Cultivating Competence

Institutions demand that leaders attend to a vast array of concerns on a daily basis. In an increasingly diverse, wired, and fast-paced leadership landscape, where problems are deep-seated and complicated, no one can manage leadership alone. Leaders must attend to their own leadership development just to keep their heads above water. They must also delegate their authority and entrust it to those around them. That said, handing over authority to those who lack adequate preparation can cause harm to the community. It can also burn out a person who could have contributed meaningfully to the community over years or decades. Delegation without preparation represents a failure of a leader to protect a community's assets. The institutional leader must model that leadership can and must be learned, over time, through various disciplines that all start with taking leadership seriously. Then, they must provide opportunities, with however light a touch leads to positive results, for those in their care to grow in leadership. They must assume that even those who walk in the door with knowledge and experience are not "ready" for leadership today, for it is changing fast for everyone.