Many of us are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to expand our knowledge and to develop our personal talents into strengths through the opportunity to get training in areas that enhance our skills. Leadership development programs are an important mechanism for helping us make our talents work for us in the real world. Thus a leadership development program becomes a gift to ourselves. We get a chance to see the world in new and exciting ways. However, it is important to use our gift wisely and in ways that benefit those with whom we work, our community partners, and the people that we love. A gift of knowledge must be shared. Giving back is an important part of our responsibility to serve our organizations and our communities. Leadership is not only about creating a vision, it is about improving the quality of life of all those with whom we work and whom we serve.
Training is for the mind, leadership is to work with others for change, and giving is for the soul. In LEADING WITH SOUL, Bolman and Deal(2001) discuss soul in the context of finding meaning in all aspects of our lives. Soul is not only about our faith, it is about our values and our beliefs. Soul is what makes us human. Giving is our gift to others. Former President Bill Clinton(GIVING, 2007) pointed out that giving changes the world. There are many ways to give including money, time, things, and skills. The use of our talents and skills is what guides us as we practice our leadership. Bornstein(HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD, 2007) discussed how new ideas come into being and how people create change to make their ideas a reality. There are many individuals throughout the world who become social entrepreneurs and spend their lives in giving back to their communities, countries, and to the world at large. It is not so much about money as it is in sharing with our friends on this planet.
Leaders are committed to lifelong learning although leadership in practice is more about the applications of what we have learned to our field . For public health leaders, leadership is the ability to improve or provide direction for the improvement of the health of the public. In return for the gift of learning, there are at least ten ways that we can give back our knowledge to our organizations and our communities. First, we can share our knowledge with others through mentoring and coaching. Work with new colleagues to help them develop their management and leadership skills. Mentoring and coaching increases the value of ourselves and others. It is a return on investment in our own training and education. Mentoring and coaching is a capacity-builder for our organizations in that our personal commitment to others increases and spreads the knowledge around. Second, it is important that we consciously commit to doing things differently after we return to work after a training workshop. Although our organizations tend to be the same on our return, we need to be different if change is to occur. We must start with a change in behavior before values begin to change.
Third, leaders are often outliers. In his new book, Gladwell (OUTLIERS, 2008) describes outliers who have been given opportunities to lead and who have grabbed these opportunities. It is important for leaders to give opportunities to others. Leadership programs have been one important such opportunity in recent years. If you are fortunate enough to be the recipient of such opportunities, it is important to provide opportunities to others. Training is one of the things we can do for others. In addition to searching out new leaders, we can fourthly give training workshops in our own agency . One interesting example of this is the Best Practices Program developed by the Mid-America Public Health Training Center(MAPHTC). In a competitive process, MAPHTC selects one local health department in Illinois and one in Indiana each year where they offer four on-site training programs at the agency. The topics and programs are developed in a partnership between MAPHTC staff and the local health department leadership. Not only is the Best Practices Program an excellent example of giving back, it is also an example of a successful academic-practice partnership.
Most leaders that I have encountered read extensively in the areas of management and leadership. They attend seminars and workshops on various new methods related to their administrative and leadership responsibilities. Another way to give back is to start a book club in their agency to discuss cutting edge articles related to their field, new tools for management and leadership, and just to enjoy the great art of conversation and learning. An interesting twist on the discussion relates to how the book or article can be utilized in the work of the organization. A sixth way to give back is to help increase the level of hob satisfaction of your direct reports. It is important to reward people for their good work. Increased job satisfaction often leads to improved job performance.
Most people are linear thinkers. Successful leaders tend to be systems thinkers. They tend to see beyond the narrow vision of today and concentrate on the big vision of tomorrow. They see their organization work in terms of its impact on the community that they serve. Leaders who give back teach others to appreciate the wider view. They concentrate on sharing the vision in language that others can understand.. This is not an easy task and may take many explanations and refinements to make the system intelligible to others. It is critical to use the tools of leadership in a system’s way. Many tools from strategic planning, conflict resolution and negotiation, and continuous quality improvement lend themselves to systems work.
Another way to give back is to tell stories that demonstrate your personal leadership or the leadership of others. Stories bring our fields to life. People react strongly to personal as well as work related stories. Leaders also have an obligation to discuss best practices at local and at professional meetings. It is important to document our work in local newspapers as well as in professional journals. Every time an article is written and published, giving back to our field and our colleagues occur. Finally, we practice what we preach every time we return our leadership gift to our organization and community.
Whenever you take a training course, return to school for advanced education, or do any of the things discussed in this paper, you are using the gift of leadership to change the lives of others as well as yourself. Leadership development and its impact is a gift that keeps on giving.
Adapted from 2008 Graduation Address by Dr. Louis Rowitz to the Southeastern Public Health Leadership Institute in Chapel Hill, NC on December 9, 2008
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Rowitz On Leadership 