On Leadership

It seems like a long time since my last blog post. This week is probably the most intense week of the Applied Management Concepts course because our individual papers are due this coming Monday and group papers are due the following Monday. Meanwhile, we have the weekly case study and also need to prepare the PowerPoint presentation for our group paper. Needless to say, this week has included quite a bit of extra writing and editing.

Of course, leadership is the hot topic in the management class so I have spent significant time reading and writing about leadership. Last night, though, I witnessed leadership in action - at a 2nd grade music concert. Jenn's second grade program was last night and the kids did an outstanding job. They came into they gym in an organized fashion. The kids were enthusiastic. They smiled and did all of the motions. They knew all of the words and sang them out.

Yet, oddly enough, the leader was not physically there. Jenn left school sick yesterday and had to miss that concert that she had worked so hard to prepare. However, it was quite clear that even though Jenn was at home sick, she was with the kids in spirit. I could totally sense her presence in the choice of songs and the kid's enthusiasm.

This captures so much about what leadership is about. She inspired her students in such a way that the show could continue - even without her physically being present.