We have had some interesting discussions around here about definitions of leadership recently. Leadership is a topic that attracts a ton of researchers, and many of these researchers propose a definition of leadership. In fact, there are at least 220 (yes, someone counted) different definitions of leadership in books and other scholarly publications.

I realized, prompted by a comment from one of the Division of Student Life staff members, that I wasn't being clear about what I meant when I talked about leadership development, because I wasn't being clear about what I meant by leadership. I think that when we talk about leadership, we often imagine a leader, and often a person who leads by virtue of holding a particular position in an organization. For example, we might think of the chair of a committee, the captain of a team, or an elected official. While many of our students go on to hold positions like that, the leadership I'm thinking of isn't really tied to holding a particular position.

The leadership I'm thinking of is described well in a 1993 article by Joseph Rost. Rost notes that leadership is something that we all have an opportunity to do, and we do it episodically. In other words, in specific situations, we step up and provide leadership, perhaps for only a few minutes or hours. But because we provide that leadership, change happens. Something moves forward. We don't have to be the chair of the committee to provide the leadership that moves the committee beyond a sticking point, and we don't have to be the captain of the team to say something that motivates our teammates.

The reason I bring up this episodic view of leadership is to make a distinction between developing leaders and developing leadership in all of our students. My grand goal is to have students graduate from the University of Iowa ready, when the moment presents itself in their work, community, or family, to step up and lead, if only for a brief time. As I wrote in our last newsletter, this is one of the most important reasons we support so many student organizations. These organizations give students the opportunity to practice leadership when the moment calls for it and makes them more able to lead the next time the moment calls for leadership.

As always, I love to hear from you. How have your experiences at Iowa prepared you for the moments when you have been called upon to lead?