Virtues | Rose Scholars Spring 2019

On Tuesday, I joined other Rose Scholars to attend a seminar on “leading effectively.”
The seminar started out with 100 cards, all with different virtues on them. These included things like “courage,” “honestly,” “passion,” “wealth,” things like that. We were asked to organize them based on what was most important to us, and to pick our top five. We were then asked how well our top five coincided with being a leader. I quickly realized that my top five, if they were the only virtues someone possessed, wouldn’t make the best leader. They included things like, “humility,” “simplicity,” “God’s will,” “compassion,” and “forgiveness.” (Yes, I am aware of how soft I sound.)
As a group, we then those the top five virtues of a leader. The main ones my group chose included “accomplished,” “knowledgeable,” and “responsible,” among others. Basically, the only one that matched up was “compassionate,” which we agreed was necessary since most leaders need to be good with people. The top five when focused on a leader’s mindset versus my top five from a moral perspective were completely different. I realize that sometimes people have to separate from their moral virtues in order to be an effective leader. Leadership may come naturally to some, but to others it is something that must be honed in on and worked on.

One thought on “Virtues”

From my group, I’d say the 5 cards we chose (some of which I disagree with) fitted quite well into the stereotype of leaders as we know it. But fitting the stereotype doesn’t necessarily mean forming the best actual leader. When imagining the Cornell student who had the cards we were assigning, one of my friends kept mentioning how they’d be miserable, as a person. And I don’t think anyone who feels miserable will be at their best when leading. So fitting the stereotype is probably not a good idea.
Which means there isn’t a single combination or set of cards that would make a good leader. Having out virtues listed out is just a way of thinking “how will our leadership change to accommodate our virtues/beliefs? Should it?”
My own 5 cards are in a similar direction to yours – “hope”, “humility”, “dependency”, “purpose”, “contribution”. Most of them aren’t the kinds of words attached to and desired by leaders. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to lead, or to get good at it. All it means is that my leading may eventually look a bit more to the human side than the stereotype suggests! 🙂

hcz5 on April 30, 2019 at 12:26 am said:

From my group, I’d say the 5 cards we chose (some of which I disagree with) fitted quite well into the stereotype of leaders as we know it. But fitting the stereotype doesn’t necessarily mean forming the best actual leader. When imagining the Cornell student who had the cards we were assigning, one of my friends kept mentioning how they’d be miserable, as a person. And I don’t think anyone who feels miserable will be at their best when leading. So fitting the stereotype is probably not a good idea.
Which means there isn’t a single combination or set of cards that would make a good leader. Having out virtues listed out is just a way of thinking “how will our leadership change to accommodate our virtues/beliefs? Should it?”
My own 5 cards are in a similar direction to yours – “hope”, “humility”, “dependency”, “purpose”, “contribution”. Most of them aren’t the kinds of words attached to and desired by leaders. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to lead, or to get good at it. All it means is that my leading may eventually look a bit more to the human side than the stereotype suggests! 🙂