"If ..."

I will never forget a conversation in or around the spring of 1985. My wife and I were having dinner with the former president of Washington State University, Dr. Glen Terrell.

As we were discussing myriad topics he paused and asked, “Who will be the leaders of your generation?” I am quite confident that I had a “deer in the headlight” expression. How do you answer that question?

Sensing that I was in completely uncharted waters, Dr. Terrell broke the silence by sharing that leadership, effective leadership doesn’t just happen by chance. It is planned, thoughtful, deliberate, and with purpose.

He continued by explaining that thinking about leadership now and in the future is accepting that individual giftedness, skills, knowledge, experience and passion all combine or converge not as happenstance. Rather, the path of leadership is constant and consistent learning, humility, risk, perseverance, making sense, meaning making, and unwavering commitment to improvement of self as well as others.

At the time, I recall nodding my head in agreement knowing full well that I had little to anchor or reference with respect to experience to these pearls of wisdom.

The conversation concluded with three questions that serve both as a reminder and motivator to the oft-daunting task of leading others. Dr. Terrell queried again in a rhetorical tone “Who will be the leaders of your generation?”

· “If not you, who?”

· “If not here, where?”

· “If not now, when?”

That conversation has and continues to serve as a reminder that leading is about knowing oneself, being clear about purpose, mission, and accepting a reality that inspiring, motivating others comes more from modeling, teaching, integrity, character, and grace.

Grace?

Absolutely – giving and receiving grace is core.

In our fallible human condition, grace is an act critical to effective leadership. As Dr. Terrell clearly pointed out leaders make, take, and commit to risk. In doing so, there are and will be mistakes. Accepting and admitting these shortcomings is not a sign of weakness. Rather it endures leaders to those they lead through the power of grace. Let me be clear, leaders don’t create and sustain followership by consistently and constantly making mistakes. Making, taking, and committing to risk is not about arbitrary, reckless, or ill-conceived actions.

We have witnessed as well as experienced leaders that fail to take action, follow up or follow through, and etc. Indecision, ambiguity, and incoherent actions create a loss or failure of confidence, trust, and commitment.

Conversely, making, taking, and committing to risk require decisiveness, clarity, and coherence. There must be congruency of risk with vision, mission, and core or guiding principles.

Years later, my leadership journey would cross the path of Reverend E. V. Hill of whom I have quoted recently. It is the Reverend Hill I cite with a sobering reality – “if you are leading and no one is following, you are just out on a walk”.

There remains confusion with many leaders that assume that a title or position commands followership. Missing from this mindset is the understanding that followership – the followership that is committed, loyal to a mission, and vision is earned not appointed. Please note that commitment and loyalty must be to the work not to a person or program – the work – the enduring work of teaching and learning.

Dr. Terrell certainly did not limit leadership to risk. Sense and meaning making resonate now more than ever as keys to unlocking the myriad uncertainties, mixed messages, and dissonance created by years of narrowly defined accountability and conflicting purposes of education.

I will in the future attempt to unpack more of the lessons learned from that very purposeful conversation with Dr. Terrell. For now, I ask you to ponder the very question asked of me – “Who are the leaders of this generation?”

“If it is not you, who?”

“If not here, where?”

And, “if not now, when?”