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In my opinion, the key to leadership... good leadership at that, is
lifelong learning. Now, I am a little biased by my position as Dean of
the Honors College, but by lifelong learning I'm not talking about the accumulation of facts:
I can just reach into my pocket, pull out my smartphone, and grab every fact known in
human history. What I'm talking about is exposure to ideas
to new paradigms, conflicting paradigms
that emphasize the ambiguity of the world, the complexity of the world,
because good leadership in my
mind comes to the forefront during a time of crisis and
by facing all these complex ideas, getting practice with working
with them, drawing conclusions from them,
when the crisis comes, it's not a new skill you are trying to access. It's one
that you've become an expert with and so you're ready to take all
the complexity and ambiguity of a crisis situation,
put it together, draw a conclusion and lead people
decisively, quickly, and hopefully correctly.