The value of cultural proficiency

I had both a professional and personal revelation about the importance of cultural proficiency when I talked to my oldest daughter by telephone earlier this week. Devin is a Miami graduate in Marketing. After she completed her degree at Miami, she went on to pursue a culinary arts certificate from the Mid-West Culinary Institute, seeking to prepare herself for a career in catering and event management. During her Miami years, Devin worked at a local Oxford restaurant, first as a server and then as a manager. Her main involvements in college were her sorority and her work.

I provide Devin's background because at first blush you might think that Devin would not have had classes and experiences that prepared her for a multi-cultural world. The wonderful part of the story is that, indeed, she did. The proof of the acquired cultural proficiency she now has is that she now lives in Chicago and works for the Levy Corporation, a restaurant and catering/event organization. Her work is with an extremely diverse kitchen and catering staff, dealing with clients from every cultural and experiential background you can imagine. In the several months she has worked for Levy, Devin has planned and managed bar mitzvahs, weddings, funerals, and corporate dinners/receptions. She has become the person in the office to whom many of the more difficult cases are referred - culturally-based events, same-sex union ceremonies and receptions, or straight-laced business affairs. In all of these events, she exhibits leadership by helping others make decisions, by motivating others to do their best work, and by serving as a role model herself. My point is that Devin could not be successful unless she was responsive, respectful, and could relate to people from as broad a sweep of cultural backgrounds as you can imagine. To our delight and great pride, it is this very mix of people, the interesting nuance of relationships, and the fulfillment of service that has her calling us daily with stories we will never forget.

In all honesty, there wasn't much in Miami's classrooms that helped Devin gain cultural proficiency. Actually, it was living in Peabody Hall on the Western Campus as a first-year, working with a very diverse and connected staff in food and entertainment work, volunteering to take food left after her culinary classes to Over the Rhine in Cincinnati, and a curiosity and appreciation for people of all backgrounds. Cultural proficiency results from a breadth of experiences and can even be gained in the bubble of Miami and other places, regardless of our stereotypes about what these environments may or may not provide. I am only thankful that she was interested enough to welcome learning and that she is now putting what she learned to work in powerful and enjoyable ways!

Beginning the academic year with Retreats

I had the pleasure of exploring a number of leadership and community issues with student organizations this last weekend. Because both groups wanted to get a good start, the Associated Student Government (ASG) Cabinet and Scholar Leaders had back-to-back events with one retreating Friday/Saturday and the other Saturday/Sunday. I was a little tired upon my return to Oxford on Sunday afternoon. However, the net progress and momentum achieved by both groups was wonderful.

The ASG Cabinet retreat was designed to get the new team acquainted, introduce them to the unique strengths each brings to their work, and to begin the process of planning for the new year. Megan Fletcher designed the retreat and did a terrific job. One of the parts that I contributed was an interpretation of the StrengthsQuest instrument. This is an assessment designed by the Gallup organization and available in Miami's Career Exploration & Testing as one of our Leadership Assessments. The beauty of the StrengthsQuest is that it identifies 34 different strengths, five major strengths for each person who takes it. My experience with the instrument is that it is usually very on-target from students' perspective. It is also extremely helpful when looking at a team that needs to work together. Individuals and groups can look for the strengths they have and then focus their energy on utilizing the strengths and finding others who complement them. In addition to the StrengthsQuest, the Cabinet discussed what they can do to become a more effective organization. The challenge ASG always faces is how to be more responsive to student needs, to represent all students, and make the difference that students, faculty, and administration all desire.

The Scholar Leader retreat was the largest of the two retreats - involving 64 participants. This is a very diverse group that is learning to live and learn together. Scholar Leaders are given much greater latitude in designing who they will be and what they will do during the year. The staff role is focused to support students taking responsibility for their own learning and group development. I used the ideas of community advocated by Sharon Daloz-Parks - hearth, table, and commons to stimulate their thinking of how they would work together. The hearth, table, commons ideas can really help a group think of how they establish a welcoming place for all community members to explore the deeper questions of leadership. I intend to continue to revisit this question as we move through the year. One of the areas in which there may be interest is the idea of creating a convenant or honor statement among the Scholar Leaders. This could also lead to serving as a catalyst for the rest of the campus community, which would fulfill the aspiration of the Scholar Leaders impacting the broader Miami community.

Theory and practice of leadership

I am a listservant for the International Leadership Association. ILA is a pretty organization - one that is dedicated to understanding the dynamics of leadership in for profit, not for profit, political, educational and other organizations worldwide. A post to the listserv follows that I thought captured nicely the dilemma we face in relation to building the connection between theory and practice in leadership:
On many occasions the companies I worked with would seek out the latest fad or trend in business, presented by someone who had spent the last six years studying a tiny facet of business. They would tour the speaking circuit and visit our company, giving rise to the heroic business consultant, the savior of the latest knowledge. I can’t tell you how common it was to visit these conferences and hear the latest speaker tell us what changes needed to be made. For most of my friends who had attended, the problem was not in the content but in the constant chase for the new. We constantly felt like something new had to be learned when we hadn’t even finished what we just got. It made everyone’s eyes roll.

But on a rare occasion I felt like I had connected to those who had really discovered something. I felt this way with Jim Collins, and Peter Senge, and Clayton Christensen. These were academia that seemed to touch something much deeper in the organizational gene pool. I remember attending a conference with Collins. You could hear a pin drop...for an hour. They had discovered the fundamentals and presented them in a way that was accessible.

For business the real challenge is finding real and practical wisdom that is not so esoteric. The business manager has to pass these on. If the information is really good but it is too narrow, the audience becomes too small, and it becomes too hard to get people on board.

Contributed by Jonathan Brink August 23, 2006


So what do we make of the fact that so many of us are searching to understand and foster leadership? In our rush to to find something that can help others, we package things that perhaps are not applicable to anyone else, let alone mass translation to broad segments of our working and community worlds. I know that I am perceived (and this blog probably documents) that I am an idea person - always seeking to find some new idea that can help us understand leadership more fully. I also hope that I am a contributor to the difficult translation of theory to practice. If our theories can't help us be more effective, what use are they? I commit to redoubling my effort in translating theory in practical, meaningful, and transforming ways. Hold me accountable, fellow bloggers!

Ahmad's War - Ahmad's Peace by Michael Goldfarb

Miami's first-year students are all in Oxford and the rest of the upperclass students are completing the process today and tomorrow. That means classes are on the horizon and the seriousness of academic pursuit is just around the corner.


Miami chooses a book each year for new students to read. The author then addresses the class and discussion groups follow under the guidance of faculty/staff and students. This year's book is Ahmad's War - Ahmad's Peace by Michael Goldfarb. I generally enjoy all these books so it's not unusual for me to resonate with the themes they include. However, this year, my imagination was stirred more than usual by this amazing story of an Iraqi citizen who lived through the dictatorship of Hussein, hoped for so much during the invasion of U.S.A. and British forces, worked so hard to help his fellow citizens learn how to engage in democracy, and then lost his life by assassination. This story is the epitome of leadership through acting on conviction. Not only is Ahmad's story one of conviction but the author as well. They both represent wonderful examples of what can happen both positively and tragically when we act on our convictions.

I don't mean to be morbid or melodramatic in this post. Most often, acting on our convictions does not lead to death. But, the fact is, in the more courageous circumstances, we don't know if our leadership might lead to assassination - by loss of life, loss of reputation, loss of stability, loss of privilege. There are so many kinds of losses that are possible. When we step up to leadership, the world has the potential of becoming a better place and we have the potential of immortalization because we stand for something. But even with these positive possibilities, there are devastating outcomes that can come to us at the hands of those who oppose our convictions. Most of us work toward compromises that keep others with us and work toward mutual goals and benefits. However, there are times when this is not possible and we don't really know when we might face one of these.

If leadership has the potential to take us places we don't want to go, then why would we want to go down that path? For starters, most of the paths will take us to positive places. In other cases, we won't know what lies beyond the twists and turns of the path. We are likely to start with an innocent perspective that is uninformed about the potential negative consequences. We cannot worry about the pessimistic outcomes or we would never act.

This afternoon, Nick Longo and I will speak to the Morris Hall "Leadership, Excellence, and Community" residents about how to begin the journey of leadership. I intend to use the Goldfarb book to position the topic and hope that students understand what I'm talking about. It's hard for 18 year olds to grasp the importance of leadership and the power they have within themselves. However, I think it's our responsibility to help them to begin taking themselves seriously and that, after all, is what being an educator is all about!

A needed break - #3

Chicago is all about hustle and action. We went shopping on the Miracle Mile, ate great sushi, saw the Robie House (first of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Prairie-style" designs). The Robie house was so amazing because it was astounding how far ahead of its time it was. It was designed in 1908 and built in 1910. The house was only inhabited for 16 years by three owners and then was given to the University of Chicago. Not really appreciating the historical significance of the house, the University used the Robie House for a variety of purposes (including as a residence for students) until a preservation group asked for permission to restore it to its original design. The exterior of the house has been extensively repaired and they are just beginning the interior. The interior is characterized by wide open living spaces and hallway approaches which make these open areas very dramatic. The colors are earthy and natural and the out of doors is invited in through majestic stainglass windows. It is a truly amazing structure.

One of our other favorite things to do was go to hear the symphony at Grant Park (night view to left). The Grant Park concerts are the only free outdoor concerts left in the U.S.A. There were probably 3,000 people picnicing and having a good time during the concert. Afterwards, we enjoyed "the Bean" and walked around the streets, feeling completely safe and secure in one of our nation's largest cities. Chicago's a great town with so much to offer and so many things to do.

A needed break - #2

When we got to Toronto, we struggled a bit in finding lodging because there was a Caribean Fest underway. However, we found a reasonable hotel that put us in an area close to museums, shopping, and some of the ethnic/cultural neighborhoods. The lesson of Toronto is that it is such an amazing collection of cultures. Everywhere you look there are people of different races, languages, religions, etc. It is a culture that seems to embrace all perspectives, if not easily at least comfortably.

Makinac Island was very interesting in terms of historical significance. It has been preserved as a 19th century village with no cars - just horses and bicycles. It is very quaint and beautiful. It has a great deal of significance as a pivotal location between the U.S.A. and Canada.

A needed break - #1

Diane (wife), Darbi (youngest daughter), and I have been on vacation for the last ten days. We're wrapping it up with a visit with our oldest daughter (Devin) and her husband (Steve) in Chicago - to return August 13, 2006, to Oxford. We've had a great time and it has been quite renewing. The itinerary included Niagara Falls, Canada, Toronto, Makinac Island, and Chicago. We were basically trying to do something that would be drivable but would take us into areas that had a bit of an international flair. Yeah, I know... These places aren't terribly different than most of the U.S.A. but at least we could drive.

I'm not sure what we learned about leadership during our travels...

Niagara Falls was pretty amazing in terms of the vision of harnessing the power of water to create a resource that provides electricity to so much of the northeast. The Canadian side is also very interesting as an economic center. Canada has really taken advantage of its proximity to the U.S.A. for tourism. The further you get away from Niagara Falls, there are more interesting things such as an area for wine production, water sports, commerce, and recreation/culture.

Pics and commentary continue on the next post...