Dr. Sandy Shugart interviewed by cnn for "leadership in the crucible of work" sally kohn: he is a talented, well spoken and a sage leader who has done much. She says he has led his college and stakeholders to a new plateau of success. Kohn says we must empathetically work together, not adopt us / them mentality.
Dr. Sandy Shugart interviewed by cnn for "leadership in the crucible of work" sally kohn: he is a talented, well spoken and a sage leader who has done much. She says he has led his college and stakeholders to a new plateau of success. Kohn says we must empathetically work together, not adopt us / them mentality.
Dr. Sandy Shugart interviewed by cnn for "leadership in the crucible of work" sally kohn: he is a talented, well spoken and a sage leader who has done much. She says he has led his college and stakeholders to a new plateau of success. Kohn says we must empathetically work together, not adopt us / them mentality.
Post: Wilkerson-Johnson, V., Reflections on Dr. Sandy Shugart Author:
Veronica Wilkerson-Johnson Posted Date: February 20, 2015 Status: Published
I admired the interview by Dr. Sandy Shugart. I was
reminded that I also enjoyed reading his book Leadership in the Crucible of Work last year during another course. He is a talented, well spoken and a sage leader. He has solid ideas about change theory and change management, and he has done much in the mastery of both. Valencia College in Orlando, Florida, where he has served as President for the last 14 years, is a winner of the Aspen Award, serving and graduating a high number of students every year, exceeding the national community college completion rate average. Dr. Shugart has clearly led his college and stakeholders to a new plateau of success. This attainment will continue at the college beyond his time there, for now it is a part of their brand, their culture and is proudly who they are. Like many of our colleges, Valencia began as a training academy for the manufacturing job pipeline. It took real patience and staying power to change their culture to a student success based approach. Like some of the other leaders we have reflected upon in this course, Dr. Shugart indicated that he did not first seek to become a college leader, but that certain opportunities presented themselves, and he said yes.
He is a good storyteller. In fact, this is another of has creative
talents, along with his love of music and poetry writing and publishing. Dr. Shugart related that our creative sides, our talents, and the ways in which we express them, are an important part of our success. He said that we should take the gifts that we have and make them work for all of the parts of our lives. We will be more whole if all those gifts are working in us as one fabric. He said that there is synergy in that approach, and it will help us to be whole, not living in roles and silos. In his book Dr. Shugart referenced the "crucible ", or the difficult experiences people face in life, as the process that "consumes the dross of self" so that the servant leader in us can emerge. He also wisely said that "we are all in this together", which I took to mean that we must empathetically work together in an organization, not adopt the common but fatal us/them mentality. He said that we must also get to know ourselves well, our strengths, good traits and bad, ego, hubris and blind spots, so that we can grow as people and hone ourselves as leaders. His words and his approach can help us "find our inward journey to become outwardly successful, authentic leaders"! Dr. Shugart reminds us that difficulties and setbacks can fuel our transformation if we remain diligent, and avoid developing a sense of entitlement in settings where executive and political power rein. He said that he realized that the jaded "jerks" he encountered early in his career were once idealistic young leaders, just like him, and that somehow along the way the pressures of life changed them into these people he never wanted to be. He then realized how easily he could suffer the same fate if he did not choose a more deliberate path to be an enlightened leader, poet and music writer.
Of change models, such as Lewin's "unfreeze, transition,
refreeze" approach, Dr. Shugart said that they are "warmed over Soviet plans", and that the real theory of change is one in which first we change the conversation, then we change who's in the conversation, and then we change everything. I also liked that he said, of the theory of cultural change, that when we start right and design good systems around an adopted institutional theory of change, that if the outcomes are not what we hoped for, we keep the theory and try a different approach to see what will support and help it work better. We do not discard the theory and seek a new one. This approach takes time and patience, but obviously Valencia College is an excellent example that it works!
References: Shugart, Sandy, PhD. Leadership in the Crucible of Work. Maitland, Florida: Florida Hospital, 2013.