Ryan Stephens Marketing

The following is a guest post from Michelle Bizon as part of ongoing #EduReform project:

With my college graduation looming a mere three months away, I was intrigued by Ryan’s prompt asking us what we’d change about our education system. I wish my classes had taught me to strengthen my leadership skills more vigorously. After all, leading is not simple.

Sure, you can be a manager. You can have spot-on competence in whatever field you’ve studied. However, neither authority nor expertise makes you a good leader.

Apart from in a few select applied psychology courses, leadership skills are often dismissed as discretionary. They’re so-called “soft skills.” Numbers and tangible products are what count. Yet it’s this emotional intelligence that establishes a definitive distinction between authority figures and leaders.

Today, especially, there are so many opportunities for entrepreneurial endeavors and location independence, for instance. What do you do now that the rungs on the corporate ladder are no longer clearly defined? How do you foster confidence, communication, trust and excitement in such an environment? How do you define and measure personal and group goals? How do you nurture productive professional relationships?

Perhaps the magnitude of those questions is why the topic is shied away from in many classrooms. There are few clear, definitive answers, and individuals must develop their own personalized style of leading to be effective.

Isn’t that more of a reason to address the need?

I’ve been lucky enough to work for my institution’s student engagement office for half of my college career and have experienced leadership training firsthand. While I value my co-curricular experiences — and would exalt their influence on my personal and professional development at full volume from the rooftops if given the chance — I do believe the omission of leadership development is a weakness of the standard academic curriculum. Leadership is imperative to establishing a bridge between theory and performance, which higher education institutions are tasked with instilling in students in the first place.

Michelle Bizon is a senior journalism major at Ithaca College and will graduate in May 2011. She is a staff writer for her school paper, The Ithacan, and serves as a Student Leadership Consultant in the Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs. Her passions include: communications, grammar and community building. She’s also huge Philadelphia sports fan.

Popularity: 1% [?]