Leadership as a philosophy...

Posted By Shawn M. Fouts - West TX A&M U.

This leadership thing is consuming me. Not that I have always been the consummate leader, mainly as a lack of knowledge and modeling. But, as I work with this thing called leadership I have come to a few conclusions:

1. Leadership is a philosophy, not a theory.
2. Leadership philosophy is life philosophy, in my mind the two are one.
3. Leadership is nothing more than Relationships + Influence. How can I influence people in my relationships?

Leadership = Relationships + Influence

Profoundly simple really. I wonder why we see such a lack of leadership all around us then? I intentionally choose to be a leader (at the least an active participant) in everything I do, everywhere I go, and in every relationship I currently have and make on a daily basis, no matter how big or how small. But, I have to choose to be an influence and I have to choose what kind of influence I will be, either positive or negative. I wonder if influencing one really is influencing many? I think it’s worth a try.

Comments

[Tom Krieglstein]

I think your question;

"why we see such a lack of leadership"

is related to your statement;

"I have to choose to be an influence."

Most people, especially college students, are not thinking day-to-day about that choice and thus never influence anyone around them. Whether it's where they are in their journey or apathy, or both, they just aren't making that conscious choice.

So without talking AT them and yelling AT them to wake up and make a choice and take action, how can we get a college student to see that?

[Shawn M. Fouts]

From working in a couple different institutions, and being a people watcher in general, I think personal relationship building is becoming a lost art. We've moved so electronic that one of the basic human needs, the need for human touch, has been relegated to "only if necessary." I am not even sure students see relationship building modeled very well in front of them(?). I agree, talking AT them is not the solution. But, just maybe, if they see faculty and staff intentionally going out of their way to build deeper relationships with others then maybe our students will not only hear our words, but more importantly see our actions supported by our words, rather than words supported by actions.

Building intentional relationships, whether those relationships are with classmates or the lady who checks students in at the cafeteria, can be difficult, time consuming, and intimidating. But we need to instill in students the idea that influence is best when relationships exist. Without relationships, no networking and no influencing. I think that is we are not intentionally striving to be a positive influence then we are unintentionally being a non-positive influence. Not necessarily negative, but not positive either.