TITLE: Offering Grace and Hope AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: January 22, 2006 11:44 AM DESC: Being a leader can be hard work. What you do affects people's lives and hearts. ----- BODY: Two quotes have been running through my mind the last few days, as I have worked on letters of evaluation for faculty on the tenure track or up for promotion:
[Leaders] provide a measure of grace as the antidote to the behavior of people who poison our society with disgrace.
And:
Steeling oneself to become what one is not requires hope. Leaders can give it.
Anyone who thinks that being a manager or a department chair doesn't come with a lot of moral responsibility misunderstands the task. (Both quotes are from Leadership Jazz, by Max De Pree, a book I'll write more about later.) -----