What makes a good leader? As four executives from Elon history – Leo M. Lambert, Earl Danieley, Noel Allen and Chase Rumley – explained Tuesday evening, several answers exist to the question: Optimism, commitment, courage and principle, to name just a few.
The roundtable discussion, “Leadership, a Presidential Perspective,” was the first of several events scheduled for the final week of February in the inaugural LEADstrong 2009 campaign sponsored by Elon’s Center for Leadership.
More than 100 students and community members visited the LaRose Digital Theatre to hear what the four executives wanted to share. Lambert and Danieley served as Elon’s eighth and sixth presidents, respectively, while Allen and Rumley have served as president of the Student Government Association. Allen is also a member of Elon’s board of trustees and the Class of 1969.
Each was asked about a key moment in their own experience where they demonstrated leadership and what they learned from the process.
Danieley recounted his role in expanding the influence of faculty members, increasing institutional transparency and making the decision-making process more democratic. “Fifty years ago, collegiality and shared governance and transparency had not been invented,” he said. “At least they were not practiced on this campus.”
Allen, who served from 1968-69 as SGA president, described efforts to rescind mandatory weekly chapel attendance; Lambert talked about the efforts he and others made to change Elon from a college to a university; Rumley explained the challenges of convincing students to give to their future alma mater as part of the Ever Elon Campaign.
Those moments proved valuable for each panelist.
“The lesson is you have to stick to your guns at times, that if you believe in the vision, even in the face of criticism … you have to stick with it and ride out the rough patches,” Lambert said. “But to Elon’s credit, one of the great characteristics of this institution is that once we make a decision, we tend to move on together.”
Panel moderator John Sullivan, a professor emeritus at Elon, asked the four executives to share what “qualities of mind or the qualities of heart” are needed by leaders in the 21st century.
“Being able to study, grasp and understand the issues is sometimes undersold, and yet it is extremely important,” said Allen, adding that leadership requires hard work, discipline and optimism. “You cannot lead unless you believe you can do something that will make a difference.”
Rumley built on the same answer.
“It’s about inspiring optimism and hope and giving structures or skills to succeed and carry on a vision,” Rumley said. “It’s all about that mentoring capacity.”
LEADstrong 2009 events continue on Feb. 25 with a presentation by Christopher Gergen, a founding partner of New Mountain Ventures and co-author of Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, along with Heather Graham, a program officer with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Leadership for Your Life” takes place at 7:30 p.m. in McKinnon Hall.
For more information on the Center for Leadership, click on the link to the right of the page.
