I know that I had to establish the tone to make sure that everyone felt empowered to work in collaboration with one another and to be respectful of every one's input, ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Sometimes, this is not an easy task. There were certain members who were critical of the program design and asked that upon furthure review to change the database after it had been designed and laid out. While this was an easy task to fix, sometimes, this may not always be the case. When working in a leadership team, you must express a vision, a goal, and state a mission to get everyone on the same page, because it you do not, you might find yourself going in circles.

In most work/office situations, team building is key! Coaching, mentoring, mutual collaboration are essential to keep teams congruent and to working towards a common goal. Each experience for me teaches me the valuable experiences that I am going to need in my career and my development as a leader. It is essential that as a team, you establish a clear cut goal up front, and to include everyone on the team in this goal from the on set. These are just a few of important aspects that I have learned from working in a team environment.

Team Leadership

2009-03-22T22:03:00.002-04:00

Working in team, in my opinion is one of the hardest things to do. The only team work I have been apart of is for school project and creating programs for the resident advisor position. Before the role play done in class I did not know there was clear roles for each person in a group. After the role play,not only do I understand the roles but the importance each role has in the group.
For example, if you did not have the critic then would be the person who question what was being done in the group; or the analysis who would make sure that whatever decision/suggestion being made will be supported by any group that supports the team. The examples showed the importance of different roles in a group. After thinking about the groups that I have been apart of I saw where people where the critic.
From the readings and the role play I saw that collaboration is key. Another thing that is important is for all group members to understand what the focus is in the group. Without people understand the goals of the group.
I think that the role play done in class helps prepare me in working in teams in a higher education setting. One thing this experience has taught me is that it is okay to speak your mind in a team setting. Without the "critic" the group would not function to the best of its ability. This experience will help me in my future roles in the higher education setting.

Week 9: Experiences with Team Leadership

2009-03-22T20:45:00.002-04:00

My personal experience with Team Leadership has been along the continuum from that of Super to Nightmare. The difference is attributable to how the team members were committed to the process. Like any relationship, Team Leadership, has to clearly define upfront what roles the members will assume and there has to be enforcement for the team to achieve success. The Northouse chapter reading makes this case with the Hill Model for Team Leadership figure and the Mc Grath Critical Leadership Functions matrix.

The challenge for a Team is everyone has to understand what the mission is and what they are being asked to contribute. I have witnessed individuals take advantage of others in a Team environment. I have seen individuals really go the extra mile, do really heavy lifting, but not be serving the Team intent with their hard work.

Collaboration and Communication define the best Teams. I have enjoyed working on Teams that took baby steps as a way to approach problem solving. By this, I mean the work was incrementally challenging. If work was not broken down into specific tasks with enforced deadlines, it became difficult to work together. The reason was egos and trust were contained with the incremental process. Whatever can go wrong may go wrong and going slow and easy mitigates the need for a state of urgency brought about by crisis management. Every time I worked on any Team I learned more about myself and of others.

Another important lesson I learned is to enforce deadlines. You have to be accountable to the Team. Finally, Northouse offers a great Leadership Instrument in the Team Leadership chapter reading.

Week 9: Reflection on Team Leadership

2009-03-22T19:11:00.002-04:00

I agree with the benefits of team leadership. In my experience, the dialog created by team discussion of goals and solutions far outweighs the individal approach to problem solving. Team leadership allows for ideas from various perspectives to be discussed and a better solution to result.

I have had a lot of experience with the concepts of team leadership in the committees that I have run and other projects which I have been a part of. Although there are obvious benefits to this direction of leadership, the obvious downfalls are what usually come into play when team leadership is put into practice. Rarely do you see a team that works in a neutral way. In my experience, there have always been issues with individual agendas and submissive personalities.

The issue seems to commonly arrise where you have individuals who want something for themselves and not necessarily for the good of the direction of the team. Greed or personal agendas tend to skew a lot of what ends up being discussed or solved. Team leadership requires that there is a particular appointment of the individuals in the team to create a cohesive thinktank with similar goals and objectives.

The other issue that seems to arrise even more often in the teams that I have worked in is the problem of submissiveness. The advantages of team leadership is that the various people involved need to create a dialog with varying perspectives. If individuals sit on the sidelines and don't become involved, then they are useless with regards to the objectives of the team. As many people in the teams that I have been a part of were appointed, they rarely felt the necessity to become fully involved in the mission. The people involved in the team need incentives, and incentives create greed, and we are now in a circle issues.

I enjoy the concepts of team leadership, and I have definately become better at fostering the ideals of a team method, however this type of mentality takes experience in order to get a group dialog really working. Each time I become involved in team efforts, I have noticed that the teams become more productive and I have a better understanding of how to keep people involved and on track toward the issues by playing the roles that we mentioned in class.

Week 7: President Obama and symbolism

2009-03-15T20:44:00.002-04:00

Are you familiar with the new symbol of the ARRA?
See: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/03/emblems-to-stam.html

ARRA stands for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The idea is we can link a project with the economic stimulus funding because the ARRA symbol will be visible The administration created this symbol to provide visibility of ARRA projects. This reminds me of FDR's National Recovery Act
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Recovery_Administration

Think the use of emblems like this is powerful but it could be overdone if the administration creates too many. Find it interesting is there are no words attached to the ARRA symbol or the earlier Obama's campaign symbol.
See: http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=obama+campaign+symbols&FORM=BIRE#

These symbols are a new way for people to connect with the country. The symbols augment the American flag and are not replacing it.

HELP on case analysis!

2009-03-14T16:53:00.000-04:00

So, I am having a hard time figuring out how to start my paper. I want to make sure I have my constituents right before moving along much further. Are the provosts constituents mainly the Faculty Senate and president? Or is it broader then that? I have no clue! I know that the Engineering Department should be schmoozing me..but other then the Faculty Senate and the President I don't know who I am suppose to schmooze. If anyone has any insights or would like to give examples that they are using, that would be a great help.

Is anyone else having a hard time with this?

The Culture of Obama

2009-03-10T22:09:00.002-04:00

The Kezar book states that the leadership process is aligned with culture (Kezar, p. 131).
Right at 50 days, the Obama administration appears to embrace a culture of openness, transparency and technology. Technology is a cultural theme for the presidency; President Obama, an avid user of technology (i.e. his Blackberry) has made technology a cultural theme for his presidency. He set the stage by posting messages and his campaign speeches on the worldwide web. Not surprisingly, one of the first actions taken by the transition team made was to update the computer system and infrastructure at the White House. Communication and information gathering capabilities were greatly enhanced and made accessible.

Additional technology instruments used includes a robust website that is accessible by all - http://www.whitehouse.gov/. President Obama even has a profile on LinkedIn.com! Clearly, the President expects his administration to use technology as a tool to communicate and to share, thereby promoting transparency. Information is not used as a means of control or to perpetuate fear. For the first time, people can easily see legislation the president is reviewing, debating, supporting or not supporting (and why). Even the President’s weekly radio address gets posted onto the web. President Ronald Reagan was called the “great communicator;” President Obama may also be known as the same with the caveat of communicating via technology. Time will tell.

Aside from technology, I think the second most important aspect of President Obama’s leadership culture is the fact that he is an African-American man. He has a unique worldview compared against most Americans. President Obama is a child of a mixed relationship with a cross-cultural upbringing outside of the United States. An eclectic background as this typically means exposure to different religions, cultures and worldviews – including a unique perspective on the United States and its people. Such a background contributes to a sophisticated worldview. His expectation of his advisors to have openness to other opinions and experiences is evident in his hiring choices and even his choice to include various individuals in the inaugural celebration (religious leaders, performers, speakers). The President surrounds himself with people from different backgrounds, lifestyles, and perspectives (even those that are contrary to his). President Obama will have many difficult decisions to make during his presidency. Having a team of varying opinions and perspectives will lead to more effective and complex decision-making.

Anglo Leadership Profile

2009-03-10T19:25:00.002-04:00

This was in the reading last week and I thought that it was interesting:

Anglo countries want leaders to be exceedingly motivating and visionary, not autocratic, and condsiderate of others, team oriented, and autonomous. They believe that it is ineffective if leaders are status conscious or prone to face saving.

Dave and I talked about how this reflects on Barak Obama and how citizens choose their presidents. We look for someone who has a vision for the United States and can motivate themselves and others to follow the vision. Barack Obama is very motivating, getting the citizens involved in volunteering, he has a vision for America, he is considerate of others and is team oriented.

This is just a little reflection on the reading, hope you enjoyed it!

Week 6-Elizabeth

2009-03-02T22:18:00.001-05:00

The movie that I selected to watch for this week's blog was Elizabeth: The Golden Age. The movie focused on the Golden Age at the time of the Spanish invasion.
A transformational leadership focuses on the following aspects: empower the people, raise consciousness, create a vision, social architects, and building trust and fostering relationship.
I do remember learning about Queen Elizabeth many many years ago but based on the movie I would agree that she models the transformational leadership approach. Transformational leadership embodies a concern for the common good or followers. The Queen in her reign created a vision and a country were freedom existed and established laws protected the countrymen. The Queen on the verge of a Spanish attack went out to the battlefield and charged her troops to defend the land of England. She said that “We would meet the enemy face to face...together no invader will pass...they will not pass....and we will meet in the field of Victory. The Queen was somewhat of a social architect in this challenge to the soldiers-as she provided the troops with an idea for the future and an hope for victory.
The movie opened with a quote from the Queen, “The impossible is far more interesting.”To be this is the idea of raising consciousness or the ability to be different. To me the Queen in the movie showed that she would not conform to the norm or settle for a husband simply based on the fact that she did not have one.
Did the queen empower her people? Yes. I believe that the Queen led my example and those that followed her possessed qualities similar to her: dignified, strong, brave, and full of pride. In class we identified leaders who we thought we transformational leaders: Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa....well I think that Queen Elizabeth could be part of this crew.

Good movie! I would suggest renting it.

Week 6- 12 Angry Men

2009-03-02T12:41:00.004-05:00

I really do love this film. It says a lot about the nature of our judicial system both good and bad. I always want to know how often we actually have a jury of our peers that weighs the case put before them like the one in this film does.

For those who aren't familiar with this film, the plot is very simple. There is a murder trial about a boy who might have killed his father. The film begins with the 12 jurors being dismissed for deliberation. The jurors next take a vote to find out where they stand, and Juror Number 8 (Henry Fonda) is the sole juror who claims a decision of "Not Guilty." The movie then progresses with juror after juror moving their decision from "Guilty" to "Not Guilty" for varying reasons.

To start, juror number 1 comes out attempting to lead the group through his attempts to create order out of the mess by calling for votes and creating a system for arguing points. He does more policing than leading. In the end, juror number 8 is mentioned as the "leader" of the group after persuading several others of the reasonable doubt in the case.

The interesting point of this story is that juror 8 stands up for what he believes and in doing so begins to make individuals out of what seems to be a pressured mob. The first vote was cast by show of hands, which psychologically forces many people to side with the visual majority. The second vote was done by secret ballot, requested by juror 8, allowing people to be more honest about their view. The process seems to be the most important aspect for juror 8. He is not really challenging due process, rather he is forcing the jury to remember their obligations to the process.

Juror 8 takes on a transformational leadership role by slowly creating doubt in person after person which allows each one to cone to their own personal terms of the situation and, in turn, lead the arguments against those that find the accused as guilty. One after another, jurors flip their decision after various doubts in the case presented. Each juror also switches to the side of not guilty by putting aside personal politics and reason.

The story also creates interesting circles or groups within the 12 people. As the story goes along, three or four people on the side of guilty are choosing so for various personal reasons that make them very strong and vocal. The majority are quiet and logical, and then there are several that seem to be of differing social classes and race which makes them pull together in their arguments. Though this is a room of 12 white males, the differences between them are striking, and it was juror 8's intention to play on those differences by approaching his point in as many different angles as possible, but each relating to the specific personalities he was contended with.

I also found several side notes to the story quite interesting. Little nuances such as juror 8's occupation as an architect. Could this be a relation to the concept of a leader being a social architect?

Dead Poets Society - Transformational Leadership

2009-03-02T06:51:00.003-05:00

There are many movies that capture the true essence of Transformational Leadership. Movies that come to mind are the Great Debaters (Denzel Washington), Coach Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) and Dangerous Minds (Michelle Pheiffer). However, the movie that I chose for this assignment was Dead Poets Soceity.

"Oh Captain, My Captain"!

Dead Poets Society was an exceptional movie. Set in the late 1950's, it is set at a prestigious boarding school for men, with rigid traditions and standards. Professor John Keating (Robin Williams) is introduced as the new English Professor.

Transformational leadership is defined as having the ability inspire and motivate. It has five components; idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectural stimulations, individual consideration and trust/collaboration.

Keating was inspirational, dynamic, and energenic! He also injected humor into his teaching which stimulated his students to think differently and creatively by suggesting news ways of looking at things.

In the movie, one could say that one can see many types of leadership styles. From the opening scene in which Keating comes to class, you can see him invoke his leadership style. His passion for poetry, his students, and teaching them to look at the world in a different light.

Professor Keating from the opening class appears to want to move his students in a new direction. He teaches them to look at poetry differently and to seize the day. Professor Keating "became their inspiration, he made their lives extraordinary". ( A tagline from the movie).

Keating's leadership was compelling, sympatheic, and eloquent. He focused on each student invidually and assisted them in facing both their strengths and weaknesses. Keating broke tradition, but still maintained professionalism, although his teaching style was being noticed by other professors and school administrators.

Professor Keating involved his students in making decisions, they developed a bond of trust. And while he was very influencing and thought provoking, he was not intruding. The culuture of the school was rigid. The school director Mr. Nolan had a profound influence on all of the students. However, his style is nothing like Mr. Keatings, in fact it clashes. Nolan is straight by the book, whereas Keating uses his style to invoke confidence and transformation.

In the movie, Transformational Leadership is so noted as Professor Keating coaches his students through their situations and issues. Futhermore, he uses his influence and skills to listen, learn and develop new and innovative ways to inspire his students. According to Northouse (2001), "This factor is represenative of leaders who provides a supportive climate in which they listen carefully to the individual needs of the followers." You see this demonstrated throughout the movie.

Keating's most profound teaching lesson in my opinion was having his students face conformity! He does an excercise where he tells them to find their own walk, swim against the stream. Keating challenged the process and taught his students how to confront new traditions.

An outstanding movie that shows you leadership skills and methods from beginning to end.

SEIZE THE DAY!

Gandhi

2009-03-01T23:20:00.003-05:00

Gandhi was, most certainly, a transformational leader. I use the Kouzes and Posner model of transformational leadership to describe why.

MODEL THE WAY: Gandhi's best exemplifies this through fasting. His first fast (at least as it is shown in the film) was after violence had broken out during the noncooperation campaign against British rule. Gandhi, a proponent of nonviolence, was deeply troubled by the way the violence by Indians against police and British soldiers was perceived by the British and portrayed in international news. He believed that violence only amounted to revenge which leads to more violence. Thus in order to stop violent behavior, Indians must remain noncompliant with British laws that were dehumanizing, but turn the other cheek when faced with violence. Gandhi's willingness to put his life on the line through a hunger strike was perhaps the greatest nonviolent act of resistance which he kept up until, as it was said in the movie, that Indians were offering garlands to British soldiers and Indian police.

INSPIRE A SHARED VISION: In an early part of the movie, Gandhi explained how buying clothes from the British rather than from Indians was making India poorer. He had moved to a small rural village in modest home and chose to wear clothes made from local materials. He then inspired other Indians to get rid of their British garments at a rally and burned them all as a public demonstration of Indian solidarity. Gandhi connected directly with the poor although he was a highly educated man by listening to their concerns about their inability to maintain a livelihood that was taken away under British rule.

CHALLENGE THE PROCESS: Gandhi initiated a salt making campaign. The British had a monopoly on salt making, even the India had its own ocean from which they were able to produce their own salt. Considering that salt is a necessary to sustain life, Gandhi saw it as another way to keep India dependent on Britain. Gandhi led a march to the sea where he and many others began producing their own salt in an act of defiance.

ENABLE OTHERS TO ACT: Once the British learned of the salt making in India, they discussed means by which to encourage violence in India in an effort to lessen the following of Gandhi. Gandhi was arrested, however his absence did not lead to violence. Muslims and Hindus stood together while being beaten, one by one, never lifting a hand to hurt the ones who struck them. Gandhi's followers had the courage to do this in his absence because they felt they were strong enough to do this on their own.

Week 6- Elizabeth

2009-03-01T23:17:00.002-05:00

"I may be a women but I have the heart of a man. I am my father's daughter and I not afraid of anything". The movie Elizabeth showed many examples of Transformational Leadership. Elizabeth showed that she had a concerned for her people when she went in front of all the bishops and started that their needed to a "Single Church of England". In order to make her point stronger she practice and try to find the best way to stressed that this act was going to help her people. The biggest ideas that was expressed through out was making sure that Elizabeth married someone. Throughout the movie she would talk about her nation rather than a man for herself. At the end of the movie she made a transitions and declare that she was now married to England.
In order to be a good leader she asked her people what they feel about a certain situation and what they would if they needed to make a decision.

When thinking about the movie, I remembered the speaker and the themes in Leadership which are Reflective,Ethics, and Diversity. I do not see Ethics and Diversity falling into this situation because of the power a queen holds, but there was a lot of time taken to her to reflective on many of the decisions that she had to make. The speaker take about going with your gut feeling which is something that the Queen did. When all the people stated she had to get married, she knew that she did not want to be married but respected her people and welcome in the idea to think about if she would.

The movie showed that many people did not want Elizabeth to be the queen and some even tried to kill her, but she did everything that she could to be the best leader she could and in the end she was known as a great queen.

Week 6: Dead Poets Society

2009-03-01T21:44:00.002-05:00

We watched bits and pieces of the Dead Poets Society in class and discussed how Keating, one of the main characters, was a transformational leader. Since we have already discussed Keating, I would like to take this time and talk about the other leader that I see in this movie. Keating is the main leader of the students, he is in a leadership poistion by being appointed the english teacher. I also believe that Neil Perry, a student of Keating's, is another major leader within the story. Perry is the leader of a group of students, whom happen to be the group of students that are most influenced by Keating. I believe Perry is the leader of the group due to the fact that he is the one that everyone goes to for study groups, he is the one that actively seeks out Mr. Keatings old annual, and is the one who wants to bring back the Dead Poets Society and encourages others to join him.

While watching the movie, I kept noticing how natural it came to Perry to be a leader. How he easily could encourage his peers to join his causes, others looked to him first, and how he naturally cared for his peers. Todd, his roommate and in his first year at Welton Academy, also notices how Perry by stating to Perry that he is a person who says things and people listen. While noticing that being a leader seemed to naturally come to Perry, I wondered if he would fit into the "great man" theory.

Neuroticism: Perry's strained relationship with his father plays into his Neuroticism and is also the reason for his committing suicide.

Extraversion: Perry is very sociable and is well known among his classmates, I would say he is one of the more popular kids in the school. He is able to see the positive and is encouraging of his schoolmates.

Opennes: Perry is curious about the Dead Poets Society, Keating is able to open up his creativness and gives him a space which he can express his creativity.

Agreeableness: Perry is trusting of his school mates and Keating, he nurtures Todd who is new and shy by taking him under his wing and accepting him

Conscientiousness: Perry is the student you know will be where he is suppose to be, teachers and classmates would be able to depend on him

According to the Traits Theory, Perry would be seen as a leader. He also has the major leadership traits which are: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociabilty.

When Neil passes away, the question I had was who out of the group of students will emerge to be the next leader or even will there be another leader?

Week 6: Twelve O’Clock High

2009-02-28T21:45:00.004-05:00

Only one out of three airmen survived the air battle over Europe during World War II and the film, Twelve O’Clock High, is a study of leadership under such extremely difficult circumstances. Major General Frank Savage (Gregory Peck) is the new commander of the 918th U.S. Bomber Group stationed in England during World War II. His personal mission is to impose his will on the unit in order to build morale and confidence by committing themselves to a "maximum effort.” The general never defines “maximum effort” as a goal and its elusive meaning haunted me. How can you achieve something unless you know how It is defined (Communication)? He does brand, however, the members of his new unit as “washouts” and goes so far as to have one of the bomber crews paint The Leper Colony as the name on their aircraft.

The movie contrasts the leadership styles of two very different leaders and presents the case of why the first leader does not succeed and why his successor does (Situational Leadership). Gregory Peck, prior to assuming command, confronts the outgoing commander to learn more about the situation and the environment. Frank Savage (note the name) perceives Colonel Davenport as too attached to his men. This perception provides an obstacle (Path-Goal Theory) that Gregory Peck must overcome in his new leadership position.
Peck as Frank Savage believes “A man makes his own luck” and he, therefore, wants to achieve a clean break from the former commanders’ history of poor unit efficiency and performance (Transformational Leadership). The character is often an unconventional, radical and assertive as an agent of change like Robin Williams’ character in The Dead Poets Society. Gregory Peck, however, channels tough love into his approach to change. When the general first arrives at the new command, for example, he reprimands the gate guard for not checking his credentials. This is because the new commander views a lack of discipline in the bomber group as a focal point, and even amends his own personality enough to result in the disciplinarian behaviors required by his new position. General Savage later in the film tailors his leadership style for each situation. To encourage group cohesion, he uses words like we and us in their personal conversation to convert Bishop, a young pilot, to withdraw his application for transfer to another unit.

Savage uses equality and fairness in treating another pilot who is the son and nephew of decorated high-ranking officers to dare to rise above his record of underperformance and underachievement. This dare of a challenge to the young legacy pilot turns him around. The honest assessment Savage gives him in their first meeting coupled with the commitment he makes to the pilot to stick it out and thus discover his own strengths serves to create a foundation of trust (Transactional Leadership). The general’s inner principles emanate from his belief that he can resurrect the 918th Bomber Group through developing esprit de corps. He instinctively knows that when the unit begins destroying enemy targets while reducing its own losses, a sense of pride will permeate the changed high-performance unit (Vision).

The general is successful in effecting change but it extracts its toll on him. He breaks-down before leaving on a mission. The detachment resulting from the more human approach of his predecessor has a trade-off. The bomber crews remember his training and perform their mission almost flawlessly as a testimony to his leadership (Empowerment). I would recommend you consider viewing this film to appreciate how lonely a charismatic leadership can be in wartime.

"My Lords, do whatever you wish. As for me, I shall do no otherwise than pleases me." (Elizabeth I to Parliament)

2009-02-28T12:19:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth I is my absolute favorite historical figure which is why I chose to write about the 1998 film Elizabeth, directed by Shekhar Kapur. “Artistic license” is taken to make the story more, well…more “Hollywood;” nonetheless, the film does a nice job of chronicling Elizabeth’s transformation into one of England’s greatest rulers. Elizabeth I ruled England and Ireland from 1553-1603; her period of reign is referred to as the Elizabethan Era or the Golden Age. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. At the age of 3, Elizabeth I was declared illegitimate (upon the execution of her mother) and sent away from London. Elizabeth’s half sister Mary (daughter from Henry VIII’s first wife) ascended the throne while Elizabeth I remained in exile. At age 23, Elizabeth I became Queen of England.

The 1500’s was a terrible time to be a woman and a challenging time to be a female leader. The time period, religious, social and political values, and the obstacles Elizabeth overcame, are important to understanding and appreciating her leadership. Religious upheaval, political loyalty (or disloyalty), and relationships (love, friendship) are the film’s themes and are factors that push Elizabeth to transform from an inexperienced girl to a powerful leader. The movie also hypothesizes that Sir Walsingham was instrumental to the Queen’s education in strategy, politics and “cult of personality” that she develops to gain unwavering loyalty. In essence, there are two leaders portrayed in the film, Sir Walsingham and Queen Elizabeth.

Kouzes and Posners’ five fundamental practices (of transformational) leadership are: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage the heart. (Northouse, p. 188-189) The film effectively portrays the five fundamental practices. Historically, the queen had a small privy counsel – or group of advisors. The film portrays Elizabeth initially listening and following the majority of her counsel. After some failures, she decides to trust her conscious and declares that she will lead with her conscious (model the way). Elizabeth’s vision was to have a strong and powerful England that was subordinate to no one or to an entity (the powerful Roman Catholic Church). Her first political move was to separate the Protestant Church and to demand allegiance to England - the crown - versus the Vatican. Her vision was to be independent of the Church and the political allegiances demanded of her. The expectation of the time was for the Queen to find a husband from either Spain or France and to produce a male heir. She refused to marry through her entire reign. She refused to be subject to any man (ergo country), thereby emphasizing her vision and living her belief. Refusing to marry and to produce an heir also illustrates how she challenged the process or values of the day. The film portrayed Elizabeth enabling others to do as they see fit (provided they were in line with her vision); ergo, Sir Walsingham, managed many political scenarios on his own that supported Elizabeth I. Her reign encouraged the heart of her subjects and staff - she granted favor with individual and private audiences, gifts of land and title, and frankly, by sparing lives or remanding prison sentences. Elizabeth’s reign was effective because of her charisma, the time period during which she reigned was ripe for change, and her successful transformation during financially, politically religiously difficult times, inspired her subjects.

Certainly, another interesting essay would be about the leader-member exchange theory (LMX Theory) that existed between Walsingham and Elizabeth – but that will take up too much blog space!!!

Week 5: Issue impacting HE

2009-02-26T18:21:00.003-05:00

Trying to think of an issue, I thought of the major ones like budget cuts, going green, but I knew that others would talk about them and didn't want to repeat others thoughts. A major issue I feel is impacting Higher Education on many levels is the preparation of students entering higher education institutions. We are finding that more and more high school students are not prepared both academically, socially, and have realistic expectations of college when they enter their first year. Along with preparations for high school graduates entering directly into college, there is little preparations for students entering higher education institutions from the work force and have not been in an educational setting for many years.

I ask myself what needs to be done to help prepare these students and what leadership styles need to be used in order to make this initiative successful? Some suggestions that I feel would be helpful for students entering directly after high school are working in the high school; teaching students about realistic expectations of college, what to expect, teaching them studying and time management, and offering college prep. classes for high school credit. If higher education institutions offered night college prep. classes or worked with communities to offer these classes as well. These classes could focus on the same areas as the high school classes but presented in a more suitable way to the clientele.

The leaders for this initiative need to have both a style approach and path-goal theory. Style approach focuses on both task behaviors and relationship behaviors. The task behavior helps the student achieve their goals and the relationship behavior helps the student feel comfortable with themselves, others, and with their situation they are in. It is important for a leader to make the student to feel comfortable and not ashamed of needing to go to college prep. class, which could be a stigma that they face. When the student feels comfortable they will then be able to work with the leader to achieve the goals that they have established for themselves. Northouse states that Path-Goal Theory suggests that subordinates will be motivated if they think they are capable of doing the work, believe their efforts will bring them a certain outcome,and that they payoff from their work will be worthwhile. The challenge for the leader is to determine what leadership style to us, and that will depend on the students in the college prep. class. The leader does need to support students, let students help make decisions, and to guide them to their goals. Leaders should support and inspire the students so they believe in themselves that they can do the work. The leader also needs to show that the work they are doing will help lead to the goals and outcomes the students want. I do not think that there is only one leadership style that could be used; leaders will always have to adapt to subordinates/students to be able to better serve their subordinates.

Correction to Original Post

2009-02-25T09:25:00.002-05:00

Initially, I was going to talk about the Spectrum Initative of the American Council on Education (ACE). As you can see, I decided to talk about leadership during this tough economic time. To learn more about the Spectrum Initiative: Advancing Diversity in the College Presidency, please visit http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CAREE/ProgramsInitiatives/Spectrum.htm.

The Spectrum Initiative: Advancing Diversity in the College Presidency

2009-02-25T08:27:00.004-05:00

Dear Colleagues:

I am extremely sorry for the late post. I attended the Achieving the Dream Strategy Institute in San Franciso, California last week, and had very limited access to a computer or the internet. The theme of this years institute was Equity and Excellence. Achieving the Dream (or AtD as we call it) currently consists of 82 colleges, throughout 15 states with 7 funders, that looks at access, student success, and student outcomes as it affects first generation, low-income students.

One of the themes that I kept hearing at this year's institute was "Leadership during tough economic times". As Dr. Paspiller indicated in his presentation to us 2 weeks ago; how do you slash resources, especially human resources, how do you manage staff travel and personal development, and most of all when making these hard decisions and having courageous conversations about the economy, what affects will it have on the students and the community in which you serve.

As I read chapter 7 on the Path-Goal Theory and its application, I took a hard look at page 137 in which the authors state "The principles of the path-goal theory can be used by leaders at all levels in the organization and for al types of tasks. To apply path-goal theory, a leader must carefully assess his or her subordinates and their tasks and then choose an appropriate leadership style to match those characterists". I then thought, wow, as a leader of a college, as a president, managing during tough economic times, how would this be implemented from the top down?

Well, I in the presence of some outstanding community college leaders and I asked them what leadership traits are they using to manage a college during tough economic times and here is what a few had to say:

Empowerment
Brainstorming and Planning
Honest Communications
Reorganization of Resouces
Collaborating and Team Building

As I reflect on the meeting, the chapter and the tough economic times, I look at the five topics that presidents shared with me and how closely the Path-Goal theory ties into motivating staff and constituents to empower them, include them, stengthen relationships and collaboration while maintaining honest communications to stay focused on the same goal.

Week 5 - Take 2

2009-02-23T08:36:00.002-05:00

Inside Higher Ed. is now up and running again so here is the link to what I am discussing: Let Professors Choose. It seems that the buzz today is all revolving around money and the uncertainty coming from the economy and budget cuts. A good percentage of the articles online are discussing the effects of budget cuts and the effects they are having on institutions throughout the country.

Miller discusses in this article possible solutions to our growing problems. Hard times call for creative solutions. Institutions need to pool their resources to make it through. In reading Miller's article, it becomes an interesting proposal to solve some of these concerns over possible salary cuts to faculty.

Miller proposes to "Let the professors choose." He is referring to letting faculty take on more responsibilities on campus in order to alleviate the need for new hires while maintaining the same pay. Though an enticing proposal, it made me think if this theory would work, or how it would be viewed, and how to lead such a proposition.

Personally, I know that this theory would work, but the issue is with the precedents that it sets. Full-Time faculty could do more work, but they are already being asked to do more than teach to meet the "service" requirements of their position. If schools think they can keep dumping more and more responsibility on an already under-paid faculty, then where does it stop? It is a creative solution to the growing problem of money. Faculty can do more, but at what result?

For the sake of argument, how would the administration deliver and lead such a proposition? The proposal leads itself inherently to a path-goal style of leadership by the administration. There is a definite obstacle (lack of money) that is being overcome by taking a new direction. But how do you gain the support of the faculty who would most definitely be apprehensive to taking on more work, and work that might not necessarily be what they are comfortable with? I believe here that there needs to be a coaching approach to the faculty. Faculty would need to understand the dilemma and would need the nurturing and belief that they are doing the right thing and that it is a temporary fix. They would also need the technical support to effectively complete their new tasks.

I hope things don't get as bad as they are saying in all these articles. I noticed that this news is not something new as many of these schools have been cutting back for the past few years. I agree that it is time for creative solutions, but how much service are we willing to give on our already stressed schedules?

Week5 - Issue

2009-02-22T23:39:00.003-05:00

I was planning on getting this done, unfortunately, Inside Higher Ed's website seems to be down and they had some real good articles that I had bookmarked to do this project. I will post tomorrow.

Week 5-Higher Education Issue

2009-02-22T20:59:00.007-05:00

The major issue that I selected impacting higher education is the issue of budget cuts specifically in Virginia. The theory that I would like to apply to this issue is the situational approach to leadership. After our discussion in class relating to the case study about Northern University, I chose to focus my blog this week on George Mason's budget. Yes, I am an employee and a student but I would say that I am not as up-to-date on issues relating to the university as maybe I should be.

I have found that at Mason we have been hit with budget cuts for the past few years and " In the 2007-08 fiscal year, it absorbed a 5 percent general fund reduction and another 7 percent reduction in the current fiscal year. "

From the Mason Gazette, on December 19, 2009: The cuts to Mason’s budget, as announced earlier in the week by Gov. Timothy Kaine, total approximately $11 million. This is in addition to the $9.8 million in cuts imposed upon the university for the current fiscal year.

The Gazette also mentioned that there will be no cuts in student financial aid nor in safety resources for employees and students. I also read this in the blog that I chose to follow for last week's assignment. Dean Flagel mentioned that schools are agressively responding to the economy when he spoke on a panel at the Education Policy Institute. Flagel stated that some schools may cut back on enrollment while others are seeing student struggle to receive aid.
The budgets cuts will in all likelihood result in restructuring at the university.

I believe that the university is utilizing the Situational approach to leadership as senior administration is using the Supporting style. The supporting style is based on the approach of high supportive and low directive behavior. The detailed description of this style states that the leader is exclusively focused on goals but uses supportive bahavior to bring out the employees skills around the task to be accomplished. Campus wide we are experiencing budget cuts and the university has established town hall meetings and forums where senior administration address the Mason community. This to me is an example of the suppporting leadership style as the university bridging the gap between the different levels of management and supporting throught budget concerns.

In searching more information relating to higher education budgets, I came across this fable from Inside Higher Education. The article is a fable about a president struggling to access budget cuts. She evaluates consolidating departments, closing off campus programs, decreasing the athletic budget, and in all of these situations a concerns by a stakeholder group is heard. To read the story click here. Story . I can only imagine the situation that a president or provost when they must impliment budget cuts....where do you start? But if they use the supporting or coaching leadership approach information and assistance will be available to the employees and departments.

Week 5: The Community College President Path

2009-02-22T20:43:00.002-05:00

This article, Tips on Getting a Community College Presidency, http://www.wihe.com/viewBlog.jsp?set=Blog&id=19622 comes from the Women in Higher Education website. It connected with me because of ‘Master’ Raspiller’s trinity of reflection, diversity, and ethics. Dr. Yvette Galloway who facilitated the article is Director of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Community College Education Programs and Services. I think all of you will like it and hopefully share it with others outside of the class.

The reason: it provides insight into how anyone can set a goal for the office of the Presidency. As a graduate student on the periphery of higher education issues focusing on community colleges I especially thought it was appropriate for our Blog.

Although the article addresses overcoming obstacles as in the Path-Goal Theory -- Leaders can help subordinates along the path to their goals by selecting specific behaviors that are best suited to subordinate’s need and to the situation in which subordinates are working. Northouse, there is further connection to our readings.

I thought of the Three-Skill Approach and Transformational Leadership addressed in Kezar, Carducci, and Contreras-McGavin.

Again, this is a keeper.

Week 5- A Major Issue in Higher Education

2009-02-22T14:11:00.003-05:00

Working with Housing & Residence Life one of the major issue that impact the department is FERPA. FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA protects the privacy of students with regards to where they live, their grades and anything that goes on in their college career. The main thing that the Housing & Residence Life uses is protecting the students on where they live, any situation that has happened to them and their phone number. This is one of the most important thing that a resident advisor has to do in their job.
When training resident advisor, it is very important to understand what there learning and leadership style are. As a leader it is our job to realize that each person has a different style.

Students and parents are the people that ask the question about information that is protected by FERPA. All the resident advisor are aware of this but it may be hard to explain this to parents. This is where the situation theory can be used. Some resident advisors know all the rules but may need the support to be able to tell parents that we are not able to give the information. Others may need some one to bounce ideas on what they want to say which would be called coaching. Others like/need to be told what to say which is known as directing.
I think that it is very important to know what your staff needs from you as a leader, and this theory helps leaders understand and see what their employees need.

Week 5 - Distance Learning & Todays Leaders

2009-02-21T05:00:00.014-05:00

The Chronicle in Higher Education had an interesting article in its 2/19/2009 issue entitled: Skidmore May End Online-Education Program. For online education, it is important to consider: infrastructure needed to support wireless capabilities (hot spots inside and outside of the classroom); and, the growing interest and support of online distance learning by academic leaders. The cost of manpower, infrastructure, and equipment must be strategically considered. During these difficult times, what happens to important programs that are common for some universities and new for others?

Data supports that during financial hardtimes, people turn to education to improve their chances to advance their careers. According to a 2008 survey produced by the Sloan Consortium -http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/pdf/staying_the_course.pdf , online registration is increasing - especially amongst adults (high cost of fuel, work, family and time constraints). The Sloan survey also reports that as of fall 2007, 3.9 million students were taking at least one online course - a 12% increase from the previous year (p. 1, I. Elaine Allen & Jeff Seamna, Staying the Course - Online Education in the United States, 2008). With such important data supporting online education, why would schools such as Skidmore find the need to cut these classes? What about the institutes who are considering online courses? What considerations do they need to make? What type of leadership will they need to display to motivate faculty who are faced with no pay increases, larger teaching loads, limited resources and suffering infrastructure? Leadership in these situations can take several modes and is dependent upon support from within sub-groups (i.e. faculty and students).

Within the College of Science (COS) there is low support for online education. The time to organize and to implement online courses is time-consuming and has little to no financial reward (a motivator for faculty facing no pay increases for two years). Logistics are not in place to support these programs, and confidence is lacking in the infrastructure to support the courses. Yet the Dean of COS has a vision to create a learning community; therefore, departments have been directed to find ways to collaborate and to bring online courses to students of the College. As Skidmore has learned, with additional institutes offering online learning, competition increases and can be a threat to existing online program they have. The College of Science must face the reality of competition for online learning. A careful balance is required to be successful and to maintain a competitve edge.

GMU and its colleges needs to finds a way achieve a balanced distance learning program to accommodate its students and to be competive. Path-Goal Theory seems most appropriate, especially in the case of the College of Science (COS). The leadership initially needs to directive. Expectations and time lines have been given to certain departments to come up with online learning modules. Clear and direct communication is required. At the same time, the leadership must demonstrate support in helping faculty achieve his goal. Times are difficult and yes, faculty are being asked (told) to do more with less. Meetings and appointments are taking place to hear complaints and concerns. Ways to collaborate are being discussed to hopefully help with the planning process. Supportive style is effective when work being required is structured yet unsatisfying.

Participative leadership is also required. Department chairs must work closely with faculty to help guide them through the process. The College deans must work closely with department chairs as well. Another consideration, as suggested by Path-Goal Theory, is the behaviour of subordinate. Subordinates' behaviour dictate leaders' behaviour. Department chairs in COS tend to desire more control therefore, it is important for the Dean to provide participative leadership. The "subordinates" need to feel some control over their work and the new realm of online education - an ambiguous task for some.

Skidmore and the College of Science both face the challenges of providing innovative ways to teach their students and to maintain competition. The Path-Goal Theory appears to be an effective leadership style that is required. The approach of the theory is very practical-minded and goal oriented. Especially important to the leadership provided under this theory, is the behaviour and treatment of subordinates. Frustration, apprehension and lack of motivation may be impacting the behaviour of those tasked with online education programming. A strong leader, specific goals and flexibility in leadership style is necessary along the path to achieving a goal....creating online learning, or doing away with it all together.

The article link is: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3622/skidmore-may-end-online-education-program

The site for Skidmore's University Without Walls http://www.skidmore.edu/uww/

Resource Sharing

2009-02-17T10:50:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to share one of my favorite online resources called TED. It's a site where people who are considered leaders in their fields of interest come to a forum to give "the talk of their lives" for 18 minutes. The talk is recorded and put on their website for the rest of the world to view. The reason I think this site is genius is because it serves no other purpose than to spread ideas. A person simply gives their talk in 18 minutes, and the audience is left to ponder the issues given to us and start to find answers to many of the world's problems. GENIUS!

This particular talk by Barry Schwartz was sent to me today about wisdom and ethical decision making - elements of leadership.

Neurotic Communicator

2009-02-16T14:10:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Sho, I found an appealing blog called http://www.leadershipnow.com/ . The site is engaging for its interesting information and resources. The blog entries on leadership tie back to what the class is reading and discussing, pertinent articles, thought provoking quotes from the past and the present, and “nuggets of wisdom.”

February 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln; it seems appropriate to comment on this great leader. Controversy currently surrounds Lincoln (several books and television programs argue that Lincoln was a racist); however, my comments are based on what I have learned and my general observations on the circumstances in which he led our country. Like him or not, he led the United States during its darkest time in history – the country was divided economically, geographically and philosophically. Michael McKinney’s series of blog entries caught my eye and enticed me to research and to reflect on Lincoln.

The Civil War was a defining event during Lincoln’s presidency. The “great man” theory is easily applied to Abraham Lincoln as he possessed innate qualities and characteristics that contributed to his being a great leader during a terrible time in American history. Historical documents and testimonies from members of his staff and press typically state that Lincoln was intelligent, thoughtful, insightful and honest. Integrity is probably what he is best known.

The five-factor personality model specifies conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extraversion and neuroticism (low level). Ironically, Lincoln was known to suffer from depressions (neuroticism) and appears to have been quiet and introverted; however he did not have difficulty communicating and had a reputation for telling stories and raucous jokes. Based on these characteristics, a key to being a successful leader during difficult times is to be a communicator (openness and extraversion) – to understand as many facts as possible and to share as much accurate information as possible with subordinates or supporters.

Several blog entries, after the series of Lincoln entries, discuss leading and communicating in times of crisis. The entries are commentaries on a series by Paul Argenti, Managing in a Downturn that was sponsored by the Financial Times. The articles are timely and support the Lincoln blogs and current events. The skills theory is appropriate to modern times; the theory considers technical, human, and conceptual skills to be a good leader. The theory can be tied back to Lincoln.

President Lincoln led a country torn apart by the Civil War. Central to the war was the issue of slavery. Lincoln established where he stood on the issue and persuaded members of his cabinet and members of the Democratic Party (that strongly opposed him) to his vision of a geographically, politically, and economically united America without slavery. He had to clearly articulate his beliefs despite the harshest of criticisms. He rose above the negativity and never wavered from his vision. He understood the “big picture” of having a united country.

Interestingly, Lincoln filled his cabinet not only with ideological supporters, but those who were philosophically against him. For example, Lincoln’s secretary of state (William Seward) did not like or get along with Lincoln, however Lincoln still conferred with him to gain his insight. Surrounding oneself with insightful people who can provide different viewpoints can be very helpful for a leader in making difficult decisions or even clarifying their beliefs. As much hostility as there was regarding the secession of states from America, the support of slavery and so on, President Abraham Lincoln had to hold firm to beliefs and keep on task, his cabinet and staff in ensuring the message from the White House was consistent: the spread of slavery was not supported and that slavery must be abolished.

Finally, Lincoln was also known for being (within the Style Theory) as an “authority-compliance” manager. He personally picked the generals to lead the northern army in the War Between the States. As Leadership Theory & Practice book states, “(authority compliance) style is result driven, and people are regarded as tools to that end.” (Northouse, p. 73). Undoubtedly, many lessons on leadership for today’s leaders can be learned from the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

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According to the Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/), there are over 14,000 books on Abraham Lincoln. For a nice brief biography on the man, click on the following link:
http://www.leadershipnow.com/museum/AbrahamLincoln.html

EdProWeblog

2009-02-16T09:42:00.003-05:00

I am following a blog titled EdProWeblog. It's written by Ed Morrison, an economic development consultant who writes this blog as a way to promote his practice. He also works at Purdue University's Center for Regional Development. He promotes what I believe is a fairly new way of looking at workforce development, education, and economic development -- he believes that they should work together (WHAT A CONCEPT!). It sounds obvious, but these 3 elements often don't work together which is why all 3 remain a disconnected mess in many parts of the US.

He promotes what he calls "Open Source Education, Economic, and Workforce Development."The term, open source, as used in software development means that the code used to develop the software is "open" for anyone to manipulate for their own specific purposes. Programmers from all over the world can collaborate to take general software (think Open Office) and make it useful for their own cultural context. This is the opposite of "closed source" or proprietary software (think MS Office) that cannot be manipulated by anyone outside of programmers at Microsoft. The same collaborative spirit is applied to Open Source Education, Economic, and Workforce Development. People from all 3 industries work together in a specific region to find the most effective and efficient solutions that benefit all. Again, WHAT A CONCEPT!

So what does this have to do with leadership? Ed Morrison, for the most part, works as a consultant to people in 3 industries. While his specialty is economic development, he also has the knowledge of the other 2 industries to help his clients make more informed decisions. Thus I would think that as a consultant, he is speaking to the skills or competencies approach within the leaders he works with. He would start from where the leader (and thus the team she is working with) is currently in their skills, then try to build on that to fill gaps that lead to effective problem solving. The belief behind consulting is that leaders can improve their work through the assistance of someone who can provide a new perspective. Thus using the trait approach may be not be efficient as trying to change characteristics a leader is born with may take a while. Consulting can also be aligned with the style approach to leadership as it emphasizes both task and relationship to people that lead to wanted outcomes.

Week4: Following a Blog

2009-02-16T09:32:00.002-05:00

Firstly, I must appologize for my late response as there has been a whole lot going on in my life since the ending of our last class.

I thought that this blog assignment was a very interesting project, but at the same time difficult to find a blog posting that I wanted to follow due to the amount of good topics. I ended up settling on "How the University Works" a blog managed by Marc Bosquet who is a tenured associate professor at Santa Clara University. Marc covers many great topics that relate to this course, and also likes to publish video-blogs which spark further debate on YouTube. I decided to just randomly pick one of his topics as I am already late.

I clicked on his links to "video greatest hits" and found one post tilted, "Higher Ed, A Pyramid Scheme." This video-blog is an interview with CUNY Professor, Michelle Masse who weighs in on the equity debate in higher ed. The following questions were asked:

- Has the massive influx of women into certain sectors of faculty work lead to true gender equity?
- So you tend to have male majority areas on top of the pyramid and female majority areas at the bottom. whole fields become "feminized."
- Would you say that some areas, like administration, are "masculinized"?
- "Feminized" means that certain sectors of mostly female employees are overworked and underpaid; while "masculinzed" sectors are leisured and well-paid.
- How do you feel when some administrator tells you that it is just "market forces" at work?
- Where is the "femitization" of humanities taking us?

Her responses were that dispite the growing population of graduated women there is still a lopsided ratio of men in higher positions in the institution. The women tend to be placed at the bottom, teaching intro classes and working for less money at worse times. In areas such as the humanities, this introduction to a necessary area of study becomes less attractive to new students because of the feminized nature of the teaching roles. She broadens the term feminizim however to span not just women, but also men in similar fields of study. The issue boils down to masculine ideals with a feminine workforce, something that was mentioned in class on the first day with regards to administration and the "great men".

Many responses to the post were directed toward the mention of "market forces" and were analyzing education from a buisness stand-point. I am on the side of this "market forces" idea playing a large role in education (and not just because I work for a profit based institution). However, the market forces should still not account for unequal distribution of labor.

I find that most of the problem is a perpetuation of old principles and in impatience for allowing change to progress. It seems that many accademics would like society to change over night, but that typically isn't how major change happens. Obama has constanlty been trying to tell people that although he is attempting to spur the economy with a package, the change will not be felt the moment the package passes his desk, it will take time.

Women have struggled to climb the ladder of equity, and have made great changes in policy for our society. Women still complain that they are in roles that are benieth their standing and are given less then men in similar roles. This is most likely still accurate because the people at the top have not yet changed. Slowly, equity needs to move up the rungs of the ladder to the top, and next thing you know, we have an African American President; we have a female Secretary of State; and we have a female Speaker of the House.

But the debate that the current position of women at the bottom is leading to a change in the perspective of certain fields of study to a "feminized" nature is quite interesting. Many of these fields were male dominated until recently, so could the sudden change be attributed to the stress of the female workforce under the male authority?

I think things will be different if there were more equality in the workforce throughout the ranks, and this theory of feminization is an interesting dilema of a possible backlash from the switch from the "great man" ideals. She mentions that due to this feminization, certain roles such as nursing or secretarial work have become female dominated and down-played since earlier generations. She would debate that this was due to the "great man" theory where people in these fields would have to be women and the administration of these positions would have to be men.

I would like to propose a counter argument. This mysterious "market force" in the fields that are mentioned, could it be that the majority of secretaries are no longer in prestigious apprenticeship positions, rather they are in the position of answering phones and providing an initial image that is pleasing, something that developed from phone opperators and typists, roles that women were origninally able to jump into. And nursing, wasn't that a role that women really took over during war-time as men were off fighting and getting themselves blown up? I think that the feminization of many of these fields that she mentions does come from a sort of "market force" and not necessarily from some male dominated conspiricy.

She has a point about leadership, but I believe that (as many of the responses to the blog follow) the market does drive a lot of what we do in our economic system, and the schools wether they like it or not, are subject to this system.

TIDES - The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports

2009-02-15T23:05:00.003-05:00

Blogs about race in American still generate very heated, mean spirited, opinionated and sometimes racists statements especially when it comes to leadership. The blog that I am following discusses a recent study that looks at the lack of African American College Football Coaches in head coaching (leadership) positions. Please see attached blog that demonstrates the feelings of bloggers when race and leadership and discussed in sensitive issues.

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2008/11/07/only-four-black-college-football-coaches-in-ncaa-lowest-in-15-y/#comments

The recent study by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida has shown that African-American head coaches in college football are the lowest it's been since 1993. With the recent firings of Ty Willingham at Washington and Ron Prince at Kansas State, out of the 119 NCAA football schools, there are only four Black coaches left: Miami's Randy Shannon, Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom, Buffalo's Turner Gill and Houston's Kevin Sumlin.

"While the percentages [of minority coaches] are slightly better, the general picture is still one of white men running college sport," the report's co-author, Richard Lapchick told the Associated Press. "Overall, the numbers simply do not reflect the diversity of our student-athletes. Moreover, they do not reflect the diversity of our nation where we have elected an African-American as President for the first time."

The study also looked at university leadership, which includes presidents and athletic directors, and found that 91 percent are held by white folks. Lapchick believes that NCAA should adopt a rule similar to the NFL's Rooney Rule where the league sanctions teams that do not interview minority candidates for coaching jobs. Lapchick hopes that Obama's election will make an impact on the hiring of minority candidates.

"His presidency will get people's attention, whether or not he gets involved," he said. "People will wonder: How can we have an African-American president and the lowest number of coaches in 15 years?"

For a comprehensive look at the report and its findings, please visit http://www.tidesport.org/Grad%20Rates/2008-09_FBS_Demographics_Study.pdf.

Week 4: Following a Blog

2009-02-15T21:21:00.004-05:00

Would like to offer what I call a GO-TO SITE:
http://www.bestuniversities.com/blog/2009/top-100-leadership-blogs/
that has links to 100 leadership sites. I choose:
Leadership Styles Blog
to follow. It is “a forum on Empowerment, Engagement, Vision and Facilitation for Process Improvement & Change Leaders”

What I found interesting about this site it offers ideas on how to work with one’s leadership style. We learned about leadership styles. We will confront seniors and peers with different styles. How can we leverage what we learned from the Northouse readings?

The Leadership Styles Blog is an attempt to address this reality. The site offers comments mainly from Dr. Dike Drummond his wife Peg, and Shelley Roberts. The trio are in leadership consulting business and the site is for self–promotion but it is very rich in providing insight into what the business community celebrates as important leadership resources (leadership library, other blogs, LEAN, Six Sigma, etc.).

There are VERY few comments to the postings. The postings are very simple observations on such topics as Team Building, Managing Meetings, the Goldilocks Effect, 3-D Objectives. The 5S Game on Team Building (see top of the page of the blog for a linke to the game) is a neat item for you to work together on a project that promotes Quality Improvement.

Here are four postings and why they are relevant to our course:
Leadership Styles and The “Goldilocks Effect”
(Strengths/Weaknesses)
Leaders “Infect” People with their Mood - For Better or Worse
(Situational)
Do Leaders have to be Extroverts?
(Traits)
America’s Best Leaders - the Three Skills
(think you'll see a connection with Professor Raspiller's remarks)

Week 4- Follow a Blog

2009-02-15T20:04:00.002-05:00

The blog that I chose to follow is titled, Not your average admissions blog. A beneath the surface look at everything college admissions by Dean Flagel of our Mason's admissions department.

I chose to read the postings from Dean Flagel from this year. The topics that I read about were New update on tuiton and aid, In Memorian for Jack Blackburn, An amazing day to be in DC, Deadlines and what do they mean, Shameless Plug for Mason's ranking in 50 best valued school, and Happy New Year! Dean Flagel's blog is not limited to admissions information, he is also sharing stories on things happening on campus and ones relating to him personally.

If I were a student apply to Mason I think that this site would be very informative and useful-it makes me feel that Dean Flagel through the blog is connecting to the student on a more personal basis. During the first week of classes be discussed the trait and behavior theories and related them to higher education. The qualities that we listed were relational, credibility, competence, and guidance/direction. Dean Flagel has managed to embody these traits into his blog. In reading the blog I feel contected and informed about Mason. I feel the main objective of his blog his to provide additional guidance or direction for students applying to Mason and in reading his blog I feel that he is accomplishing his objective. The closing for the blog be seeing you...to me this makes the information more personable or relational.

Here was are following a blog for this assignment and Dean Flagel shares his favorite blogs on the Jan 4 posting. Interested in reading more about admissons, higher education, politics.... check them out.

Week 4- Following a Blog

2009-02-15T14:40:00.003-05:00

One thing that I enjoyed doing is to be "green" as much as possible, which was the reason I picked this as my blog to follow. G. Rendell is the author of the blog posts which discuss many interesting points that can relate to leadership. The point that was brought up was recycling and its meaning. He states that on campus, recycling is not just getting the stuff to the right place but also making it become apart of their normal routine. He wanted to make sure that after college student would continue to recycle. In reading this I saw that the the author is trying to show the student a different way that they can show leadership. I see that the author, is showing positive ways in showing how to portray to skills of the human and technical skills.

In looking at another blog that he posted, it is also seen that he is showing the human, conceptual and technical skills as well. He states that he talks to any teacher about sustainability, case by case. This shows that he goes out and tries to promote sustainability as much as he can but in a positive way. This example reminds me of my job shadow that I completed this week. The dean that I interviewed that he will do everything that he can for the school. In saying anyone that makes an appointment he will give the information that is needed for them to make the next step.
Another thing that was mentioned in his blogs what the economy and how it affects the work that he does. He discussed the many little things that one can do in order to make a change. In leadership, many times it is the little things that one does that shows that they are a great leader. For example, doing the small things like listening to ones concerns or being present at an event turns into something bigger.

Week 4: Confessions of a Community College Dean

2009-02-12T18:12:00.004-05:00

The thing I like most about this website is that the Dean posts something almost everyday, therefore I feel I get to know the most relevant issues that might be going on. For this blog assignment I read all of the blogs he has posted so far this month.

One of the main topics that keeps appearing in the blog is about budget cuts, since that is hitting Community Colleges (CC's as they are refered to in the blog) hard. I will talk about the cuts a little later in my blog. But first I want to touch on something that only appeared once in the blog, but really got me thinking.

The first blog of this month was about the administrative program at his cc, how it is the most requested position by employers but is the least attended program. He discusses the reasons why people are not enrolling in the administrative program, which is seen as the secretary position. A reason that was given that made me think is, secretary positions are ones that don't have authority therefore people are not attracted to this position anymore. That got me thinking about authority and apparent authority and all the jazz. I also feel that leadership/being a leader in connected with authority. Do we see a secretary as a leader? I would argue that they are leaders, a supervisory management leader I would say. They need to have high technical skills and human skills, with lower conceptual skills. I also would say that they have abilities to become leaders by promotions with in the company, but over time they can make change within companies. I think that good/great secretarise know how to do things more then the staff they work for and are well liked by most staff, which gives them political power and the ability to be a leader of change.

Now unto the budgeting issues that the dean of a cc is facing in his blog:

In the cc a dean was fired, making the faculty not so happy. Which you might think would be the other way around. Faculty was fired meaning eduaction is very important and also they are able to spread out the administrative tasks of the dean. The reason why faculty was not happy, was due to the faculty thinking that the dean was a champoin for them, that the dean was the fighter. They gave the dean more leadership, they put them into the top leadership (sorry I dont have my book on me to give it the proper name). When in reality a dean is more of a mediator between the faculty and higer administrators, so they are middle management. This makes you ask what happens when someone has more percieved authority/leadership than in reality? Is it a bad thing for people to place you into top leadership, when your role is within middle management? I think it can depend on the situation......so along with skills approach this could be a situational approach.

Obama

2009-02-10T22:24:00.002-05:00

I’m all Obama’ed out… I just need a whole week without seeing his name or face. I’m glad he is president – I just need a break. But anyway, back to my critique…

The tone of Obama’s speech is somber, and it needed to be especially since his campaign has been backed by high emotion. He let us know that the time for being emotional about his being elected is over; it is now time to roll up our sleeves and brace ourselves for the mess that lies ahead. In general, the pompousness of America being the best at everything -- at the risk of alienating other countries -- is now over. And I’m glad it’s over. I am quite tired of having to over explain America’s pompous attitude every time I go overseas. We got problems – BIG PROBLEMS – and it’s time we face them by taking a look at the facts and planning appropriately with all stakeholders.

Obama also seems to quietly mention that the problems of America are much bigger than he. I have heard others talk of Obama as if he is the messiah who has come to deliver America from all of its wrongdoings. It took America many years to get into the mess it is in. I presume that the time to fix it will surpass Obama’s time in office.

Week 3- Inaugural Speech

2009-02-09T22:53:00.005-05:00

Week 3-Critique of Inaugural Speech

I was fortunate enough to make the journey down to the mall on Inauguration Day to witness this historical moment with millions of other Americans. To witness this experience was captivating and the Inauguration Ceremony brought joy amongst those in attendance. To look back and review the speech it does provide you with more meaning and appreciation. I found the speech from CNN.com and at the top of the speech it listed four main points to the speech:

1. The crisis we face are strong, but so is America.
2. We gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity over conflict.

From the beginning of his speech, President Obama begins by addressing our current state of the nation and that our nation is in suffering difficult times. However, we are going fight this challenge because we are strong and stronger as a combined nation. President Obama states that we are going to face these challenges and confirms that these challenges will be met. The first two main points to the speech display examples relating effective leadership approaches of the skills approach as the speech address the problems are nation is currently facing but a promise of positive change was addressed in facing this problem.

3. Nation's past achievements show we can overcome problems.
4. Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken.

We have toiled in sweatshops, plowed the hard earth, fought in Gettysburg, and Concord. The speech leaves you with a vision for the future, of rememberance of where we have traveled and the promise to secure the future for further generations. Problem solving and performance are key terms in defining the skills approach. The inaugural speech effectively defined the problem and somewhat challenged future performance outcomes for our nation.

President Obama's speech contains power messages to its readers and listeners that I believe effective leaders use; messages of prosperity, freedom, boldness, swift action, leadership, cooperation, understanding, hard work, and honesty.

Week 3 - President Obama's Inaugural Speech

2009-02-08T22:47:00.002-05:00

His face has graced every major magazine cover in the world! His likeness is seen everywhere! In almost a year, he changed the face of history.

Never in my life time did I think that I would have experience a moment like President Obama's Inaugural Speech. While in my opinion, he is an outstanding orator, this was not one of his most riveting speeches. Although inspiring, stern, honest, and promising, it was very grim at times addressing the issues that the United States and the world face today. President Obama has galvanized the world and now stands as the leader of the free world.

I have watched his speech and listened to it over and over and the passage that stands out to me most is the following:

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

This captures the world on the day that President Obama became its leader. The United States is in the worse shape its has been since the Great Depression. As a leader he has a momentous tasks ahead of him, and he admits that we must prepare our nation for a new age.

His speech was forceful and proud, yet humble and passionate. Hope, change, new vision and challenging the new obstacles that face us were noted throughout his speech.

President Obama has the traits and qualities to lead this nation. His speech gave many an opportunity for hope, for inclusiveness and for equity. His humbleness and honesty are characteristics of a great leadership. I found his speech as a great foundation for a beginning of history for a new generation of leaders and leadership.

Week 3 Inagural Speech

2009-02-08T22:20:00.003-05:00

1. As the new leader, President Obama embraced all citizens. In most military change of command addresses, the incoming commander begins his speech by acknowledging the high-ranking members of the military who are here to witness it. President Obama eschewed this opening and began his speech with the simple phrase, "My fellow citizens." In doing so, he addressed all of us, not just the powerful or the wealthy. In his address, the new president used the word "I" sparingly. In contrast, he used the word "we" many times. His speech was not just a promise to do his best to address the problems of the nation he now leads, but also a plea to each American to take up the cause and do what we can to help. In his words, "For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies."No leader can do everything alone. Nor can he or she do it all with just a select few. All must do their part. A new leader should reach out to every member to help make the organization better.

2. President Obama was frank about the problems confronting him. President Obama did not shy away from listing all the many issues that plague the United States at this moment in history, from our economic challenges to our damaged reputation in the world. The first step toward fixing a problem is acknowledging that it exists. Don't be afraid to solicit their input for solutions. Just because you're in charge doesn't mean you automatically have all the right answers.

3. President Obama didn’t create unrealistic expectations. President Obama didn't promise to fix every problem in the next four years. Rather, he told us that the challenges we face "will not be met easily or in a short span of time." He told us his intentions and gave us his vision for the country, but he never said it would happen overnight. He said we must "[give] our all to a difficult task."Likewise, don't tell your members that everything will be perfect just because you're in charge now. Promise too much, too soon, and you'll only disappoint them. It's far better to identify your intentions. That way, even if you ultimately fail, at least they knew what you stood for and what you were trying to accomplish.

As Ghandi said: “All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.

Week 3-Obama's Inauguration address

2009-02-08T21:04:00.002-05:00

How does one critique a speech that was heard all over the world. A speech that people from all over the country and world came to hear the words of the new president. For me it was hard to critique in a negative way because I believe the the message that he was giving to the American people. Looking at it in a leader sense, I think he showed the people a strong leader that is going to make a change. He started talking about the history of this day and how other leaders faced this day.
Going back to the conversation in class we had that Obama's speech related to the definition of leadership. He shared commons goals with a group of followers which we discussed can also be known as supporters. He discussed that this is not going to happened over night which showed that this is a process.
The speech showed the trait of Power/Influence but he also showed the trait of cultural/symbolic. He discussed the difference kind of people that are apart of our nation. "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth"(nytimes.com).

As a supporter I believe that the speech was given by a strong leader that people would want to work with. He discussed many issues that the people wanted to be changed. As you listen to the speech you can that he shows a good example of the skills based model. Technology is where you show that you have the knowledge which is shown when he discusses the trouble of the economy. The Human skills was seen when he looked to the people and thank them for coming and supporting him in his journey. Conceptual was seen when he discussed the visions and ideas off the change that he is going to make. An example of this is when he said "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds"(nytimes.com).

Week 3 - Inaugural Address

2009-02-08T18:53:00.002-05:00

I chose not to read the address as the speech was not written by Obama. The speech was in fact written by Jon Favreau, a 27 year-old who studied past inaugural speeches to come up with the words that Obama spoke. Instead, I chose to watch the address as I had recorded it and had put off watching it until last night.

I must mention that the highlight for me of the ceremonies was the composition by John Williams that was played by Itzack Pearlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriella Motero and Anthony McGill. The piece was particularly moving and to see those renowned musicians play it for that crowd was spectacular.

So, on to the main event: the Inaugural Address by Jon, I mean Barack Obama. The fact that the speech was not written by Obama makes it no less his speech. Presidents are often known to use speech writers to deliver their message. Nobody should be expected to have the right words for every occasion, and for such an important occasion, it is important to have the right words. The commentators mentioned however that the speech was relatively short as inaugural speeches go, and didn't have any words that felt they would be words to "etch into granite" however time is to tell what stands out from a speech as most important.

To move away from the words, Obama's delivery is what is extremely important. Obama came in front of the crowd in a red tie with a stern and direct tone in his voice. He obviously intended to show that he was taking control of the situation and was willing to emphasize his authority and confidence that he can handle the tasks that await him. The sternness however slowly dies out throughout the speech to a tone more passive and relaxed which also boosted the appearance of his confidence in his job.

Obama is an excellent speaker and can deliver a speech extremely well which is one of the reasons many people came to stand behind him. His presence on a stage is undeniable. How does this relate to what we were talking about in class? Well, last week we were talking about the idea of the "great man," the theory that people are born leaders and that it isn't a learned skill. If we were to apply this concept to Obama, then we have to break down many preconceived notions about the born leader in this country. Everyone stresses the "history" of the moment; the fact that we now have our first African-American president. 43 other presidents have come before Obama, and all of them white males. So a new precedent is definitely being set for this country with his election to office.

But are his leadership qualities bestowed on him from birth? Many seem to think he is some sort of Messiah come to save us all, in which case he would have these traits from birth. More likely is the fact that he has learned most of these skills throughout his life. His degrees from Columbia and Harvard, his professorship, his work as an attorney, and his brief time in office for Illinois. Much of his experience is with speaking in front of people and becoming comfortable with expressing his views or a viewpoint. The experience with speaking would undoubtedly come from a culmination of past experiences and not necessarily a born talent.

Leadership is also difficult to judge when there is no history. Because this is the inaugural address by Obama, we have yet to see how strong he is as a leader. I do agree with Nancy's comments about this past week and the failed appointments. His standing up and taking responsiblity for his actions in appointing these people falls directly in line with much of what was said in the speech. The speech thus becomes an important part to his presidency. Campaign promises are not always met, but this speech is like his syllabus or a contract for what he plans to do in office. It was vague, yet spoke to the many points that he wishes to make progress in our country. It set forth the goals of his leadership and the directions he plans to take us toward those goals.

Obama stands in front of a crowd and knows how to take control. With all the hype, it becomes difficult to accurately gage the true strength of his leadership abilities. To make decisions based on this speech would also be a mistake as it is mearly a performance and not necessarily an action. Obama will be held to his actions, and if they prove the words of the speech to be true, then the speech will speak of his leadership abilities.

Week 3: Obama’s Inaugural Speech

2009-02-08T17:36:00.001-05:00

When reading Obama’s inaugural speech I noticed many things he said that I feel leaders would say to their followers, which is what he is, but I still found it interesting. In his speech he right away shares his feelings about being humbled and grateful of the trust that us, his followers have bestowed in him. Automatically as a leader his is saying thank you to his followers for believing in him and for having trust and faith in him, he is showing appreciation to his followers. This is important for leaders to do, because followers and leaders both know if it weren’t for the followers choosing the leader to lead them, then the leader would not be there, it would be someone else.

Obama also acknowledges the hard times that we are facing as Americans. He does not try to make everyone believe that everything is okay and will remain okay. By acknowledging the problems he is telling America he knows the problems and accepts the problems that we are facing and will work towards fixing these problems. After acknowledging the hard times, he gives a call of action to us, his followers. He does this two times within his speech, once in the beginning and then near the end of his speech. By doing this he is giving responsibility to change things to the followers as well as himself. He is making the followers work towards the solution, making them be invested in the goals and solutions he has. As well as calling the followers into action, Obama also gives examples of what he will get done that will move us closer to the solution.

Along with acknowledging the hard times Obama also acknowledges what cynics might see or say and tells us that they are wrong and why they are. By acknowledges the cynics he is showing us that he has knowledge of the system and what is going on, but also giving faith to the followers that they are wrong and we will prevail.

There are two things that I really loved in his speech: “ For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth. “ - He includes everyone in America and states how we all have shaped our country, everyone is involved and there is no segregation of his followers. I also liked, “ Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. “ After that now who wouldn’t want to work towards our solution and be a part of what Obama is going to do. It was a perfect ending to his speech.

To connect it to our readings in class , I looked at Chapter 3, the Skills Approach Chapter. I looked at the 3 Components of the Skills Model and focused on the Competencies that a leader needs, which are Problem Solving, Social Judgment Skills, and Knowledge. I looked in the speech to see if Obama acknowledged these competencies.

Problem Solving – demand that leaders understand their own leadership capacities as they apply possible solutions to unique problems.
* I feel Obama does this when he states what we will get done. “Creating new jobs, lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grid and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together."

Social Judgment Skills – capacity to understand people and social systems.
* Obama does this when he talks about our patchwork heritage and acknowledging our hard times. He is stating he knows what the followers are feeling and dealing with.

Knowledge – accumulation of information and mental structures used to organize that information.
* I feel he does this by acknowledging our history and coming up with what we will accomplish. But I also feel that we elected him because he has already shown us his knowledge, and this is why we in trust him to be our leader.

The book states that these three components are positively related to effective leadership performance, which is a good thing for us, the followers!

The Inaugural Speech & Situational Leadership

2009-02-08T16:35:00.001-05:00

Regardless of one’s political views, President Obama is leading a country that is very different than it was ten years ago (of course, the world is very different). The US has lost its naïveté for being “untouchable” from terrorist influence, is engaged in unpopular conflicts and formed uneasy alliances and is now suffering with the rest of the world – a global financial crisis. In his inaugural speech, President Obama acknowledges the current situation and calls to Americans to take responsibility for promoting “American ideals,” tolerance of people and religions, and to put our political differences behind us to work together to solve America’s problems. The speech lists the priorities of his presidency: economic recovery, improved medical care, wise use of our resources (energy), education, and a strong international presence that includes diplomatic and military strength.

As inaugural speeches are eagerly anticipated, the historical significance of President Obama’s speech is no exception. Peter J. Woolley, a political scientist from Farleigh Dickenson University, aptly stated that inaugural speeches (including Obama’s) “says old things in a new way and sometimes forgotten things in a new way.” (www.blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog). As a leader, it is important to deliver a clear vision and a plan to achieve the vision. Historically, inaugural speeches have been similar – using many recurring themes of patriotism, unity, and democracy. President Obama’s speech mentions past themes, which he delivers in a clear and uplifting manner. From a leadership perspective, the situational leadership approach can be found.

Situational leadership theory argues that various situations demand different leadership; a leader must adapt his/her style to the demands of various situations (Northouse, p. 91). Situational leadership is made up of two characteristics: directive and supportive. Leaders must evaluate their subordinates to adapt or to alter the degree to which they direct or support their subordinates. Members of Obama’s cabinet, the U.S. military, and house and senate representatives - are all immediate “subordinates.” Undoubtedly, the “subordinates” are divided in their political beliefs (management and agenda), approach to the economy, global conflicts, and domestic issues that range from healthcare to education. Division, confusion, anger, anxiety, and frustration are behaviors exhibited by many subordinates. As a situational leader, President Obama will need to determine, as he goes through his presidency, when to take a directing, supporting, coaching or a delegating approach.

A directing tone is found throughout the speech, outlining goals and priorities. The words are further supported by President Obama’s recent cabinet appointments – appointing individuals with specific duties that pertain to the issues listed in his speech. Unfortunately, a few errors in judgment or performance expectations fell short when some nominees did not meet standards. Showing leadership, President Obama took responsibility and admitted to his mistakes. He has also been very strong and specific in some of conversations and meetings with members of his own political party as well as the party “across the aisle.” Utilizing a directing style, Obama will need to closely supervise the subordinates.

Coaching is evident in the inaugural speech. President Obama acknowledges the pain and challenges Americans face; however, his speech confidently states that the challenges will be met. The President harkens back to American roots of humility, restraint, hard work, and the defense of the weak and the innocent. He eloquently states that we have “duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly…” As a coach, he must find words to motivate. He must put himself into the “shoes” of his subordinates to understand their feelings and fears. He will need to offer suggestions and encouragement, but in the end, the President must make the final decision on how to achieve the goals he has stated.

The supportive approach is similar to coaching; however, with this approach, the President will need to provide support, listen and allow his subordinates to take control of some basic decisions. The secretaries of various departments will be in this position – they will need to work with the President to achieve his goals, but will be left to run the day to day operations of their organizations. Obama’s speech acknowledges that work needs to be done to re-build the country’s infrastructure, improve health care and education and “harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories…” Programs that work will move forward and programs that do not work will end. He specifically states that “those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account…”

Tying back to the directing style, President Obama must delegate the huge number of tasks that must be set upon to accomplish his vision of “remaking America.” The areas of health, energy, education, finance. The tasks at hand are immense. Delegating to his “change agents” will be extremely important. The President must deliver clear and concise objectives, offer support and coach when necessary.

Situational leadership appears to suit President Obama’s personality and style – he is a good communicator, inspires, is practical-minded, and able to empathize with people. Most importantly, this particular style of leadership is “prescriptive” or is directing. Right now, America needs direction and the inaugural speech provided an outline or prescription for getting things back on track.

Blogs

2009-02-04T23:01:00.003-05:00

Still shopping for a good blog to track throughout the course - found one that seems promising - I was attracted to it because it featured Michele Obama's speach at the Dept of Education, as well as Commencement addresses by various leaders - on leadership. http://www.educatednation.com/

Found one blog called the Tempered Radical (which will tie in to my group's topic) - but it appears to be more geared towards K-12. Some of the issues/concerns are similar to higher ed but not all.

Another that seems promising is in Higher Ed called, "University Diaries." This caught my eye because the "aim" of the writer is to "change things." This may be a tempered radical!

We shall see....

LPI Assessment

2009-02-03T09:51:00.000-05:00

I have received a few emails regarding the online LPI assessment. Has anyone completed the assessment? Are there still issues with access? Please post a comment so that I can see if we can resolve the issues.

5 Leadership Resources - Kevin Christian

2009-02-02T00:01:00.002-05:00

The five resources that I have chosen directly relate to community college leadership and development:

1). The Institute for Community College Development - The Institute for Community College Development provides leadership programming and research support for community college CEOs, administrators, faculty and trustees nation-wide. Founded as a partnership between the State University of New York and Cornell University to address the critical issue of leadership succession, ICCD offers a comprehensive program assessing leadership ability at the personal and organizational level, and targeted educational opportunities that develop those skills.
www.iccd.cornell.edu

2). MDRC - MDRC has embarked on a research agenda aimed at discovering how to dramatically increase the success of low-income young adults in school, the labor market, and life. Reflecting the importance of community colleges for low-income individuals, MDRC’s work to date focuses on initiatives that are designed to increase persistence and academic achievement among students at these institutions.
http://www.mdrc.org/subarea_index_31.html

3). The League for Innvotation in the Community College - The League is an international organization dedicated to catalyzing the community college movement. We host conferences and institutes, develop Web resources, conduct research, produce publications, provide services, and lead projects and initiatives with our member colleges, corporate partners, and other agencies in our continuing efforts to make a positive difference for students and communities.
http://www.league.org/league/about/about_main.htm

4). The Community College Resource Center - The Community College Research Center (CCRC) is the leading independent authority on the nation’s more than 1,200 two-year colleges. Since its inception, CCRC’s consortium of researchers has strategically assessed the problems and performances of community colleges. Their mission is to conduct research on the major issues affecting community colleges in the United States and to contribute to the development of practice and policy that expands access to higher education and promotes success for all students. CCRC’s extensive body of research provides a strong foundation on which to build new policies and initiatives to improve the outcomes of these institutions so integral to the higher education system, employment landscape, and national economy.
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/History.asp

5). The Future Leaders Institute - Future Leaders Institute, or FLI, is an innovative five-day leadership seminar designed for mid-level community college administrators who are ready to move into a higher level of leadership. These individuals are currently in a position that is responsible for multiple employees, including faculty, administrators and/or staff and probably have titles such as Vice President, Dean, Associate Dean or Director.
http://www.aacc.nche.edu/newsevents/Events/fli/Pages/default.aspx

Leadership Blog Post - Kevin Christian

2009-02-01T23:53:00.002-05:00

http://aamli.org - The African American Male Leadership Institute

The African American Male Leadership Institute sets out to recapture, restore and reaffirm the essence and courage of Black male leadership. It is our resolve to uplift, motivate and inspire Black men and male youth to commit themselves to the highest levels of family and community life.

Week 2: 5 resources

2009-02-01T19:17:00.002-05:00

I already talked about my first resource in my first blog but I will post it again.

1)http://managementhelp.org/ldrship/ldrship.htm#anchor283260l. It is a free management library that has many resources on leadership. Some of the topics are leadership vs. management, emerging trends, how do leaders lead, ect.

2) http://www.stcloudstate.edu/csold/leadership/series.asp - This is from St. Cloud State University in MN. I don' t know if many of you will find it resourceful, but if you are interested in Student Affairs you might. It's their calendar of leadership workshops that they offer on campus. I think that it is a good idea and might be something I would like to implement in the future.

3)http://www.leadershipnow.com/index.html - LeadershipNow is a website that has blogs,articles, sells books, quotes and wallpapers on leadership. Its about building a community of leaders.

4) http://www.faculty.armstrong.edu/leadread.htm - this is from the Armstrong Atlantic University. It has different articles, books, websites on leadership.

5) http://www.academicleadership.org/ideas_worth_merit/index.shtml - Academic Leadership The Online Journal. In the section Ideas worth merit they have articles on facilitating undergraduate success, what our students need ect. I like this site because it is academia based.

Week 1: Blog thingy

2009-02-01T19:04:00.002-05:00

The thing I posted last week to look at wasn't really a blog but a resource...so i shall reuse it for week two and now give you a blog to follow. Or should I say one that I will follow, but suggest for you because you also may find it interesting. I found two on the inside higher eduaction website that Dr. Lester showed us in class. The first one is: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/blogs/getting_to_green and is about an administrator who is trying to get his university to go green on a shoestring buget. It should be interesting to see what he does because this could be something we might all might try to do someday.

The second blog is: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/blogs/confessions_of_a_community_college_dean, Confessions of a Community College Dean. I picked this one because I don't know much about community colleges and want to learn more. It will also be interesting due to the cuts that all colleges are facing and see how they will be handled.

Leadership in Service Learning

2009-02-01T18:58:00.001-05:00

Here's a site that lists resources in leadership and service learning in kindergarten through college.

http://www.nylc.org/

Week 2- 5 Resources

2009-01-31T20:49:00.004-05:00

http://www.gmu.edu/student/csl/- The Center for Leadership and Community Engagement at George Mason is a program where GMU students can get involved with different volunteer and community activities through the United States.

http://lead.gmu.edu/emergingleaders.html- The Emerging Leaders Program at George Mason is an eight week class that I will be participating in the upcoming weeks. I look forward to participate in learning different skills of leadership.

http://www.coro.org/site/c.nvI2IeNZJyE/b.2108577/k.EF3D/Leadership_New_York.htm
A place where New York residents can come and participate in different leadership activities. Different training also are involved with this as well. A good way back that a resident can give back to the community.

http://www.thenationalacademy.org/resources/
An interesting website that different resources in leadership skills. Some topic of discussions are "Leading Institutional Change" and " Leadership". Under each topic there are different articles.

http://www.situational.com/presentation.htm- Center for Leadership Studies
Discusses different situational leaderships resources. In each of the different areas there are little descriptions but there is also PDF files that describe the methods in depth.

Week 2- 5 Resources on Leadership

2009-01-30T22:46:00.001-05:00

In my search for five resources on leadership studies, I found this quote on leadership from John F Kennedy:
” Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

1. Center for Creative Leadership- Is located in Washington DC and offers a exclusive focus on leadership education and research and unparalleled expertise in solving the leadership challenges of individuals and organizations everywhere. They are a worldwide organization.

2. The National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs is a program designed to serve college students for professional development. The program is offered at University of Maryland.

3. Situational Leadership based in California

4. Leadership Values is an organization designed to assist teams to further develop their skills using their program.

5.LeaderShape - Interactive, intense program to assist in further developing leadership skills

Week 1: Part 2

2009-01-30T21:37:00.002-05:00

So I checked out the Chronicle of Higher Ed and Inside Higher Education and found some interesting blogs relating to higher education. Blogs relating to college deans and the balance between parenthood and work. One blog that I found here at Mason is the blog of our Dean of Admissions, Andrew Flagel.

His blog, Not your average Admissions Blog is relevant to our Mason community. I am new to the blogging world but I would find it rare for a Dean of Admissions to have a work related blog.

The blog following issues related to the Mason community, current affairs and most importantly for the position Dean Flagel is in, issues relating the student enrollment

Week 2 - 5 (or so) resourses on leadership studies (take 2)

2009-01-30T17:32:00.002-05:00

The Methods of Research class that I am in right before the Leadership in Higher Education class got me looking into a lot of the organizations that deal directly with my studies. In searching out research studies, I came across the National Art Education Association (NAEA) which has a main office locally in Reston. Of course this resource might not be very helpful to many others in the class.

Link to the pdf: Resources on Leadership

Selected Bibliography that could be of interest: http://academicleadership.rutgers.edu/bibliography.php
There are a few more articles and resources in it that weren't on the other list.

I don't know if this is one of the links that was in the resources, but I came across this and it had quite a bit of info that seemed interesting: http://ecolecon.missouri.edu/globalresearch/

And, within that last link was this one: http://ecolecon.missouri.edu/globalresearch/chapters/subjectindex.htm
This is an extreme list of resources that you might find a gem in somewhere that relates to what you are looking for. There are web links to various international education resources and books. The site says that it is constantly being updated so perhaps it is continuing to grow.

Week1, Take 2

2009-01-30T17:20:00.002-05:00

So I, and several others, realized that we needed to blog about a blog and not just blog. Well, I went through the blogs on Chronicle and was captivated by: "Brainstorm":
http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/

I liked this for the randomness of the news, but the posts often deal with policy and many times are formed more as supported rants than direct topics. There was a short blog about Obama's remarks about the recent snow on there. I also found an article about Brandeis Univeristy closing the doors of their art museum and selling off their collection. This was particularly disturbing to me, but it just goes to show the measures that one might have to take to keep things going.

A blog to follow

2009-01-30T17:03:00.004-05:00

http://www.unifyingvoice.org/leadership/

I found that this blog would be interesting to follow.

2009-01-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

Hello class, I am late joining this blog because of a venue mix-up last week during the first week of class, but I am looking forward to learning more about leadership in this class nonetheless. My name is Kim Cooper, and I am a grad student here at Mason studying for the masters in HE specialization through the interdisciplinary studies program here.

My most memorable leadership experience I guess would have to be when I established a scholarship fund for students from my high school pursuing a career in the health/allied health fields. The foundation/scholarship fund was formulated to honor the memory of a good friend and fellow classmate who passed away of cancer at the age of 26. She was a registered nurse. Going through the whole process of gathering information to establish a foundation, getting appropriate tax ID verification, etc., formulating and appointing trustees really developed a strong confidence level that I greatly appreciated. It proved invaluable and useful for my future career journey as well.

Week 2 - 5 (or so) resourses on leadership studies

2009-01-27T12:54:00.000-05:00

Some resources that I found browsing the web:
Journal for Leadership Studies Online Articles
This was a simple search that brought up articles from the Journal of Leadership Studies which has several articles that would be useful for the class. You will have to enter a library ID from George Mason Library to gain access which I assume you can get from the librarian?

Senate Democrats
Senate Republicans
If you are looking for information about public officials in the senate and the going’s on… you can add that to the http://www.whitehouse.gov/ that was mentioned in class. (Or even one on Bush: http://whitehouse.georgewbush.org/index.asp )

Center for Education Reform : Some interesting topics on education.

Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership : http://jel.sagepub.com/ This one even has an RSS feed!

Another Journal: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership.aspx (this one also has RSS feeds)

Print journal in the GMU Library:

Leaderhip in Higher Education - Kevin Christian

2009-01-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning colleagues. I also experience difficulties posting last night, however all appears well this morning. I will bring each of you hard copies on Thursday, however if you have a moment, please review a study that my organization did on "Competencies for Community College Leaders" http://www.ccleadership.org/resource_center/competencies.htm. I would like to get your thoughts and feedback on the competencies and if you feel they are indicative of an effective leader. Enjoy the snow.

Kevin Christian

Responses to Blog Postings (technical difficulties)

2009-01-26T22:29:00.001-05:00

Okay - for some reason, I am not able to "comment on a post" or to go back into my entry to edit. Anyone else having this issue?

Anyhoo - regarding the five leadership tests - I took the first test (because it was short) and I tested as: A thoughtful assassination victim - Abe Lincoln! I took the 30 question test and I tested as an "experienced guide." This makes me think of the Indian in the movie about the Doors (with Val Kilmer)!!!!

Also, below is my comment on Francis' initial posting relating to leadership and his experience in the military:

Your comment on good leadership as well as bad hit home with me. When leadership is bad, is it really leadership? Unfortunately, it is. This made me consider the bad leaders we have seen throughout world history - Idi Amin, Adolf Hitler, Khaddafi, Stalin, and so on. I imagine these individuals started out as "good" in the eyes of many (a driving force that united people, instilled nationalism/pride) but eventually, these qualities melted away and increased power and corruption. These initially positive attributes became their tools that lead to repression, genocide and corruption. Power, especially absolute power, wielded alongside fear and terror are effective ways to control people.

Leadership Resources - an ecclectic mix

2009-01-26T21:24:00.000-05:00

A pretty good site with lot's of resources, references, and helpful leadershp tid-bits. The site runs a bit slow but it doesn't try to sell any sort of "leadership program, " etc. http://www.leader-values.com/

Interesting tidbits on "change management": http://www.leadership-tools.com/

A great reminder on the contributions of female leaders from around the world since records were kept! http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/ Definitely some ground breakers way way WAY before Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton, Condoleez Rice, PM Bhuto, and Margaret Thatcher.

When good leaders go bad - a nice article on what NOT to do (bad leaders) and how typically postive leadership traits can actually become liabilities for some... http://www.salesandmarketing.com/msg/content_display/training/e3i6V2qawULa9I4LD7nZNL1Dw==?imw=Y

Along the same theme but not a resource on leadership - any and all articles on Illinois Governor Blogevich. Innocent or guilty - he needs to keep his narcissistic comments to himself. However, I would like to add, that when I heard part of his interview in which he compared himself to Ghandi - I tried to look up the Ghandi Institute but received a threatening warning from IT that I did not have permission to go there. hee hee!! Makes me wonder.

Finally, I found a fun site with an article on "How Not to Lead a Geek" - the site's author calls himself CHO - Chief Happiness Officer. Bottom line, a Leader's job is to make people "happy," which I know is a relative term...but there are some interesting articles and insights here (on the more humorous side). http://positivesharing.com/

A blog on leadership...

2009-01-26T21:17:00.000-05:00

There are all sorts of sites on leadership out there on the world wide web... HR World has a nice listing of "top 10" blog sites. I browsed around there and found a leadership blog that I liked. Check it out: http://www.jimestill.com/

Introduction to Leadership - Kevin Christian

2009-01-25T22:32:00.000-05:00

Greetings to CTCH 792- Leadership in Higher Education! My name is Kevin Christian and I am currently a second year student in the Doctor of Arts program in Community College Teaching at George Mason University. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Media Arts and Master's degree in Business Administration. I currently reside in Alexandria, VA.

I have been involved in leadership activities since my little league football days at the Silver Hill Boys and Girls Club in Marlow Heights, Maryland. I served as team captain and quarterback during my 6th and 7th grade years. In both junior high and high school, I was active in student government, student activities, and wrote for the student newspaper.

As a junior in college, I was chosen to participate in on the Student Leadership Team. This was truly and honor, because only a select group of students were chosen based on rigid credentials. With this honor you were engaged in many campus activities in which you lead other students. For the past 20 years, I have worked in the area of education as an administrator, assistant director, adjunct professor, and program developer.

For the last five years, I have worked as the Senior Program Associate for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity for the American Association of Community Colleges (www.aacc.nche.edu). As the leading advocacy association for community colleges, I have the opportunity to work with community college presidents from all over the United States on issues that affect diversity and diverse student populations on their respective campuses.

Of of my most recent accomplishments was assisting in the development of a joint Leadership and Diversity Statement between my association AACC and the Association of Community College Trustees (www.acct.org). To read a copy of this statement, please access the following link http://webadmin.aacc.nche.edu/About/Positions/Pages/ps07272008.aspx.

While my experiences with leadership vary, I look forward to working with all of you this semester to develop my skills as a leader and to learn for each of you the skills that you bring as a leader.

If you are interested in learning more about leadership programs that I am involved with, please review the following websites:

1). The Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership @ http://webadmin.aacc.nche.edu/newsevents/News/articles/Documents/071620081ncbba_lakin.pdf2).

2). The National Community College Hispanic Council Leadership Symposiumhttp://www.ncchc.com/leadership-symposium/event-basics.asp

Week 1 - Nancy & Leadership

2009-01-25T19:18:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!!!

This is Nancy Conwell. I have been at GMU for just over one year as the Director of Facilities Planning & Special Projects for the College of Science. The College is just over three years old so there are numerous "leadership opportunities" and "missed opportunities." So, my job is to help "lead" the College of Science through its space master plan, i.e. 10 year strategic/marketing plan. I am a newbie to the MAIS in Higher Education Program - and am really excited to participate in this program.

I have had numerous leadership opportunities throughout my life but I am most proud of two experiences - as a coxswain for a women's four crew team and as a "team leader" for an international marketing team. As I read through some of the reading assignments - I reflected on the two experiences to figure out what made me experience leadership. In both experiences, I knew the job inside and out - I knew how to row, for one thing. Frankly, I think I was a good coxswain because I had also been a member of a mixed-eight rowing team. Having listened to other coxswains - I knew what to say and what not to say to a group of women rowing their hearts and lungs out. I had felt the pain from rowing in a race. I knew the commands and how to read the boat - when they were starting to get tired, frustrated with the pace and so on. I suppose, most importantly - I knew how to steer the boat with little to know damage.

As a marketing "team leader," it was the same - I knew the job (been there, done that). But I also knew that I had limitations; however I am most proud of the fact that I hired team members that lacked the skills, experience or contacts that I had. This produced a very balanced team that worked well together. We were a very successful marketing team - the most productive. We also had the most fun. One thing that I had to do a lot of was "fight" with upper management for tools to do our job, and so forth. I think that meant a lot to the team members. Frankly, I knew if the shoe were on the other foot - I would expect the same from my team leader.

Taking this class will help me understand leadership and I hope, teach me to look at things I can do to be a "leader" in the realm of higher education. It will also force me to really think through some of the issues I face at work. I have a great deal of respect for the Deans and faculty staff I work with and for. I hope that I can help them be better leaders. Fortunately, many of the deans know I am taking this course - so I know they will ask me what I am learning. I hopefully can influence some change if and when necessary when it comes to some of the "leadership" issues/concerns we face day to day.

Week 1: Intro to Leadership

2009-01-25T19:13:00.001-05:00

Good Evening-

About me…I am staff member at George Mason University and work in the Athletic Ticket Office. I have been at George Mason University for the past seven years as I completed my undergraduate degree in Marketing in 2005. During my undergrad here at Mason, I was also a member of the women’s track and field team. I am currently pursuing graduate degree in the MAIS program with my focus on Sport Administration.

About Leadership…My leadership experience has come from my athletic career, activities I have been involved in and my short time as a Mason employee. I have played on many, many teams growing up. To me, leadership in athletics stems from the coach and the selected captains. These individuals lay the charge to unite a team of individuals towards a common. Their goal is to teach and maximize player’s potential to prepare for competition. As a captain, I sought the respect of my teammates and led by example. The captain or leader of a team must represent and embody what the organization stands for.

My experience with leadership in the workplace has been a bit harder to come by. In my previous experiences, team captains or coaches have been the driving force behind our goals. As an employee the leadership by directors has been somewhat non-existent. In someway this has taught me more about the how a leader should be and shaped how I feel I would like to be viewed as a leader; take charge, respected, organize initiative.

Being a member of the athletic department, we receive daily emails from NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors and Administrators). The Daily Review always includes information about conferences, member schools, and NCAA programs. I made my way to the site and found the NCAA offers a variety of leadership conferences, seminars, and workshops for both the student-athlete and future leaders within collegiate athletics. Check out some of there programs visit:
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=292

Meghan

Five Leadership Tests

2009-01-25T19:03:00.000-05:00

Famous Leader Test
http://similarminds.com/leader.html
Shows you what famous leader you mirror based on your answers to as few as 9 questions.

Notre Dame Leadership Test
http://www.queendom.com/queendom_tests/transfer?req=MXw3MDJ8NDAzNDA2NXwxfDE=&refempt=1
More detailed than Famous Leader Test. 100 questions so be prepared.

Military Leader Test
http://www.military.com/LeaderShipTest/1,16183,main.htm,,00.html
Shows where you are within the spectrum of the military leaders.

Your Leadership weakness and strength
http://www.testcafe.com/lead/leadfree.cgi
It takes 60 questions to find out.

You might be an:
Ambassador, Advocate, People Mover, Truth-Seeker, Creative builder, or an Experienced guide.

http://www.yourleadershiplegacy.com/assessment/assessment.php

It takes 30 questions.

5 Resources on Leadership

2009-01-25T17:38:00.000-05:00

I am very much interested in women's leadership. When I was a professional in my 20's, I saw very little personal need for gender separation in research interests. Now that I am in my early 30's, I find myself constantly seeking female examples of those who were able to do it all: perfect career, perfect family, and an active social life. I'm starting to think that this is not possible at all. However, I still seek examples of those who have at least attempted and gotten some of it right. Here are some other resources (some gender focused, some not) I found to be interesting:

International Federation of University Women
Here's some concrete exercises on leadership development.

American Association of University Women
Here's a list of books on women and leadership.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Not gender focused, but some good info on leading nonprofits.

Distance Education for the New Century
This is an online article about leading in distance ed environments.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators
This is a link to a very informative PPT presentation on leading campus internationalization.

2009-01-25T15:15:00.001-05:00

Leadership and us…

I spent most of my adult life in the Marine Corps. I was fortunate enough to have an NROTC scholarship to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. The Marine Corps, as all branches of the United States military, stresses the importance of leadership. What is interesting is the Wharton School also has a linkage to the Marine Corps by way of a leadership program.

http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/l_change/trips/Corps.shtml

The leadership program is interesting because the Wharton School, as a business school, uses the military to provide its MBA students with an immersion experience for a few days at Quantico Marine Corps Base where I retired as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness in 2004. There are a lot of articles of MBA students discussing the leadership venture program.

In the Marine Corps I also worked with members of the other Armed Forces. I also worked as a Director of Education for a non-profit in Washington D.C. and have worked twice as a Defense Contractor and twice as a Certified Financial Planner as I employment in the civilian sector between tours on active duty and since retirement from the military.

I have witnessed both extraordinary and disappointing leadership in both the military and the civilian communities. There is nothing more satisfying than working with a good leader and nothing more draining than working with a poor leader.

One of the most gratifying things I have observed is how a team of men and women work together under adversity. I think we, as a class, know what the traits of leadership are from the discussions in class last Thursday. What I hope to learn is how to be a better leader and help others on their leadership journey.