Lessons on leadership and life from Professor Tolani Olagundoye
First, Professor Tolani Olagundoye smashes a few leadership myths.
Leadership is not something only certain people are born to. It鈥檚 not exclusive to extroverts. And it isn鈥檛 about being the loudest, the most confident, or the bravest in the room. Aspiring leaders would be better served concentrating on being authentic, service-minded, and selfless, says Olagundoye, Pharm.D. 鈥�17.
Olagundoye is a clinical assistant professor of leadership in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences and a Coastal Institute Fellow. She teaches leadership through 溏心vlog免费B站 101, a course for first-year and transfer students designed to ensure their successful transition to college. A one-credit seminar, 溏心vlog免费B站 101 sets the foundation for a student鈥檚 academic life. The University runs about 150 sections of 溏心vlog免费B站 101 each fall.
Most 溏心vlog免费B站 101 sections group students according to their majors and are taught by faculty and staff who work within that discipline. The primary goal is to plan, define, and develop the skills that contribute to students鈥� academic success, but 溏心vlog免费B站 101 takes a holistic approach to educating students, covering a broad range of topics, including self-care, campus life, technology tools, and leadership.
Olagundoye tells her students the key to finding your leadership style is first to know yourself.
THE FOUR ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
鈥淚 have a set of questions I ask my students,鈥� says Olagundoye. 鈥淭he first I ask is, 鈥榃ho am I?鈥欌��
Typically, students answer with an inventory, sharing how many dogs they have or if their grandparents are still living.
鈥淚 say, 鈥楴o, that鈥檚 not what I鈥檓 asking. I want to know鈥攚hen you鈥檙e alone in a room or a car, and the radio has stopped working, and you ask yourself, 鈥榃ho am I?鈥欌�攈ow would you answer that?鈥� Olagundoye says.
鈥淭hen I ask, 鈥榃hy are you here?鈥� and they鈥檒l say they鈥檙e here to get a degree to get a good job,鈥� Olagundoye says. 鈥淎nd I say, 鈥楴o, that鈥檚 not what I鈥檓 asking. I鈥檓 asking about your purpose on Earth.鈥欌��
Olagundoye鈥檚 students nail the third question: What do you believe is wrong with the world?
鈥淲ho am I? Why am I here? What do you believe is wrong with the world? How can we make what is wrong right?鈥�
鈥淭hey have so much to say: climate change, food insecurity, technology, social media, and the resulting identity crises we鈥檙e all going through right now.鈥�
Olagundoye saves the hardest for last: How can we make what is wrong right?
But this question speaks to students鈥� agency鈥攁nd hope, Olagundoye explains.
鈥淗umanity is the cause of many of the global issues we face now,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut humanity is also one of the solutions to it.鈥�
Self-assessment completed, students examine leadership theories. Olagundoye leans toward authentic and transformational leadership approaches. Authentic leaders favor genuineness, serving alongside the people they work with. Transformational leaders create change by setting an example, Olagundoye says, riffing off New York Times bestselling author Simon Sinek鈥檚 Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don鈥檛.
鈥淭he qualities of selflessness and integrity are lacking right now in society,鈥� Olagundoye notes. 鈥淭he way I approach leadership is selflessness; that is, the leader eats last.鈥�
鈥擬arybeth Reilly-McGreen
The Right Stuff: A Leadership Study Guide
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LEADERS EAT LAST: WHY SOME TEAMS PULL TOGETHER AND OTHERS DON鈥橳
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In his second book, motivational speaker Sinek, who once worked for the global advertising, marketing, and public relations company Ogilvy, outlines the full complement of challenges an organization might face and recommends a purpose-driven leadership model for dealing with them. The newest edition of his bestselling book includes a bonus chapter on leading millennials.
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE
BY PETER NORTHOUSE
This textbook on leadership theory is used by more than 1,000 colleges and universities across the world. In addition to outlining the major theories and models of leadership, Northouse includes case studies of companies鈥� theories in practice. Northouse is a professor emeritus of communication at Western Michigan University.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 2.0
BY TRAVIS BRADBERRY AND JEAN GREAVES
Bradberry and Greaves outline four pillars of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management as a guide to increasing emotional intelligence, which, they contend, is the key to achieving personal goals and fulfilling one鈥檚 potential.
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In this short TED Talk (under 20 minutes), Simon Sinek draws upon the examples of Martin Luther King Jr., the Wright brothers, and Apple to illustrate how innovation emanates from a life defined by purpose.