Lessons of Leadership
Source/Author: Nancy L. Spencer, Head of School
December 03, 2020
I’ve been pondering leadership recently, and thinking about the different kinds of leaders who have been effective in their organizations. What I have come to observe is that there are those who lead through action, others who guide through conviction, and still others who inspire through words and language. Of course, while many leaders combine all of these qualities, three individuals come to mind for me.
Ruth Simmons served as the 18th President of Brown University (my alma mater), where she was the first African American President of an Ivy League institution and the University’s first female President. Raised in humble circumstances, Dr. Simmons arrived at Brown in 2001, after stints as the President of Smith College and as the Vice Provost of Princeton University.
One of my favorite anecdotes about Simmons entails her resolution of the impasse created when she sought to hire acclaimed author Toni Morrison to teach at Princeton. The hiring committee insisted that a resume be submitted as a condition of Ms. Morrison’s employment. Morrison, a Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel Laureate, was offended by the request and refused to submit one. With little fanfare, Dr. Simmons wrote a resume for Morrison herself. Through determination and pragmatism, the situation was resolved.
“Here's my philosophy about life,” said Dr. Simmons, “don't dwell on insignificant things.”
Leadership through action. A second example of leadership is the NBA legendary coach Phil Jackson, who won 11 NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers. Perhaps Jackson is best known as the coach who convinced superstar Michael Jordan that no matter how talented Jordan was individually, in order for him to succeed in his dream of winning an NBA championship, Jordan and all of the Bulls had to embrace the ethos of teamwork, as embodied by the famed triangle offense.
Jackson’s approach to leadership was through his conviction that a leader’s job was to build leaders at all levels. His philosophy was to “lead from who you are and bench the ego.” Jackson’s self-confidence and commitment to his principles were demonstrated in a vivid moment in the Bulls’ 1994 Jordan-less playoffs, detailed in both Jackson’s memoir “Eleven Rings” and the recent ESPN series “The Last Dance.”
Star player Scottie Pippen infamously balked at Jackson drawing up a last-second shot for another player. Jackson simply asked Pippen, “Are you in or out?” Pippen answered, “I’m out,” so Jackson subbed in someone else to inbound the ball to the player who turned around, took the shot and won the game. In the postgame locker room, Jackson had veteran player Bill Cartwright address Pippen through tears, expressing the team’s profound disappointment in Pippen’s behavior, a far greater moral message than any sort of discipline the coach could have administered.
Jackson described the incident as an example of his leadership philosophy. “In the heat of the game, I simply tried to stay in the moment and make decisions based on what was actually happening. Rather than asserting my ego and inflaming the situation further, I did what needed to be done: find someone to throw in the ball and go for the win. Afterward, rather than trying to fix things myself, I let the players solve the problem.”
Leadership through conviction.Finally, a third example of leadership is demonstrated in the book ”The Splendid and the Vile,” by famed author Erik Larson. It tells the story of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the time that London faced the Blitz, the German bombing campaign that caused the British to live in fear for several months during World War II.
Churchill was in his prime during this chaotic and tense time, demonstrating true leadership. Many observed that it was during these months that Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless, when, in the face of unrelenting horror, Churchill’s eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country together.”
It was through his radio addresses that Churchill had such an impact on the British population.
Larson writes, “Every time Churchill took to the airwaves it was as if he were injecting adrenaline-soaked courage directly into the British people. In the midst of this churning hell, with no place safe or sacred, with a bomb falling even on Buckingham Palace, the new prime minister’s voice became a reassuring wellspring of hope and resolve. His speeches never failed to rise to the demands of the occasion, each one more powerful and stirring than the last. ‘If words counted,’ Churchill himself declared, ‘we should win this war.’”
It was the eventual American involvement, not words, which won the war. But the powerful impact and essential connection that words created gave hope to the British people and demonstrated how Winston Churchill brought a nation together to face the brutal assault from German bombs.
Leadership through language.All three of these leaders were true to themselves and were able to make a difference in the lives of their communities. Whether through action, conviction, language - or some other means entirely - examples of great leadership abound today and provide lessons from which we can all learn.
All the best,
Nancy
