Leadership Making Sense of Leadership

¶ … Leadership

Making Sense of Leadership Through Scholarship and Interview

The issue of leadership in the American university is of the utmost importance as the university continues to meet the changing needs of contemporary society. Faculty and staff members who exhibit leadership qualities are among the elite who are suitable to foster change and bring academia to excellence. However, the concept of leadership is a murky one at best. Increased attention to the topic through scholarly research and popular interest has done much to exacerbate these conditions, as the different kinds of leadership often leave two parties discussing the concept talking about completely different ideas. By presenting the findings of an interview with a person I consider a leader and comparing those findings with scholarly portraits of leadership, I hope to present a portrait of what leadership looks like in academia. To be a successful leader in academia, one must have the ability to make sound decisions, the ability to influence, and the desire to help others or advance an organization..

In the area of making sound decisions, my leadership candidate has succeeded through the use of logic and temperance. Above all, my leadership candidate makes decisions after thoroughly weighing all alternatives and considering the impact of those decisions on short- and long-term goals. Consulting others in his decision-making, my leadership candidate has the ability to make a sound decision only after garnering all viewpoints. Without this exceptional quality, a leader could not be much of a leader at all. Indeed, a person who only boisterously attempts to exert his or her view is a workplace bully, according to Twale and Deluca (2005). Indeed, as Bowman and Garten (2006) point out that leadership is "releasing creative, combustible energy in others," and leaders must be able to make the decision to release the right kind of energy to be a good leader (pg. 6).

The second component of leadership revealed by my findings is that of influence. Leaders must be able to influence others or they are not leaders, but simply those with good intentions. Able to influence even the highest ranks in his university, my candidate for leadership has met this quality. Indeed, his ability to encourage others to see his point-of-view without being forceful is the perfect example of "releasing creative, combustible energy in others" (Bowman and Garten, 2006-page 6). This special influence occurs not through force or a desire to put one's self above others, as a workplace bully would do, but out of the desire to spread one's special talents to others. Because leaders generally know about these leadership qualities early in their lives (Bowman and Garten, 2006), they become influential through the honing of these skills and the desire to use them. As my candidate for leadership displayed, perhaps the best use of those talents is through the unassuming, influential person, the one who can affect change in a natural way.

The third, and perhaps most important component in successful leadership, as gained from my findings with my leadership candidate, includes a desire to help others or to advance an organization. According to Bowman and Garten (2006), "Leadership exists as part of a duality. Leaders forge and sustain relationships with followers. Exceptional leaders not only view themselves as life-size but are equally adept at enabling self-knowledge in others" (pg. 1). Without such a vision someone identified as a leader might be more accurately called a workplace bully. Twale and Deluca (2005), in their discussion of workplace bullying, with a special focus on academia, note that bullies tend to be "power hungry" (pg. 6). Competitive, willing to challenge others, and posing "persistent threats to others' personal or professional status," the authors also agree that bullies in the workplace "undermine colleagues work" (Twale and Deluca, 2005, pg. 6). At first it may be easy to confuse a workplace bully with a leader because both have the ability to get the views across. Like leaders, bullies are often in the limelight, and Twale and Deluca (2005) note that bullying is often difficult to pinpoint within an organization because it can be masked by typical workplace activities. However, the workplace bully does not have the desire to advance the organization or others. In the academic realm, the workplace bully seeks only to build a name of him or herself; he or she generally does not care about teaching students or advancing research for the good of scholarship of humankind. For this reason, it is important that a leader not only have the ability to make sound decisions and influence, but also a desire to help others and progress the organization. This is the case with my leadership candidate. Impossible to mistake as a workplace bully, my candidate for leadership has the ability to remain humble despite his considerable influence, in addition to speaking without arrogance. Genuinely concerned with the fate of the organization, this leader always attempts to gain the viewpoints of many before making an influential decision, asking colleagues to favor him with their input. In addition, this leader shows a tolerance and fervor for diverse opinions, and weighs them in his actions. Through his peaceful and collaborative manner, he encourages colleagues to work together to solve a problem that affects all.