Reflections Magazine Issue #72 - Summer 2010 | Page 2

Column from the president • I believe servant leadership must be at the forefront. By that I mean that the posture of the leader must be one of servant. There is not room for huge egos to get things accomplished. A servant leader listens to those with whom they work and collaborates in order to initiate new things. In some ways a servant leader is really a follower because the voices of others play a pivotal part in the role of the leader. The Best Leadership Comes by Serving Recently, on behalf of Siena Heights University, I had the honor of accepting the 2010 Parthenon Award for Business Leadership from Athena Lenawee, an organization recognizing and celebrating women’s leadership. This occasion allowed me to reflect on my time as President here at Siena Heights, and what leadership has meant to me. The leadership of the Adrian Dominican Sisters had the vision and sense of mission to found this institution. The university was named in honor of St. Catherine of Siena, a leader in her own time in the 14th century. She assumed leadership roles within the church and within the community both local and beyond. As we leave our 90th anniversary behind, Siena Heights has since expanded its outreach to lead students from all backgrounds (and genders). I want to share with you what I believe constitutes great leadership and what kind of leadership is needed in our world today: 2 Reflections Summer ’10 • Leaders must be constantly in tune with what motivates them. For me, and for many of us at Siena, our motivation comes from our God, who encourages us to do good things, to build up individuals and the community through our mission, which is primarily education. • Leaders must constantly recognize others and their gifts that build up the community. Some leaders think that by recognizing others they become less themselves. This is so far from the truth. When recognizing others, we are more connected, more interdependent so the whole community flourishes. • And lastly, I would like to mention relationships. Of course, all life is relational, and therefore, leadership is relational. No leader can lead alone, no leader can survive alone and no leader can be effective alone. How we lead, who we lead and why we lead can only be born of relationships. I could probably go on talking about leadership and many of its qualities, but the way we influence the lives of others in positive ways is what will ultimately define us as good leaders. Let me share this story with you: At the beginning of the past academic year, a faculty member noticed one of our students was having a difficult time. Something just wasn’t right. So she invited this student to come into her office and talk. He finally opened up and shared that he didn’t have any place to live. His mother recently moved to the south and he was living in a different home every night with friends. He was finding this difficult. She also discovered he rode his bike to Siena every day and was just recently hit by a car. The professor was concerned about this student so she sent him to see Dean for Students Trudy McSorley. After talking with the student, Trudy called me, and a few minutes later she arrived at my office and told me this student’s story. I said to her that he needed to be with us. So we put him in the residence hall and figured out the finances later. A few days later I attended performance by our theatre department, and who did I see up on the stage? The young man who had experienced so many difficulties. I tell you this story for this reason: Leadership has no boundaries. It is not defined by role but rather by the character of the person. If that professor did not have the insight to approach that student, if Trudy didn’t take the time to listen to the student, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to offer a solution. Leaders do what must be done to enter into peoples’ lives in meaningful ways. That has been my rationale behind all the decisions that have been made during my time at Siena, including the recent decision to begin a football program, which is described in greater detail in this issue of Reflections. Siena Heights will continue to provide leadership, but only with your help and support. Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD President