 I recently re-read an interesting book given to me by my friend and colleague Warren Bennis who holds a professorship in the USC School of Business and is also the chairman of the Leadership Institute here at USC. His book, Geeks and Geezers (Harvard Business School Press, 2002) explores how the era, values and defining moments shape leaders. It is a great read, and I enthusiastically encourage you to make time to engage with this author and his co-author, Bob Thomas. This book celebrates a very profound idea: "The ability to learn is a defining characteristic of being human; the ability to continue learning is an essential skill of leadership."
Another major influence on my life was the epiphany that I experienced after reading The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge in 1990. Senge's thesis is that organizations that place enormous importance upon learning, the process of learning and that which is learned, sustain a major competitive advantage and often prosper. Clearly, a university's business is learning through innovations and discovery, through analysis and critique, through creativity and performance. The university must value learning and must protect an environment that nurtures those who take intellectual risks; those who experiment with ideas and things; those who dream of what could be and should be; and those who engage with the arts, music, letters, and our physical, chemical and biological world.
During the 107 year history of the USC School of Dentistry, men and women have been engaged in shaping what is thought, what is taught and what is practiced in the oral health professions. USC faculty have been at the forefront of providing leadership in their professions. USC has truly nurtured leadership in dentistry, dental hygiene and the various specialties of dentistry, and we are proud of that legacy.
Today, our challenge is to sustain a crucible that provides the capacity to engage in learning and leadership, as clearly described in our school-wide strategic plan "Shaping The Future" (2001 - 2006). How can each of us celebrate one another's learning? Do we and can we share as a core value a passion for learning, innovations and discovery? Can each of us sense community support for our efforts to define quality and to make continuous quality improvements? How can we resist staying in place?
My journey as your 11th dean in this 107-year history has taught me to appreciate that sustaining a passion for learning is difficult, often met with resistance; yet if any of us lose the ability to learn, we no longer grow. From Bennis and Thomaswe learn that cross-generational comparisons about learning and leadership can focus on the almost magical process by which individuals retain their goals and passions for learning. Whether geek or geezer, young or very mature of age, we all can share the zeal, the passion, the ambitions, the respect for learning over a lifetime—the essence of a university education.
And in this month of April 2004, as our senior dental students, dental hygiene students and residents complete their last month to attain competencies in their chosen fields of study, it is my hope that they contain and sustain a sincere love of learning and that their passion to learn will burn bright for many, many decades to come. I highlight this goal or desire because I have learned to appreciate the dichotomy between the art of learning and the pragmatics of learning to meet a requirement. How can I build my professional foundation in the oral health professions? What is on the test? What do I need to know? What do I have to do to get out of here? Or, I plan to follow my passion and curiosity about many things in my world! What do I need to know? From my perspective, each of us has so many learning and leadership opportunities. Our shared challenge is to sustain the courage of our convictions and to pursue our passion for learning. Let's work together to sustain a crucible of learning that fosters curiosity and that provides an emotionally safe place to foster innovation and discovery.
Senge's book teaches that leadership is not an ego game, and true leaders do not focus on their own self-interests. Leaders and learners possess vision and have goals transcending their own personal desires. Can we realize the importance of the people in our community, a learning organization, who we learn and work with? Can we provide the emotional strengths that acknowledge differences yet celebrate individual as well as shared accomplishments? Of course we can!
"Where there is right action, there is victory." Sanskrit Proverb
To be continued.... |
