Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Michigan State University

Michigan Gamma Chapter Alumnus Inspires Today's Leaders Jim Kouzes '67 Shares The Leadership Challenge with Michigan Gamma J im Kouzes '67 became interested in leadership at a young age. His family lived in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and he saw the effect strong leaders could make on a daily basis. After graduating from Michigan State University in 1967 he joined the Peace Corps, where he discovered his passion for teaching. That passion led to a career in leadership education at three different universities and two consulting firms. It was at one of his university posts, Santa Clara University, that he met his co-author, Barry Posner. Their first research collaboration led to the finding that personal values drive commitment. The two have since sold more than two million copies of their award-winning book, The Leadership Challenge, and have co-authored more than 30 other successful publications. Jim's work is evidence-based leadership. It is based on solid research and dispels many of the myths about leadership, offering examples of real leaders doing real things in real time. While there are many important guiding principles throughout his books, Jim's two main pieces of advice about successful leadership are to always be clear about what where you are going, and that credibility is the foundation of leadership. "If people don't believe in the messenger they won't believe the message. Personal credibility is vitally important to every leader. Whenever we are leading a group we need to do a credit check on ourselves. Do they consider me competent to do my job? Do they consider me trustworthy? Do they see me as being passionate about our cause?" Jim adds that "Behaviorally credibility is defined as: do as you say you will do." Jim and Barry suggest that individuals who strive to be successful leaders should make a sign to hang over their desks with the letters "DWYSYWD." It serves as a constant reminder to Do What You Say You Will Do. "When constituents observe leaders, they look at their behavior and see if they follow through. Remember that it's your personal credibility upon which people are basing their willingness to follow you." Jim's and Barry's research extends beyond the qualities people look for in their leaders. For the last 30 years they've been examining what people actually do to lead at their best. Their model involves these Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: 1. Model the way. Clarify your values and set an example. 2. Inspire a shared vision. Envision the future and enlist others in a common vision. 3. Challenge the process. Search for opportunities to grow and improve and experiment and take risks, learning from mistakes. 4. Enable others to act. Foster collaboration, teamwork, and trust and also strengthen others by building their capacity to do their work. 5. Encourage the heart. Recognize individuals for their contributions and celebrate as a team. Because of their university teaching and daily involvement with students their work on The Leadership Challenge evolved into The Student Leadership Challenge. They find that the message is equally relevant to emerging leaders. Jim recently made a donation of these books to the Michigan Gamma undergraduate members. "I would encourage new brothers to reflect on what their role is on campus. If SAE wants to live on, it needs to ask itself what it can do for others. If we want to grow leaders for the future we need to begin now." Jim ends every speech he gives with the same message—the secret to success in life which he learned from Major General John Stanford. "The secret to success is stay in love. If you stay in love with the people you lead, the organization, the clients and customers, the community…you can get extraordinary things done on a daily basis. Leadership is not an affair of the head; it is an affair of the heart." Jim lives in Orinda, California, with his wife, Tae Kyung. Their son, Nicholas, is a screenwriter in the Los Angeles area. He is an avid golfer and a dedicated tennis fan. He still works full time, devoting half his energies to writing and half to speaking around the country. Contact Jim by e-mail at jim@kouzes.com or visit www.leadershipchallenge.com.

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