St. John's News

Reflecting on what makes a leader; how leaders influence others; and whether leaders are born or made, at the 2007 annual Founders Week Student Leaders Luncheon, James W. Pellow, Ed.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer said “to be an effective leader, you need to have a passion for what you are doing.” He added: “You know you are making an impact on others when your leadership causes changes in them and in turn, in yourself. It’s all about measuring outcomes.”

Expanding on the 2007 Founders Week theme: respect + compassion = solidarity, Dr. Pellow said that achieving solidarity is another way of describing the process through which leaders influence others and effect positive change. This impact, he said, stems from their powerful personalities, inherent skills and the persuasiveness of their communication — verbal and written. His advice to his audience, for maximum effectiveness, “marry yourself to one cause.”

Connect with Your Heart, Not Your Head
Julia Upton, RSM, Ph.D., Provost, also shared her thoughts about the 2007 Founders Week theme. She also stressed the importance of passion. “Compassion requires using your heart, not your head. This is the only way one can truly connect with what others are experiencing and feeling,” she said.

Tracing her own evolution as a leader, Dr. Upton described her two-month mission to Panama when she was a novice with the Sisters of Mercy. “To connect and feel, I realized I needed to go live in the third world.” She signed on for a mission to Panama and was rewarded by having “one of the most formative experiences” of her life. “I achieved a feeling of solidarity with others that I could only have achieved by using my heart, not my head.” She was happy to be able to temporarily shed her persona as an academic. “I learned that we have a poverty in this country that we will never understand and the third world has a wealth that they will never understand.” She concluded by urging her audience “to own the issues of the day.”