THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

Susan Conrad

PURPOSE

This project required me to interview a person who I

saw as a leader and gain their perspective on

leadership. I selected my current supervisor for this

interview. She has been with Marymount University

for many years and has held both faculty and

administration positions.

MARYMOUNT LEADER

LEADING TO MEET THE MISSION

Clear Expectations (Fullan p.55)

Valued to the individuals (Hahn, p91)

“To feel that you are helpful, you are useful to society

- this is happiness.”

Inform each person the importance of THEIR Role (Fullan

p. 52, p. 118)

Flow of Knowledge (Fullan p.87)

Excel at Office Politics (Liane S.)

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

Inspire Others (Fullan p.55)

Enthusiasm, Self-confidence, Optimism, Clarity of Mission

(Fullan, p.41)

Ethics (Wheatley p.57)

Make Hard decisions (Machiavelli, Chapter 19)

Respect (Hahn p.73)

“Leaders make people feel that even the most difficult problems

can be tackled productively.” (Fullan p.7)

IT TAKES A TEAM

Recognizing Strengths and Weaknesses of your team

“Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. When you can see only

what’s wrong in another person, when you aren’t capable of

seeing her good qualities, something is wrong with your

perception….The solution to this is to look more deeply.” (Hahn

p.122)

“Leaders look at their people’s skills and figure out how to best

use their talents to most benefit the mission.” (Liane

Summerfield)

SELECTING THE TEAM

“I hire good people who want to move up and I

give them opportunity to excel.” Liane

Summerfield

“Remind people that they are part of a team for

the greater good of the university.” Liane

Summerfield

ELEMENTS FOR BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

“What separates effective leaders from ineffective leaders is how

much they really care about the people they lead.” Fullan p. 55• Define Expectations• Expect the Best• Setting the example• Recognizing individuals• Celebrating

Feedback “Treat people with respect and be honest with

feedback even if you are not sure it be favorably received.”

Liane Summerfield

ROAD TO LEADERSHIP

Do Your Best / Mindfulness

“Whatever you do, do it with your whole being.”

(Hahn p. 42)

Mentors

“The wise man should always follow the road that

have been trodden by the great and imitate those

who have excelled, so that if he cannot reach their

perfection, he may at least acquire something of its

savor.” (Prince p. 23)

CHALLENGES

Adapting and Preparing for Change

“Transforming the culture- change things the way we do

things around here…reculturing….one that activates and

deepens moral purpose through collaborative work cultures

that respect differences and constantly build and test

knowledge against measurable results.” (Fullan p. 44)

“I believe that people can change; You just need to teach a

new way of behavior.” Liane Summerfield

BAD LEADERS

“Bad leaders are pompous and full of themselves. Title is everything and

they delegate all the work. You can’t trust them because they are so busy

promoting themselves. They would throw the team under the bus if they

were in jeopardy.” Liane Summerfield

Conrad Comment: “It sounds like you (Liane) would not be supportive of

the ways of The Prince.”

Liane Comment: “Mostly true, however there are times when you have to

make hard decisions like letting people go….and sometimes they come back

to me and thanked me because people know when they aren’t performing.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

“A leader has to be willing to do whatever it takes;

nothing is beneath them.” Liane Summerfield

REFERENCES

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco,

CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hahn, T. N. (2007). The art of power. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Machiavelli, N. (2004). The prince. New York, NY: Pocket Books.

Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the new science. San

Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.