Running head: LEADERSHIP

Leadership and Siena Heights Mission

Bernard Godfrey
Siena Heights University

LEADERSHIP

2
Leadership and Siena Heights Mission

Leadership has many definitions. One is the ability to inspire confidence and support
among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals (Dubrin, 2013, p.2). This is
similar to the mission of Siena Height University which states their goal is to assist people to
become more competent, purposeful, and ethical .... When reading the mission of Siena Heights
and the definition of leadership, one can see where there are similarities. Leadership is key in the
success of this mission. In order to make people feel competent, purposeful, and ethical it
requires leadership. A leadership that is passionatewho inspire and upliftand who create an
ethical culture. It all fits together.
Universities are not just bodies of knowledge. They are complex organizations that are
not only charged with making money, they are responsible for making students more educated in
their field of study. Added to this responsibility is creating critical thinkers that are aligned with
the moral foundations of the institution. Siena Heights University is no exception. Wanting to
assist people to be competent, purposeful, and ethical requires many things to align. One is the
staff of educators must feel the passion and support from their leaders and pass it on to the
students. Debra Sukin, the chief executive officer at Woodlands Hospital in Woodlands, Texas
says Passion is a major driving force in leadership. If you dont love what you do, you cant
lead others at it (Sukin, 2009, p. 4). One who has ever had a leader who is disconnected to what
they do can attest to that.
Passionate leaders make passionate teachers. Amanda Carnie (2003) found that leaders
who are passionate and respected share their passion with people around them. When they do
this they make others feel the same (Carnie, 2003, para. 5).When the faculty at Siena Heights
feels the passion from their leaders, it will create an environment that will be felt by the students.

LEADERSHIP

This will help create competent students. Another important aspect needed to succeed at this
mission is inspiration.
According to Ray Williams (2007) the Charter Management Institute did a study in 2001
that showed the most important characteristic that people wanted from their leaders was to be
inspirational (Williams, 2007, para. 5). When ones basic needs are met, it is easy to become
complacent or unenthusiastic. This is where inspiration is needed. Trong Tuan Luu (2013) said
that leaders should act as role models. They should inspire people to share their emotions and
ethical values in order to increase behaviors that are beneficial to the organization (Luu, 2013).
When students are inspired by passionate educators they become more confident and feel a sense
of purpose. It is easy for one to see that inspiration is important its uplifting.
When one speaks of an uplifting leadership or an uplifting environment they mean the
spirit. Uplifting the spirit of the person or the organization. Hargreaves, Boyle, & Harris (2014)
said that People in uplifting organizations have a deep allegiance to their colleagues, the people
they serve, and a higher purpose that is greater than any individual (Hargreaves, Boyle, &
Harris, 2014, p. 93). They go on to say that many religions use this technique to make people
rise above adversity and using uplift to help entire communities (Hargreaves et al., 2014). A
university with an inspiring atmosphere and passionate employees will undoubtedly help
individuals be competent and feel purposeful, but the mission is also to help people be ethical.
An ethical environment starts with leadership. ). Knowing how the university teaches its
students and how the results are achieved should be the leaders priority. As Huhtala, Kangas,
Anna-Maija Lms, and Feldt (2013) demonstrated, a leader who behaves in an ethical manner is
able to create an ethical culture in their institution. They can do this by managing not only the
outcome, but how the outcome was accomplishedby acting honorableby rewarding behavior

LEADERSHIP

that is ethicaland by showing what is normal (Hutala, et al., 2013, p. 263) The leader needs to
show the educators what is ethically accepted and reward ethical behavior. This will create an
ethical environment.
If the definition of leadership isthe ability to inspire confidence and support among the
people who are needed to achieve organizational goals (Dubrin, 2013, p.2). One can see where
this fits in to the mission of Siena Heights University. When leaders have passion they pass in on
to the teachers. When the teachers are passionate they create competent students. Teachers and
students need inspiration. An inspiring atmosphere will help give not only student purpose, it will
give the staff purpose as well. Lastly, an ethical environment is crucial if the goal is to help
others be ethical. Leadership must show what is acceptable and what is not. All this inspires
confidence and support to the people who need to achieve their goal.

LEADERSHIP

5
References

Carnie, A. (2003). Opinion leaders: Getting passionate. New Zealand Management, , 10.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/201647724?accountid=28644
DuBrin, A. (2013). Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills (7th ed.). New York:
Houghton Mifflin.
Hargreaves, A., Boyle, A., & Harris, A. (2014). Uplifting Leadership : How Organizations,
Teams, and Communities Raise Performance. Somerset, NJ, USA: Wiley. Retrieved from
http://www.ebrary.com
Huhtala, M., Kangas, M., Anna-Maija Lms, & Feldt, T. (2013). Ethical managers in ethical
organisations? the leadership-culture connection among finnish managers. Leadership &
Organization Development Journal, 34(3), 250-270.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01437731311326684
Luu, T. T. (2013). Leading to learning and competitive intelligence. The Learning Organization,
20(3), 216-239. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09696471311328460
Sukin, D. (2009). Leadership in challenging times: It starts with passion. Frontiers of Health
Services Management, 26(2), 3-8. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/203862855?accountid=28644
Williams, R. (2007, Mar 07). Leaders have to walk the talk: Hypocrites will never inspire their
employees. National Post Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/330652847?accountid=28644