“I do what I expect others to do in return,” was one of the strongest hit points that Dr. Marie George presented on Monday night. Along with speaking about it for an extended amount of time, the audience’s reaction, smiles and nodding heads in agreement, filled the atrium.
George gave the third of four Leader Lecture Series presentations in a dimly lit Grace Hall atrium where refreshments and appetizers were available for members in attendance.
Prior to her presentation, George interacted with her audience who varied from current professors and teachers, to alumni, to graduate students in Cabrini’s graduate program. She introduced herself to those whom she did not know and answered any questions thrown her way.
Once her presentation was under way, George pointed out five leader practices that she has adopted; encouraging the heart, modeling the way, enabling others to act, inspiring a vision and challenging the process.
She adapted them from a book titled “The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations” by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. In the book the order of the practices are actually reversed.
When asked why George told the audience that she had reversed them because “I felt that encouraging the heart and modeling the way are the two most important practices as a leader. I do what I expect others to do.”
She continued, giving the example that if someone called her and she wasn’t available, as soon as she returned, she would return that phone call immediately because that other person is waiting on her to do their own job.
George was also asked which of those five she concentrated on when she first came to Cabrini a little over a year ago. “I concentrated on the first four. Modeling the way is very important to me. It shows that I am a part of a group not apart from a group. Enabling others to act is another important one for me. That shows coalitions and teamwork as a big part of our society. Challenging the process came later on because there was already a process going here at Cabrini College,” George said.
True to Dr. George tradition, her presentation contained music. She played a jazz piece called “Take 5” by Dave Brubeck.
She used this piece of music to symbolize walking into a new culture that you haven’t experienced before. With the music, if you’ve never heard it you don’t know what to expect versus a song you have memorized, you know exactly what beat and words come next.
George encourages students, faculty and staff to strive for the best leader they can be. She also encourages entering a job in a leader position or a leader role. Showing that you can be a lead er from the very beginning and proving to your peers you can is always a plus.
The Master of Science in Organization Leadership program offers a series of lectures on leadership related topics. The Leader Lecture Series is sponsored by the Center for Graduate and Professional Studies.
“Leadership in Transition: the Integration of New Leadership into an Existing Culture” was the name of her presentation.
George’s presentation included a power point presentation that she used as a guide for her speech, music and a poster size post-it note with marker included to draw a diagram in which she joked with the audience about her hand writing being illegible.
Be sure not to miss the fourth and final presentation of the Leader Lecture Series where Dr. McCormick, dean for academic affairs, will be presenting.
