Leadership Lessons Learned

Leadership Lessons Learned
By John Krull, Director, Franklin College's Pulliam School of Journalism
 
For some reason, when I think of leadership, Potter Stewart’s famous line about pornography comes to mind.
 
The Supreme Court justice said he wasn’t comfortable describing or defining porn “but I know it when I see it.
 
Leadership is like that.  It’s easy to recognize when you see it, but it resists easy definition.
 
Maybe one of the reasons that leadership can be hard to describe is that, too often, we look at leaders as individuals, almost as if they were in isolation.  We look at what the leaders do and not how people respond to them or what the group they are part of does.
 
The problem is that leaders, by definition, can’t operate in isolation.  A leader who isn’t part of a group of people is like a lover without a partner or a friend without companions.
 
In other words, leadership is not about the individual.  It’s about the relationships.
Or that’s what seems to be the case for me.
 
When the good folks at the Lacy Leadership Association asked me to do this essay, I agreed and then realized I really didn’t know what I wanted to say.
 
So I did what I always do when I’m stumped.  I asked some of the people with whom I work what they thought worked about our joint efforts and my part in those efforts.
 
As usual, they got me to think about some things in a different way.  That’s one of the benefits of being a leader – the people with whom you work often teach you things if you keep your ears open.
 
Much as I would love to believe that the journalism school I have the privilege to lead has had success because I’m a brilliant speaker or just radiate charisma, the truth is that I lead best when I stay closest to the ground.  The people with whom I work say that they respond to my leadership because I keep the lines of communication open, that I value the contributions they make to our common enterprise and that they feel that the work we are doing is their idea and not just mine.  They value the fact that I don’t quit on the work that we’re doing together – or on them, when they make a mistake.  They trust me and have faith that I’m trying to do the right thing even when I screw up.
 
They are too kind.  And I mean that.
 
The reality is that all too often I buy into the notion that the leader is the driver and the most important figure in the process.  Every human being has an ego and I frequently give mine too free a rein.
 
In my best and wisest moments – which don’t come often enough – I realize that leadership isn’t about me.  It’s about us and the things we can do together.
 
If I have success as a leader, it is when and because I help the people around me find the best in themselves.  I can’t do that through solitary strokes of inspiration.  I have to do it by listening to the people around me, by figuring out what contributions they can make and finding ways to show that those contributions matter and by understanding who they are and why being part of our shared work matters to them.
 
I lead best when I realize that I am only part of what we do as a group – and that often I am not the most important part.
 
In short, leadership is not about the individual.  It can’t be.
It’s about the reasons that human beings always have clung together.
It’s about humility.  It’s about respect.  It’s about devotion.  It’s about commitment.  It’s about understanding common need and shared desires. It’s about caring. It’s about not quitting when things are tough.
 
Again, it’s about the relationships. 
 
John Krull became the director of Franklin College's Pulliam School of Journalism in August of 2004.  A Franklin alumnus, Krull graduated in 1981 with a degree in journalism and history. He did his graduate work at Saint Louis University and received a Master of Arts degree in American Studies from that school in 1984.  Prior to coming home to Franklin College, Krull served as the executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. Under his leadership, the ICLU experienced record growth and established itself as one of the most effective not-for-profits in the country.  Krull's ICLU experience followed a long career as a newspaper reporter, columnist, feature writer and editorial writer. During his journalism career, Krull's work appeared frequently in magazines and earned more than 30 writing honors and awards. He also has appeared often on television and radio news programs. His first book, Emily's Walk, appeared in 2002. It now is in its second printing, and has been used on college and university campuses as a primer on how state government really works. Most recently, Krull became host of "No Limits," a news and public affairs show airing at noon each Thursday on WFYI public radio. He also was instrumen tal in forming a partnership between Franklin College and the Hoosier State Press Association (HSPA) to provide coverage of state government and politics by Franklin College student journalists for Indiana's newspapers year-round.
 
Contact John Krull to share your feedback on his leadership lesson.

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