Leaders on Leadership
As our sestercentennial draws to a close, here are a few favorite observations about leadership gathered from Call to Lead role models.
Leadership, to me, is living by example. Showing people by example. Setting a good example. It’s also about preparation, coming to a school like Dartmouth and using all of its resources. I can’t think of any other place better suited to give students the opportunity to lead.
Annette Gordon-Reed ’81
The idea of an individual leader is not really a Pueblo idea. In Europe and America, there’s this idea that the artist is individual, and the artist has a license to create—even if that includes bad behavior. But in Pueblo culture they say: “It’s group think. It’s group talk.” It’s a more socialistic experience. Leadership is being a part of a group and serving a group.
Mateo Romero ’89
In my experience, every leader is somehow flawed, and there’s no perfect model. But I also think that feedback is always helpful, and the best leaders are those who listen to people around them, especially when the leader is overreaching or being a jerk. It’s incredibly important not to remove from your circle people who are willing to tell you hard truths.
Jake Tapper ’91
Being a college athlete does so much to prepare you for life. You have to learn to deal with failure, because you’re going to fail in one way or another. Your team might lose, or you might play badly. There are many more ways to fail than there are to win. You have to learn how to manage that.
Tommy Clark ’92 MED’01
Dartmouth gave me a lot of freedom to try things. I think it made me realize what I was capable of. It’s a place where faculty and staff say, “Oh, you have a crazy idea for how to solve that? Sure, we’ll give you a budget and some really good people to advise you. You should take a shot at it.” What that does for confidence is really special.
Becca Heller ’05