Me – A Leader?Erin L Payseur, Associate Director Leader Dev & Civic Engagement

• Leadership is about power. • Leadership is largely about change and reveals new horizons for a

more just, equitable and humane world.

• Only “special” people can lead – people who are outgoing, who run for student office, etc.

• All human beings, regardless of race, gender or ethnicity have the capacity to lead and influence the world for noble purposes.

• Being a leader is about making the money, having the prestigious position, driving the nice car.

• Helping students understand life as a stewardship and work as a vocation releases them to lead out of their divine giftedness.

Common Leadership Myths Debunked

• I am not called to lead.• Some individuals are called to sustained positions of leadership (and

possess the Christian spiritual gift of leadership), but also that no human being is released from the responsibility to influence the world for noble and good purposes through opportunities to lead.

• Leaders work best on their own.• Leadership is a shared responsibility that requires collaboration,

diversity of thought and is best experienced in the context of community.

• Leaders don’t serve.• As a Christian institution of higher learning, we have a compelling

responsibility to prepare leaders for lives of service.

Common Leadership Myths Debunked

Model the Way Inspire a Shared

Vision Challenge the

Process Enable Others to

Act Encourage the

Heart

The Five Practices for Exemplary LeadersKouzes & Posner (2008). The Student Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

What I like about this model Easy to understand and to apply No advanced training required to get

started, and yet can always keep developing skills in these areas

Relevant to any context, at any level – class, church, community, corporate world

Way to identify what we are doing well and to identify ways we can grow

Application Let’s celebrate the leadership in us! Let’s think about practical steps we can

take to improve. Let’s build a team with complimentary

strengths, looking for people who are strong in our weaker areas.

Let’s live it out and make a difference!

Melissa JonesNew York Times article - March 24, 2011

1. Model the Way• Clarify values • Set the example

“Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in faith, in love, and in purity.”- 1 Timothy 4:12, NIV

2. Inspire a Shared Vision• Envision the

future• Enlist others“Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble that we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so we will no longer be in disgrace.’”- Nehemiah 2:17, NIV

Todd HarperBaylor Magazine - Winter 2010/2011, Vol. 9, Issue 2

3. Challenge the Process• Seize the

initiative• Generate small

wins“For if you [Esther] remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”- Esther 4:14, NIV

Rebecca Canning BrumleySherry MatthewsWaco Tribune Herald – February 13, 2011

4. Enable Others to Act• Foster Collaborative

relationships• Strengthen others

“What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you can not handle it alone.”-Exodus 18: 17-18, NIV

Amy BolinYP Leadership

5. Encourage the Heart• Recognize

contributions• Celebrate victories

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for builidng others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”- Ephesians 4:29

Jan GrahamFBC Woodway

Application Let’s celebrate the leadership in us! Let’s think about practical steps we can

take to improve. Let’s build a team with complimentary

strengths, looking for people who are strong in our weaker areas.

Let’s live it out and make a difference!

Additional resources The Five Practices®

Student LPI Assessment & Individual Development Plan

The Student Leadership Challenge book – workbook style with personal application questions

ALDCE Leadership Clearinghouse http://

researchguides.baylor.edu/academyforleaderdevelopmentandcivicengagement

Books, articles, associations, & other resources

Other Opportunities Academy Fellow program

Individual, self-paced leadership program Social change model of leadership

Leadership Studies Minor (LDS prefix) Introduction to Leadership (LDS 1301) Servant Leadership (CCS 1100) Leadership & Technology (LDS 3V01 01)

Leadership in Ghana May 12-27, 2012 Visit BU Missions website for more info.

Closing Thoughts“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”- Ephesians 3:16-20, NIV

Contact InformationErin L Payseur, Associate DirectorLeader Development & Civic Engagement254-710-1736, Erin_payseur@baylor.eduSLC, Student Learning & Engagement #207