The Touro Communication Club Notes - #109 –March 17, 2010
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Five Quotes about Leadership by Women

Great necessities call forth great leaders.

Abigail Adams, First Lady and wife of John Adams, second President of the United States.

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.

Susan B. Anthony, prominent 19^th century American civil rights leader and suffragette

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be.
Rosalynn Carter, First Lady and wife of the 39^th President, Jimmy Carter

In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.”

Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation and winner of the

1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."
Mother Teresa. Humanitarian, 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner

Five Quotes about Leadership by Men

Leadership: the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because

he wants to do it.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34^th President of the United States

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, we did it ourselves.

Lao Tsu, Chinese Taoist philosopher circa 660 B.C.E.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
Peter F. Drucker, writer, business and management consultant

The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

-- Warren G. Bennis, writer and scholar, regarded as a pioneer in Leadership Studies

The Touro Communication Club

2 pm - Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Room 223

Dean Donne Kampel on “Women & Leadership”-

Women are breaking through the glass ceiling more frequently these days. However, the challenges that female leaders face in traditional hierarchy remain daunting. Dr. Kampel will share some of her experiences and secrets as part of our discussion. Her study of these issues is part of her forthcoming book on the topic.

A Note to Communicators:

Leadership Inside

Leadership is a topic of many discussions in almost every circle where people gather: political, scientific, education, literary, sports, even religious and artistic.

Currently, President Obama is being attacked by Republican as being a rhetorically gifted professor, but not the leader that promised change. In Albany, it would seem that the Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch is the only adult (leader) to whom the children in the Legislature will listen. Ravitch has the gravitas of heading the MTA and participating in the NYC bailout in the 1970s.

That’s leadership outside. What about leadership inside? The quotations on leadership above often refer to an inner strength that can transcend external difficulties. I would propose that we are all leaders in some forum. We can be leaders in our family, our social group, our church or synagogue. We can be leaders in our classes.

Most of this form of leadership is informal. No one gets a title. As soon as a title is conferred, the formal leader faces a host of external challenges.

We are often fooled by externals. Just because someone has a lot of money and “blings” may give him a power that we often mistake for leadership. Just because people have a figure of six-pack abs or an hour-glass figure does not make them leaders. The same is true with people with high IQs: intelligence does not necessarily make a leader.

A list of academic degrees after your name may help, but does not ensure leadership qualities. A sad note would be the current financial crisis was created by people who are thought to be "the best and brightest.” They may believe themselves to be “Masters of the Universe,” but smooth but arrogant behavior collapses in the face of a serious, diligent adversary.

For the moment I am not commenting on the style of leadership or the content of the positions the leaders take. A bully is a leader – at least for the moment. A cop is a leader on the beat. A teacher is a leader of many students. The impact a student has on his/her classmates can be a function of leadership.

The leader inside must possess two qualities:

1. He/she must have a clearly articulated point of view that promotes human welfare, and

2. This person must know how to develop a plan of action to implement his/her vision.

The visionary without a plan is a dreamer; the technician without a vision is mindless mechanic, available to execute any idea that comes along.

Integrity is central to leadership. This leader must walk the talk. Talk is easy. This is the behavior of the dreamer. Abstractions must be made concrete.

Another aspect of the character of a leader is the ability to translate his/her vision into terms that people understand. A leader without an audience is soon a martyr.

All of us have the capability of leading. Whether we choose to assert ourselves and our ideas in what context remains an individual choice.

I find learning to be a leader much more interesting than being a spectator.

UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:

March 24, 2010– “Notes on Science and Art –The Complementary Divide” – A discussion led by Touro poet Charles Borkhuis. Although contemporary culture tends to view science as the sole purveyor of truth, ironically, the one reality that humans will ever know stands outside the domain of scientific investigation. Lived experience is not quantifiable; it needs a qualitative, descriptive mode to impart understanding. Science and art are addressing the same world, but their dissimilar methods have left us in a dualistic quandary. Are science and art irreconcilably divided, as many experts maintain, or are they parts of a complementary dialogue about the universe and our place in it?

April 7, 2010 – “Current Events” Some possible topics: Albany, Washington, Chile, Iran, the latest scandal, Health Care, the Economy, People in the news. Besides keeping up on what’s happening in the local, regional, national and international worlds, we will look for patterns of recurring themes in the news. The current 24/7 news cycle the drives the media to fill the air creates a frenzied, breathless indiscriminate pseudo importance to everything. For example, the National Enquirer may be one of the nominees for a Pulitzer Prize in reporting for its on-going story of the John Edwards domestic disaster. And he was the Democratic nominee for VP in 2004.

April 14. 2010 “Jokefest” – In response to a member request to have more comedy, we will ask everyone to bring at least 3 jokes to try out on the audience. We’ll open with one joke after another. After several rounds, then we’ll stop our laughing and ask ourselves what have we heard, why did some jokes work and others did not, what have the jokes communicated, what kinds of jokes are offensive, etc. At least we should have a good time, yukking at ourselves.

What about one of these topics?

“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”

“Repetition”

“Meaning”

“The Seven Heavenly Virtues”

“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”

“Heroism”

“Concentration”

“Coping with Adversity”

“Distraction”

Student Poetry showcase

“Empathy”

“Connecting the Dots”

Role play of cynical people

“Cold Calling in Sales”

“He’s Just Not That into You”

Introducing “The Critical Listening Institute”

“Money”

“Freedom”

And dozens of others!

What happened on Wednesday,

March 10, 2010?

Compare the notice of the session with what really happened!

The Power of No”

The word “No” is a powerful word. Negatives always are. “No” is the favorite word of a two-year-old child. “No” blocks forward movement. “No” stops the thinking of some people. “No” provokes negative emotions. “No” can be a powerful position. What do you feel when you say “No”? What do you do? Swear at the person who says “No.” We have lots to talk about. And then there’s passive resistance…..

This week’s topic brought another thoughtful group to Room 223. Brittany Robles, Chui, Hing Yau, Richard Green, Michael Mattocks, Shrestha Kiresh, Charles Mason, Jean Missial, Carlisle Yearwood, Ronald Johnson, Lorinda Moore, Markus Vyandorf, David Nussbaum and Hal Wicke showed a variety of views about the power of “No.”

Hal wrote a list of questions on the board to start the discussion.

· What does “No” mean to you?

· Why do you say “No”?

· When do you say “No”?

· How do you react when someone says “No” to you?

· How many ways can you say “No”?

Random thoughts:

· The Republicans say “No” to President Obama’s plans for health care.

· Teachers expect adult behavior, but get childish behavior

· Early childhood behavior

· “No” is easy to say.

· “No” is testing, challenging authority.

· “No” is an expression of opposition

· “No” is a way to establish self-hood

· “No” is to defy.

· “No” is to show aggression.

· “No” is to stand up for yourself, to define yourself.

· “No” is a tactic to get a “Yes”

· “No” is a delaying tactic.

· David Nussbaum – “Sales people are taught that “No” is the first step to purchasing a product.”

· Babe Ruth he was known as the “Strike-out King”) believed that every strikeout allowed him to get one hit closer to the homerun record.

· Getting a grade you don’t like is like a “No.”

· Can you do anything about getting ‘No’s”?

· Is being turned down for a job, a date, a bank a form of “No”?

· There is peer pressure to say “No” –

How do you prepare for “No”?

· Know your stuff.

· Anticipate other points of view.

· Think like your opponent – get in his shoes.

· Develop a detached mindset – seeing both sides of a position while arguing one side.

· Channel 13 program “Not me” – about teaching teenagers about drugs.

· Like “Scared Straight” – young offenders talk to hardened criminals in Rahway prison.

· Politicians don’t like to say “No.”

· Leads to corruption – Like the perks and power of politics

· A very long list of politicians who are/were accused of abuse of power – Spitzer, Patterson, Rangel, Blagojevich, Adam Clayton Powell, Sanford, Foley, Nixon, Huey Long, etc.

· Why are these corrupt politicians all men?

Markus -“Education is painful” – But people prefer pleasure to pain.

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We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.

Hal Wicke