First weekend in Europe

This may be the last post you'll see for about a week. I'll try to keep up with it but I don't know how much web access I'll have. I leave early tomorrow by train to Luxembourg City, Brussels, and the final destination of Amsterdam. I'm arriving early for the International Leadership Association conference, making sure the hostel where the Miami students and I will stay is acceptable, participating in the ILA Board Strategic Planning session, and helping to get the conference off to a good start. It will be an exciting and busy week and I won't be back to Luxembourg until Sunday, 11-6-05.

There were relatively few MUDEC regulars around the Chateau this weekend. It was a nice surprise when a group of Redhawks who are student teaching in Germany came in to meet with their Miami supervisor for the weekend. So, where I thought the Chateau would be empty, there were actually people here. I went to Luxembourg City Saturday - about 1 hour by train. It is an amazing place. It's relatively small but covers everything from ancient times of Roman occupation, through the middle-ages, and up to the modern. The old walled city of Luxembourg is a huge sunken ravine in the center of the city (these are the pics above). The way the walls were constructed to protect the town earned it the nickname of the Gibralter of the North centuries ago. Lux City is extremely cosmopolitan. There were people from all over the world strolling the streets. The palace of the Grand Duchy is in Lux City and this area is one of the most active with shopping, restaurants, historical sites, etc.

I took a bus tour of the entire city which allowed me to hop on and off where I wanted. Other than the walled city, my favorite area was the Kirchberg Plateau, which is where the EU headquarters are. This has the most amazing collection of contemporary architecture I've ever seen. They have a spectacular sports and culture center that has multiple overlapping shell-like roofing. The new philharmonic hall is a brilliant white marble with three beautifully sculpted shapes complementing each other. The new I.M. Pei Art Gallery is under construction and adapts acorns as design motifs. Literally, every where you look is a feast for the eyes. This center is one of the three EU centers of commerce, government, and law. The staff who work for the EU live primarily in the Kirchberg area. With its ultra-modern offices, comfortable housing, entertainment and sports, and a wonderful shopping center, you might never actually need to leave.

Sunday morning I took the chance to get up early to attend church. I walked across the street (the spires you've seen in previous pictures are the building) to a Catholic church. The service was in German (Priest), French (Liturgist), and the music was all in Latin. Although I am not Catholic and regardless of language, I knew exactly what was happening, picking up on the natural unfolding of universal ritual. It was funny when they distributed a satisfaction questionnaire throughout the congregation. It was in German and French, some of which I could deduce. However, I was in real trouble when one of the ushers came to pick mine up and I hadn't done a thing. He immediately helped me be tearing different corners of the sheet to indicate the demographics of my background (sex, age) and where I was from. Then there was a question that asked if I was satisfied with the service - how could I say anything but "yes!" It felt good just to be in the presence of shared values, if not common experience.

Leadership - responding to the needs of others

Ekkie asked the faculty to meet with a visitor to MUDEC today. Dr. Jean Kitgen-Andrews has mutual friends with Ekkie and wanted to visit the Chateau during her travels to this area, travels inspired by her desire to return to her roots. The last time Jean was in Luxembourg was in 1953.

Jean is from St. Paul Minnesota where she has lived most of her life. She has been able to trace her family heritage back to the 1850s and 1860s when her family left Luxembourg in an agricultural crises much like the great potato famine that drove the Irish out of Ireland. During this time, Luxembourg lost one-third of its population. Jean is a retired nursing educator with a doctorate from Ohio State (no, I'm not going to say THE Ohio State University on my blog) who went to northern Minnesota to provide much needed nursing education programs.

I took the opportunity to meet with Jean and to host her at the Chateau because of notation in her biography that she has served the Minneapolis Center for the Victims of Torture for many years. (The Scholar Leader '06 Plunge is to Toronto and one of our experiences while there will be to visit the Toronto Centre for the Victims of Torture.) Jean provided wonderful background on the center that I had previously not known. There are approximately thirty centers throughout the world, having begun in the 1980s in Helsinki. Jean's role in Minneapolis is to coordinate volunteers. Volunteers are need for befriending, transportation, language acquisition, and much needed post-traumatic syndrome treatment. She explained that most of the victims of torture are highly professional, intelligent people who were not afraid to stand up against injustice in their own countries. Because they are courageous and outspoken, they became targets for emotional and physical torture. Their only option once labeled is to attempt to escape. This is the context and experience of the people we will meet in Toronto as the Scholar Leaders seek to understand the "American Dream" over history, in different places (Canada vs. U.S.A.) and seek to understand the meaning of this idea in modern times.

The gift of meeting with Jean was an expected pleasure but one that reinforced one of the things I believe about leadership - that it is often very humble and unassuming. Jean's purpose in her life has been to serve through nursing education and through responding to the needs of victims of torture.

Learning more each day

I had a wonderful meeting with Dr. Ekkie Stiller the Director of MUDEC this morning. I had an entire string of logistical details to ask about - everything from how do I do my laundry, how do I make phone calls, to technology access issues. All of this is in the context of trying to get acquainted in a community that is pretty U.S.A.-friendly but still very foreign and different. As a "note to self" for future reference (I'll probably begin including these more often), don't underestimate the difficulty of travel, learning new systems and ways of being, and not having the easy accessibility of resources that you assume each and every day. In many ways it makes me almost ashamed that I haven't learned to be more flexible to handle this sort of thing but now I'm beginning to learn.

The meeting with Dr. Stiller started with the end of a previous meeting he had with one of the students who is in my "Global Leadership" seminar - Sarah. She and another MUDEC student were so moved by a panel of concentration camp survivors who spoke at MUDEC last week that they wanted to compile a thank you reflection book to include comments from as many MUDEC students as would be willing to contribute. This conversation spun into what relevance there is to remembering the Holocaust in the contemporary age. We talked about conditions around our world today that are in essence mini-Holocausts involving the degradation and killing of people. The lessons that can be derived are mainly related to leadership - shared leadership and responsibility for the world in which we live. We can't be in everyone's business around the globe but what are the things that are so critical that they demand our attention? How does the U.S.A. respond and how/why is that different than how European countries respond? The fact is, Europeans are forever grateful for the role Americans played in concluding WWII but they have trouble understanding some of the other choices the U.S.A. has made intervening elsewhere. These are very difficult questions and they are ultimately about critical thinking and leadership, topics that we hope to dig into as we prepare for our trip to ILA next week.

Ekkie and I began to strategize things I can do to connect with Differdange and the surrounding area so that future Harry T. Wilks faculty can travel here and create powerful learning experiences for students. We agreed that I will attend the American Business Association, Luxembourg, luncheon on Monday, November 7th. The meeting, featuring Mrs. Marie-Jeanne Chevremont-Lorenzini, Senior Partner of PriceWaterhouseCooper, will be a good opportunity to connect with the business interests of those in the community. A particular contact that I will want to make at this meeting is Paul Shoenenberg, the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg. In addition, we decided that the week after next Ekkie and I will meet with the mayor of Differdange, Claude Meisch, to explore how MUDEC students can engage more actively with the community. I've been finding out more about Differdange and its history. The recovery from the 1970s demise of the steel industry left Differdange in a very difficult financial state. There was a period of decline and now the community is recreating itself as a bedroom community for Luxembourg City. There are many very nice and expensive homes but there is also evidence of people who do not have a lot. There is also a significant migrant community primarily composed of those emigrating from Portugal, Spain, and eastern European countries. The main reason for their coming to Luxembourg is to find economic prosperity. However, with Luxembourg's commitment to providing services to all citizens, finding the funds to support the immigrant population has been difficult. In addition, there is a feeling that immigrants do not connect with the city in the same ways as others. The result is a possible deficit in the social capital that would really make this a wonderful community in which to live.

The possibilities I'm now seeing are reenergizing the commitment I have to being here. Until this morning, it wasn't altogether clear what difference I could make but now I can see some possibilities.

Continuing to adjust

To be honest, I had a pretty difficult night last night. I worked until around 11:30 p.m. and then went to bed, only to awaken at 2 a.m. to toss and turn and worry about when I was going to get back to sleep. From what I understand from some others, this kind of adjustment isn't terribly unusual bit it is nevertheless frustrating. I finally got back to sleep and had a good night.

I spent a good part of today doing back-home stuff. There were several things going on at the office that required some thought and then immediate response. I also had an endowment report that I needed so submit by October 31, 2005, so Sue helped me by sending over the background information and then I put the report together. This day and age where you can exchange information across unlimited distances is absolutely amazing. However, I've gotten so used to it that I get impatient when it doesn't work just right. I still don't have access to my server files and e-mail history files which I need for my ongoing work. I assume this will be resolved in the near future so that I can concentrate and be more efficient.

I also communicated with ILA and Kettering colleagues in preparation for the Amsterdam conference and in relation to the MUDEC/Universite du Luxembourg partnership. Francois Carbon from Luxembourg followed up on my suggestion that deliberation rather than debate might engage students more effectively in our exchange efforts. I sent him web links and suggestions and then corresponded with other Kettering colleagues in the U.S.A. to see if they had any suggestions. I hope that all concerned are willing to give deliberation a try because it has so much more potential in connecting those who participate.

I went on a long walk tonight and got some more pictures of the Differdange area. You likely noticed in the pictures above that commercial and residential areas are all very tightly packed. Most houses are either townhouses or duplexes. Some are very old and restored and others are newer. They are all well kept and there is a sense of energy when you're out at the time people return from work. During the day things are very quiet because I presume many people work in places other than Differdange. In the evening, it's quiet when families get home and retire to the privacy of their homes.

First real day in Luxembourg

The picture above and the one to the left are from the Universite du Luxembourg where I visited today with several of the Miami University visiting faculty. It's a beautiful campus with a combination of traditional and modern architecture, as you can see. The Universite has offered a 2-year degree for a number of years but is notching it up to complete the equivalent of the full range of U.S.A. degrees - bachelors, masters, and doctorate. The two Vice-Recteurs who are guiding the school met with us for a couple of hours on how MUDEC and Universite du Luxembourg might collaborate. It was interesting to hear our faculty exchange intellectual areas of focus - all directed at finding natural and meaningful connections. Although it may seem modest, we agreed to establish two successive meetings of MUDEC and Lux students where those attending will have an opportunity to "debate" or "dialogue" with one another. Debate is a more prominent pedagogy for learning in Europe involving background preparation, formulation of a position, and oral presentation/debate of the perspective.

I found the pedagogy of learning fascinating when contrasted with one of the other issues that the Lux faculty seemed most eager to explore - democracy. Several times during our meeting it was noted that faculty and students at Lux want to understand democracy and they want to explore comparative analyses of how democracy works in Europe versus the U.S.A. There were some comments about the difficulty of fostering democratic process when the world is becoming so complex and when information is so readily available that practically no one can claim to be an authority (both in an intellectual and political sense) over others. I was slightly hesitant to introduce the work I've done in deliberative democracy through the Kettering Foundation. However, debate and using it to foster democracy kept coming up so I finally gave in. I explained that the Kettering Foundation has created ways to engage everyone in deliberation about our shared futures, rather than the typical "expert" models asserted by many politicians. There is considerable evidence that, at least in the U.S.A., young people are deeply disconnected from political talk, primarily because professional politicians have presumed that they have the corner on democracy and that the public has nothing to offer. Deliberation poses the alternative that it isn't the people who are the problem - it's the politicians who are unwilling to seriously engage citizens.

The bottom line of the MUDEC/Lux discussion is that deliberative process may be used in the student exchange between MUDEC and Universite du Luxembourg students. If we can find a topic that will work, I hope that I'll be able to enlist our MUDEC students in helping to facilitate the interaction so that MUDEC and Lux students learn together and so that they learn how helpful deliberative discussion can be as a way to engage others.

On a personal note, I had some personal challenges. I managed to stay up until 10 p.m. on my first night in Luxembourg so that I would pass out and not wake up until the appropriate time this morning - 6:30 a.m. It worked and I think I've successfully defeated the infamous jet lag! My only physical challenge has been finding food and, most importantly, coffee. For those who don't know me as well as others, my primary vice in life is my dedication to having a large and strong cup of coffee first thing in the morning. When I don't have it, things are not good. The problem in this lovely country is that they serve coffee strong but it's in a thimble - at 1,5 - 2 Euros a shot (at that rate, a real cup of coffee would cost me 10 Euros or around 12 U.S.A. dollars). With a little help from my new friends, I think I've resolved the issue and tomorrow should be off to a better start.

Made it to Luxembourg

For anyone watching my blog, I made it to Luxembourg! I had an overnight flight to Franfurt and then an early afternoon flight to Luxembourg City and short car ride to Differdange. It is absolutely beautiful here. I'll post picture when I get some taken. The lingering green of summer is mixed with the growing brilliance of red, orange, and yellow leaves. Differdange is as colorful as the leaves - row houses and shops painted in a rainbow of colors. It was overcast today but the color still shown through.

Differdange was a steel center in the early part of the 20th century. Therefore, it has an interesting feel of an urban industrial center that has been gentrified by age and by shifting work and the worker population to other things. From what I understand, moving the Miami University Dolibois European Center to Differdange from Luxembourg City has had a significant impact on the economy of this area. While there are only 130 studetns at MUDEC, they appear to get out a lot. All are on home-stays with their families. They have breakfast at home, lunch at the Chateau, and then go out for dinner in Differdange before they head home to their host families in the evening.

I didn't get that much done work wise today - getting here was enough. The Frankfurt Main Airport is huge and a bit daunting. I did figure it out and the people were very gracious. I tried my German a couple of times but it was very obvious that I'm a U.S.A. citizen who doesn't have the language fluency of all those around me. It's a very interesting thing to realize that, while I'm proud of my education, it has a significant gap in terms of languages.

I'm going out to buy some snacks for breakfast, get dinner, and go for a walk. Since I've only had 3 hours sleep in the last 36, I think I'm going to be able to fall asleep early tonight. My first meeting is with Universite du Luxembourg faculty at 8:45 a.m. tomorrow morning. I'm delighted to get started immediately and to have the opportunity to engage with the people who are constructing this new University.

Miami's search for a "culture of leadership"

I was at lunch today with about 30 faculty and staff from throughout the University. The lunch was convened by Dr. Richard Nault, Vice President for Student Affairs, and Dr. John Skillings, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. Drs. Nault and Skillings chose to begin meetings of the variety of campus stakeholders in leadership last spring. Today's meeting was the second such gathering. Because we have a new Provost, Dr. Jeffrey Herbst, it seemed appropriate to invite Dr. Herbst to speak to this group on his perspectives of leadership. Dr. Herbst is a respected scholar in political science who has spent most of his career at Princeton.

I was beyond curious at what we might hear at lunch. The ideas I found most stimulating were several paradoxes Dr. Herbst proposed. The first was that we know leadership matters but we don't know how. There are several academic disciplines that explore leadership but consistency in how it is studied, the context, and the dynamics result in disparate conclusions. Another problematic issue in the study of leadership is that leaders can only be evaluated after they are gone - the question is if leaders foster structures and commitments to sustain the leader's impact. One of the biggest dilemmas is the fact that media and technology have been very influential in democratizing our world - so much so that there are very powerful anti-authority forces that make leading difficult. He concluded his remarks with the assertion that the most worthy objective in leadership development is not developing skills for leading but to help students discover their own purposes so that leadership is an outcome of their conviction rather than leading being a goal in itself.

I was gratified that Dr. Herbst sees the importance of students finding work worth doing. Ultimately, we can do a lot in training and educating students on techniques, skills, insights, but the hard part is developing a sense of awareness of self and the journey toward purpose. For me, this is the bottom line and the one on which I think we should focus most. I sometimes use the terms "collector" and "contributor" to describe different kinds of students. The collectors are the ones for whom leadership is all about them, their resume, their accomplishments, their ego. The contributors are the ones who simply know that they believe something deeply in their souls and that they have to do something about it. This is a simple, maybe even simplistic, distinction - collector or contributor.

The further question pursued at our lunch was whether Miami has a "culture of leadership" or "cultures of leadership." Most of the room seemed to nod at the likelihood that we have cultures of leadership. One person raised the all important question that we've been advocating for some time through "Miami's Leadership Commitment." He asked if the "culture" might not be that we should value each individual's search for purpose and leadership. This recognizes that there are multiple paths and realities for us all. Our opportunity and challenge is to support each other as we each use the variety of tools available to us to learn about ourselves and to learn how to express our deepest convictions in acts of leadership.

Another part of my role - Scholar Leaders

Another group I advise is the Scholar Leader program. This is a residential program for upperclass students who are housed in the oldest residence halls in the midwest. Elliott and Stoddard Halls are available to students on an application basis. The criteria for selection is high academic motivation coupled with an interest in leadership and service. The community has only two staff (Jon and Jeff) who are available as a resource. The responsibility for the environment and programs of the community are delegated to student residents. The idea is that the residential experience should teach the participants how to live in a democratic community that draws the best out of each and every resident.

An interesting twist on the Scholar Leader program is that we are presently in the final stages of planning the "Plunge" trip to Toronto on January 4-7, 2006. I will return from Luxemmbourg on December 30, rest a couple of days, and then go with approximately 40 students to Toronto for a trip focusing on the "American Dream." We will take a critical look at the historic notion of the American Dream, analyze how it unfolded differently in Canada versus the U.S.A., and determine what about it is still alive in our respective countries today. One of the experiences during the visit will be meeting with Dr. Fred Evers whose research, The Bases of Competence, looks at work and how higher education does or does not prepare students for the workplace; we will be joined by Miami alumni for this session. In addition, we will meet with University of Toronto students to explore questions surrounding the American Dream and then visit cultural neighborhoods in Toronto. A visit to the Canadian Victims of Torture Centre will allow us to look at issues of imigration and its impact in people's lives in Canada and the U.S.A. A highlight of the trip will be our return to the Central Park Lodge, a home for elder Canadian citizens. We will meet with, entertain, and have tea with these wonderful people before we depart to the U.S.A. We look forward to a great time with our North American neighbors!

Again, I'm fortunate to have great students with whom to work and staff who will guide this community in my absence. I hope that Scholar Leaders will check my blog and become part of the conversation on "Pursuing Leadership."

Part of my role - advising student government

I have a fairly complex job at the University. Some of it involves administrative work. Other parts are programmatic. Much of it is advising both graduate and undergraduate students. One of the most interesting advising roles I have is that of Associated Student Government, Miami's primary student governance group. Advising means being available to Cabinet officers and Senators, attending Cabinet and Senate meetings. All these meetings can sometimes become overwhelming but tonight was a very special time. It was the last Senate meeting I will attend before taking off to Europe. I announced during the officer and committee reports that I would be leaving Sunday and that two graduate students (Matt and Jim) would be standing in on my behalf while I'm gone. The Senate received my announcement very positively and it made me feel great.

In essence, I see my role as one truly of being an advisor. I don't tell ASG what to do and I don't serve as any kind of a control agent. I simply provide advice when asked and I volunteer input if I feel that something is timely. For the most part, I attend, listen, learn, and respond to the needs of students. The reason I approach my role this way is that I believe that student government is not a rehearsal for leadership - it is leadership. If students can gain an experience that convinces them that democracy can work, they just may stay involved for a lifetime. Engaging, taking risks, and learning from mistakes are all a very important part of students' education; out-of-class experiences are as important as in-class when it come to learning. Indeed, sometimes out-of-class teaches more because students tend to take more responsibility and take great risks there.

I am very lucky to be able to advise student government. I hope that some ASGers join me for the journey of the next several weeks. I intend to watch from a distance and I know all will go well.

I'm getting lots of response in Europe. I arrive on Monday afternoon and my first appointment is at the Universite du Luxembourg at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. I teach Tuesday evening for the first time. Another appointment is in the making with a McKinsey consultant in Berlin who uses integral theory in his work. Contacts are likely to yield appointments in Nancy, France, and Trier, Germany, as well.

Initial ideas about leadership and the EU

We had a great time this weekend when Allyson Lowe, Miami '96, spent the night with us. Allyson works at Chatham College in Pittsburgh and did her doctoral work at Ohio State on the EU. We got into a great conversation about the issues I want to explore while in Europe. I hope to deepen my understanding and to involve students in my seminar in the exploration of the formation and future of the EU and how contemporary notions of leadership relate to it. The seminar looks at two important tensions that are part of the EU - unity and subsidiarity. How this is manifest in the EU is that the seventeen members of the EU have determined that there are a number of issues on which they will benefit if they can create a sense of workable unity (i.e. currency). On the other hand, the member nations do not want to give up their culture, history, and unique ways of governing. Therefore, the concept of subsidiarty (i.e. education) is essential. Subsidiarity advocates that every issue should be pushed to the lowest level of analysis and response possible. Unity and subsidiarity are two concepts that may look paradoxical but the work underway in the EU may prove that, in fact, though paradoxical, they must exist simultaneously.

Allyson informed me that there is a continuum of consideration on any public matter that takes the unity -->> subsidiarity question to a bit more specific level. The idea is that for any issue, there are four broad ways to address it: standardize, harmonize, mutual recognition, or maintain sovereignty. This continuum allows a range from mutual and binding agreement (standardize) to complete autonomy (maintain sovereignty).

While I want to understand how this really works in the EU, it has interesting applications in the study of leadership. In essence, leadership has to make the decision of where to address a problem - at a high level with binding commitments or at a low level with local autonomy. Or, there could be a high level response that allows autonomy of members but a locally binding agreement. As I've observed leadership, and read in some theorists' analyses, a frequent mistake of leadership is trying to address an issue at the wrong level and perhaps with too tight or loose a strategy.

As we think of leadership and the EU, it seems important not to become too prescriptive in approach. Effective leadership would, it seems to me, take a critical look at the dynamics of the environment and concern and then identify an adaptive solution to address it that has the highest likelihood of success. Many times, we won't know what the "right" solution will be. We must, instead, analyze with all the critical information we can amass, and then determine the most likely way to proceed.

Living in Ohio

One of the things that is fascinating about the world we live in is how different our experiences can be. My family lives in Oxford, OH, USA, which is a very small town of about 15,000 people. The size doubles when the 17,000 students at Miami University are in town. This is truly a college town that is dominated by the enthusiasm and youthfulness of students during the academic year. Oxford permanent residents are ambivalent about students because, when they are here, they can take over the place. The fact is, we all benefit from students - economically, socially, culturally, and in all other ways. I've been in education for 30+ years because I enjoy students. I guess that's why even the minor annoyances of student behavior don't bother me a great deal. I figure that the community benefits so much from them that we shouldn't complain.

Oxford sprung up around the creation of Miami University in the 1820s. When established, the University was a frontier college but hosted in its early days one of the largest student populations of any in the country. The history of the University is full of firsts - including the creation of many fraternities and the creation of extracurricular life. In an age where intensely focused residential education is becoming unusual, Miami stands as an institution that provides deep engagement opportunities for students. This level of engagement is recognized consistently as one of its primary distinguishing characteristics.

Planning for Europe

My journey to Luxembourg begins in a very short few days from now. This morning I spent time with a colleague, Dr. Judy Rogers, looking at her plans to take a group of graduate students and student affairs professionals to Europe in May of 2006. Because I will be centrally located in Europe and want to get out to talk to educators in that area, I am pitching in to secure some of Dr. Rogers' arrangements. We spoke of my going to Nancy in France, Trier and Berlin in Germany. I will be initiating contacts with faculty and staff on these campuses.

My hope is to work with Dr. Rogers' referrals and others is to explore what European organizations (for-profit, non-for-profit, governmental, educational, and others) expect from higher education. Depending on waht they articulate as the most pressing needs, I will explore the role of leadership studies and development in responding to these needs. Of particular note is that most colleges/universities in the U.S.A. have had student affairs programs for around 100 years but most continental European institutions have not adopted this practice. I want to explore if student affairs ideas could be useful in European settings and/or I want to see what Europeans are doing to maximize the learning experiences of students.

The dynamics in the EU and the realization of the interdepent world in which we live is profound. We know on both sides of the Atlantic and around the globe that organizations, communities, and governments need to learn new ways of engaging and serving us all. This is one of the key challenges in leadership development - What will it take to help us learn to have a global and integrative perspective that serves the globe and all its inhabitants?

My family

I want to introduce my family to you. The picture to the left includes (from the left); youngest daughter, Darbi, son-in-law, Steve, oldest daughter, Devin; me, and my wife, Diane. My family is very important to me so I thought it best that you know who they are.

I also hope that my family will be checking my blog and commenting from time to time. Therefore, if you see a post from one of them, you'll know who they are.

Darbi is a senior at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, PA, U.S.A. Steve and Devin live in Chicago and are employed by C.H. Robinson and the Levy Corporation respectively. Diane is a special education teacher in our local middle school in Oxford, OH.

Getting started

My name is Denny Roberts. I'm a student affairs staff member and adjunct faculty member at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA. I've been studying leadership for 30 years and consider myself a perpetual student. (Actually, I think that anyone who is serious about leadership has to be a perpetual student.) I haven't been into blogging before this morning but I've decided to do this because I'm embarking on a pretty interesting adventure as of October 23, 2005. I have the good fortune of being able to go to Miami's Luxembourg campus in Differdange to teach for six weeks. I have seven students who will take my seminar on "Global Leadership." We will attend the International Leadership Association conference in Amsterdam and then return to Luxembourg to explore the ideas, models, and questions raised by attending the ILA conference. We have several core concepts to explore but we are open to pretty much anything that helps us understand leadership. (I write as if all my students are with me and I'm not sure that's the case. I hope they will be with me once we get acquainted and get started.)

My plan is to use this blog to stay in touch with students, staff, and friends back in Oxford and elsewhere around the USA. In addition, I plan to use this as a place to express and explore issues of leadership - what is it, where does it come from, and how can it be fostered in others... I am looking forward to seeing what blogging can do to push my insights and I'm interested to see if this can actually be a teaching tool as well. I look forward to jumping in with anyone who cares to join me.

I'm preparing for my departure on October 23, 2005, and welcome advice from anyone about places to go and things to do to understand leadership while I'm in Europe. I teach on Tuesday nights so will be in Luxembourg on those nights. The rest of my time will include travel, meetings, and lots of writing. I am likely not to post much until I actually get on the road but advice is welcome now.

Best,
Denny Roberts