Help Me...Help Others...Define Leadership
Happy New Year!
I hope those who had the ability to take some time off over the holiday season had a relaxing and rejuvenating time! For me, I can't remember taking as much time off as I did over this holiday season for quite some time. With students still away on break at my university, I am enjoying some time catching up on projects yet to be completed and making plans for next semester. I am particularly looking forward to a retreat with the professional staff in my office identifying our "core experiences" we offer students and developing sound learning outcomes for each experience and assessment plans for those outcomes.
Beyond excitement at work, there are a few exciting updates to provide related to Renewing Leadership and furthering the conversation about making leadership more inclusive. Two former students, Aaron and Adam, who I worked with while they were in college are now professional staff members at the same university just down the road from where I am now. They, along with members of their training committee invited me to conduct a half day leadership workshop for the student staff in their department. I am looking forward to working with about 100 students who have an extraordinary ability to positively affect the lives of their peers by connecting them with involvement opportunities across campus and helping them identify what they learn from those experiences.
One of the building blocks of the workshop will be to provide participants with an opportunity to define what leadership means to them and then develop a plan to reach that personal leadership potential. While each of us may have some ideas of what leadership means to us, I find that we often don't have opportunities to sit with a diverse group of people and share our thoughts on the matter. My hope through the workshop is to not only expose the participants to my thoughts about leadership, but the thoughts of many and then encourage each student to choose what resonates with them.
I was thinking today that you may be able to help me out! If you are so inclined, head over to facebook.com/renewingleadership and post a comment detailing the essence of your leadership perspective. If you had to sum up what leadership means to you in a simple sentence or phrase, what would that be? Sharing your thoughts will hopefully not only help others develop theirs, but will enable you to reflect on what drives your leadership philosophy and perhaps renew your commitment to leadership in your every day life.
Look for more writings in the near future and be sure to share your leadership essence at facebook.com/renewingleadership!!
I hope those who had the ability to take some time off over the holiday season had a relaxing and rejuvenating time! For me, I can't remember taking as much time off as I did over this holiday season for quite some time. With students still away on break at my university, I am enjoying some time catching up on projects yet to be completed and making plans for next semester. I am particularly looking forward to a retreat with the professional staff in my office identifying our "core experiences" we offer students and developing sound learning outcomes for each experience and assessment plans for those outcomes.
Beyond excitement at work, there are a few exciting updates to provide related to Renewing Leadership and furthering the conversation about making leadership more inclusive. Two former students, Aaron and Adam, who I worked with while they were in college are now professional staff members at the same university just down the road from where I am now. They, along with members of their training committee invited me to conduct a half day leadership workshop for the student staff in their department. I am looking forward to working with about 100 students who have an extraordinary ability to positively affect the lives of their peers by connecting them with involvement opportunities across campus and helping them identify what they learn from those experiences.
One of the building blocks of the workshop will be to provide participants with an opportunity to define what leadership means to them and then develop a plan to reach that personal leadership potential. While each of us may have some ideas of what leadership means to us, I find that we often don't have opportunities to sit with a diverse group of people and share our thoughts on the matter. My hope through the workshop is to not only expose the participants to my thoughts about leadership, but the thoughts of many and then encourage each student to choose what resonates with them.
I was thinking today that you may be able to help me out! If you are so inclined, head over to facebook.com/renewingleadership and post a comment detailing the essence of your leadership perspective. If you had to sum up what leadership means to you in a simple sentence or phrase, what would that be? Sharing your thoughts will hopefully not only help others develop theirs, but will enable you to reflect on what drives your leadership philosophy and perhaps renew your commitment to leadership in your every day life.
Look for more writings in the near future and be sure to share your leadership essence at facebook.com/renewingleadership!!
Paul, your anecdote about your former students that are now professional staff members best sums up my philosophy of leadership, courtesy of Ralph Nader. "I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."
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