2008 Woodie Awards
Leadership Retreat Retrospective
Sheeraz Hyder
Issue date: 4/6/07 Section: Opinion
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Leadership = exosphericity. That was the main lesson I got from the Leadership Retreat held this past Saturday in the Frederick L. Bissinger Conference Room. The Leadership Retreat was co-sponsored by the Gear and Triangle Society (G&T) along with the Student Government Association of The Stevens Institute of Technology. Exosphericity, a term thought up by a friend, means thinking outside the box, which is an apt portrayal of the main goal of leadership. G&T brought in speakers David Ledgerwood and Scott Crowther (L&C) from a special consulting firm called the ALOC Group to lead a presentation on primarily what leadership is and who a leader is. This turned out to be a far more involved answer than any of us had previously thought.
The theme of the presentation was "Growing and Sustaining Multi-Generational Organizations" and drew approximately 50 student leaders from across the Stevens spectrum. L&C started the presentation by asking all of us to list the various problems associated with our respective groups. Among the most common problems were lack of involvement and motivation, personal politics and infighting, as well as sustainability and accountability. Those were all problems that I see within my groups so the discussion proved to be a good intellectual exercise.
Based on these problems, L&C then drew up a list of four goals for the Retreat: Learn how to motivate our respective groups and create a positive environment, create a guaranteed continuation of interest within the group after the current leaders leave, improve strengths and weaknesses, and improvement of our own leadership to "lead by example." To that end L&C made up a list of commitments that we had to pledge to meet in our groups and in ourselves. They then extended those commitments into a full-value contract that had eight main parts and asked us to sign it. The parts were 1) 360° of communication, 2) effective use of time, 3) follow-through on plans, 4) don't be "that guy", 5) value and respect each other through flexibility, patience, adaptability, and honesty, 6) lead by example, believe in organization, create a positive environment, 7) responsibility and accountability, and 8) empower our people (have fun). I know these seemed like common sense but as any student leader knows, the task turns out to be a far more difficult when dealing with a variety of different people with different temperaments and politics.
The theme of the presentation was "Growing and Sustaining Multi-Generational Organizations" and drew approximately 50 student leaders from across the Stevens spectrum. L&C started the presentation by asking all of us to list the various problems associated with our respective groups. Among the most common problems were lack of involvement and motivation, personal politics and infighting, as well as sustainability and accountability. Those were all problems that I see within my groups so the discussion proved to be a good intellectual exercise.
Based on these problems, L&C then drew up a list of four goals for the Retreat: Learn how to motivate our respective groups and create a positive environment, create a guaranteed continuation of interest within the group after the current leaders leave, improve strengths and weaknesses, and improvement of our own leadership to "lead by example." To that end L&C made up a list of commitments that we had to pledge to meet in our groups and in ourselves. They then extended those commitments into a full-value contract that had eight main parts and asked us to sign it. The parts were 1) 360° of communication, 2) effective use of time, 3) follow-through on plans, 4) don't be "that guy", 5) value and respect each other through flexibility, patience, adaptability, and honesty, 6) lead by example, believe in organization, create a positive environment, 7) responsibility and accountability, and 8) empower our people (have fun). I know these seemed like common sense but as any student leader knows, the task turns out to be a far more difficult when dealing with a variety of different people with different temperaments and politics.
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