The 2012-2013 Faculty Leadership Scholars Program formally began with a class of twelve scholars participating in the program’s first session, Establishing a Leadership Frame of Mind, on October 22 and 23. The focus of the session was on defining and conceptualizing what leadership is, with particular attention paid to thee philosophies and elements that underlie the leadership programs at Elon.
The group read and discussed the book, “Hesselbein on Leadership,” by Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts of America and current CEO and President of Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute (http://www.hesselbeininstitute.org). The book is a collection of Hesselbein’s short essays that discuss her approach to a variety of leadership-related issues ranging from fostering innovation to managing diversity to creating organizational structure. The central theme of the essays is Hesselbein’s famous quotation, “Leadership is about being, not doing,” which refers to her belief that one’s leadership emanates from how a person defines herself and what she stands for.
The group also read a chapter from Authentic Leadership authored by Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic and 2007 Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership. According to George, leaders only truly have sustained personal and professional success if they act with authenticity, or being true to one’s self. Similar to Hesselbein’s philosophy, George describes how authenticity is reflected in one’s establishment solid purpose and values, as well as how he creates personal relationships. George wrote his book in the wake of the recent corporate scandals in which rocked the general public’s faith in leadership. Although initially written for a practitioner audience, George’s book served as a major impetus for the scholarly and empirical study of leadership authenticity that has followed over the past decade.
The next Faculty Leadership Scholars Program session, “An Overview of Leadership Theory and Research,” will take place in November and will introduce scholars to the body of scientific research and literature on leadership. The Scholars Program will continue throughout 2012-2013, ultimately leading up to scholars’ infusion of leadership elements into one of their courses which will then be included as an elective in the Leadership Studies minor. The underlying theme of the Faculty Leadership Scholars is that every course on campus has the potential to offer students a ripe opportunity to learn and/or apply elements of leadership in the context of the natural course content.
The program is led by associate professor of psychology and Faculty Leadership Fellow Chris Leupold.
The 2012-2013 Faculty Leadership Scholars
Lynda Butler-Storsved, Physical Education & Health
Jeff Clark, Math
Casey Dirienzo, Economics
Martin Fowler, Philosophy
Jennifer Fry, Athletics
Byung Lee, Communications
Cara McFadden, Sport and Event Management
Steve Moore, Environmental Studies
Betty Morgan, Political Science
Paula Patch, English
Alan Scott, Psychology
Carol Smith, Physical Education & Health