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B. Baylis

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Principles of Leadership Part I

This is the first installment of a series of three posts of principles of leadership that I have gleaned from forty years in administration in Christian higher education. Although they come from that setting, many, if not most are applicable to any management situation.This post concerns one’s own personal traits and characteristics.  Post Two concerns how one deals with people. Post three will deal handling processes within the organization.

Personal Traits and Characteristics

  1.  Trust God Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6 (New Living Translation) 
  2.  Be dependable If you say you are going to do something, do it. Be a person of your word.
  3.  Tell the truth Scripture exhorts us to “Tell the truth in love.” In addition to being the right thing to do, there are pragmatic reasons to do so. I recall one dean who said, “Always tell the truth. It’s easier to remember what you have said.”
  4.  Love learning People need to feel a passion to know…to know oneself, to know the world around us. Knowing brings understanding and a sense of fulfillment.
  5. Work hard; play hard; rest well Be diligent in your work ethic; be conscientious in your recreation; take time for yourself.
  6.  Persuade, rather than coerce If a case can’t be won by logical, rational arguments, is it worth winning?
  7.  Know your own limitations Every one has limitations. It saves you and others a great deal of time and energy if you know what your own limitations are and you operate within them.
  8.  Listen well The most overlooked communications skill is listening. People expect you to “hear” what they are saying. If they believe that you have really listened to them, they will respect your decisions more, even if they don’t agree with them.
  9.  Read Develop the habit of reading. Determine the best journals related to disciple and job. Read those religiously. Keep at least three books on hand that can be read in those spare moments…one related to spiritual development; one related to job; one just for fun.
  10.  Keep a record of your decisions Always keep a paper trail, especially of all decisions, promises and warnings
  11. Respond to people Respond to people in a reasonable time frame in an appropriate manner, letter, email, phone or personal visit.
  12. Know your enemies. First, you need to know who your enemies are. Second, you need to know why they are opposing you. Third, you need to know their battle plans and modus operandi.
  13.  Understand the power and limitations of technology If you know want technology can do and what it can’t do, and you know where it can help you achieve your ends, use technology appropriately.
  14.  Be a scholar Scholarship is the art and science of creating, organizing and disseminating knowledge. As an academic, the academic administrator must be committed to scholarship.
  15. Be engaged The essence of engagement is to know and be known. Within the academic realm, individuals need to be engaged with their disciplines, with their colleagues, with students, with their community and with their churches
  16.  Pray Pray without ceasing. Pray with thanksgiving. Pray fervently

 

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Principles of Leadership Part II

Principles of Leadership Part 2: Dealing with People

 This is the second installment of a series of three posts of principles of leadership that I have gleaned from forty years in administration in Christian higher education. Although they come from that setting, many, if not most are applicable to any management situation.This post concerns how one deals with people.  Post One dealt with personal traits and characteristics. Post three will deal handling processes within the organization.
  1. Be hospitable. Have respect for all people; be hospital to everyone; demand an aura of hospitality everywhere within the institution. Make everyone, both members of the organization and guests,  feel welcome.
  2.   Value people The most important resource in any organization is people. They need to know that you  appreciate them, not for what they do or can do, but who they are.  
  3.   Reward people Individuals appreciate psychological and emotional rewards. However, it is equally important to reward people materially, at least as much as the organization is able. People need to believe that you are trying to reward them materially.
  4. Invest in people If people are the most important resource of an organization, it is not enough to value them as persons and pay them appropriately, you must show them that they are important by challenging them to better performance and providing the necessary support in terms of training, facilities, equipment and help.
  5. Empower people I believe the best decision-making strategy for an organization is to push decisions down to the lowest appropriate level within the organization. Give people a job and responsibilities, and let them do the job.
  6.   Respond to people appropriately and in a timely manner Respond to people in a reasonable time frame in an appropriate manner, letter, email, phone or personal visit. Know when to say “No.” Also remember that “Because I said so.” is not a sufficient answer to the question “Why?” Be prepared to freely share your reasoning behind the response to any request Learn to use the answer “I will think about it.” responsibly. If you don’t say “No” many will hear that answer as a “Yes.” 
  7.    Hire the best person for a job opening The “A-level leader” will hire “A-level” people. The “B-level” leader will hire B-level or C-level people. A good subordinate will improve your organization and eventually make you look good. Don’t worry about that individual challenging you for your job. If they are a better choice and could do a better job than you, then that’s so much better for your organization. A poor subordinate will sabotage your organization and make you look bad.  
  8.   Develop your successor It has always been my intent and general practice to begin on the very first day of a job to help someone prepare him or herself to take over my job. I have mentored more than a dozen people who have gone on to serve in the position I held at my institution after I had left or at another institution after they left. 
  9.   Don’t shove a square peg into a round hole It is physically possible to put a square peg into a round hole, but only if the square peg is smaller than the hole. Try to match the skills and attributes of the individual with the demands of the position. Don’t over-match or under-match. 
  10.    Know and appreciate your students. Education is meeting students where they are and helping them to get to where they want to be and ought to be. If where they want to be is not where they ought to be, the first job of the institution is to help them see where they ought to be. This means that you must study your students and help your faculty members understand and appreciate their students.

 

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Principles of Leadership Part III

This is the third installment of a series of posts of principles of leadership that I have gleaned from forty years in administration in Christian higher education. Although they gone from that setting, many, if not most are applicable to any management situation. This post deals with handling processes within the organization.Post One dealt with personal traits and characteristics. Post Two was about dealing with people.

  1.   Approach problems systemically; solve them systematically Making changes in one area of a system will have effects on other areas of the system. Look at the big picture. Do not go just for a quick fix. Work through all the ramifications of your actions. Be prepared for the next steps.
  2.  Think and plan strategically Strategic thinking and planning begin with the organization’s mission and vision. It proceeds through internal and external scans and an analysis of the differences between current positioning and desired future positioning. The organization must then determine the fundamental issues it has to address to achieve its mission and vision, and then develop goals, action plans and tactics to address those issues. Periodic review of the goals, action plans and tactics are essential to an ongoing institutional assessment of where it is and where it wants to be.
  3. Develop a culture of evidence A culture of evidence is a way of life and thought that pervades an organization with a set of values and principles, a collective knowledge, and habitual patterns of actions that uses information and data as evidence to answer questions of importance to the organization. In the ideal organization, a culture of evidence will demonstrate the degree or extent to which the organization possesses those attributes and characteristics of high-quality programs and processes.
  4.   Share knowledge and information Today’s organizations can no longer effectively be managed by the few who think and the many that do what they are told. Organizations need a higher level of knowledge and skill among all who participate in them.
  5. Live within your budget An organization must operate within its means. To do this requires a balancing of the needs and available resources, along with an accurate accounting of income and expenses. I believe that budgeting should begin with needs and expenses followed by an analysis of income. I also believe that once the budget is set, the bottom line is fixed, but individual items are guidelines and within the framework of that bottom line budget directors should have as the autonomy to make changes in individual items if necessary.
  6.   Take the long-term view The long-term success and viability of a project is more important than short-term successes. The long-term success and viability of an organization is more important than the short-term successes of projects. The long-term success of the organization and individual projects may need the building of foundations and superstructure that can take time to construct.
  7.  Expect excellence; ensure excellence We should encourage our customers to expect excellence from us. It is our job to ensure excellence in what we deliver. The process of providing excellence includes selecting the right people and assigning them the right tasks, setting high standards and motivating them continually and holding them accountable for the outcome.
  8.   Maintain the proper balance between innovation and practicality There are times when it is important to “think out-of-the-box.” There are times when it is important to remember and follow tradition. It is most important to know when to choose what.
  9. Form follows function This phrase is typically used in an architectural sense. It definitely must be followed in designing space. However, I believe that it has a much broader application. We can look at processes and systems just as we look at buildings. We should first look at what we intend for them to do, and then design them accordingly.
  10.  Delegate intelligently; follow-up consistently An individual can’t do everything. A supervisor must set a pattern of delegating both responsibility and authority to appropriate staff. The supervisor should also set up expectations of oversight and stick with those expectations. The follow-up should be scheduled and as consistent as possible from one project to the next, and one staff member to the next.
  11.  Celebrate success People need to feel good. People need to celebrate appropriately. As successes come, set a pattern of celebrating those successes and the people who made them possible.
  12.  Learn from failures Nobody is perfect. You will make mistakes; others will make mistakes. Take those mistakes and use them to become better. Analyze what went wrong. Determine what could be done to avoid these problems in the future.
  13.   Leave the organization better than you found it Each decision should be made with the intent of improving the organization. The work of each day should be done with the goal of continuous improvement. Work each day as if it is your last chance to make a difference.

If you are interested in learning more about leadership

and how it effects organizations, I highly recommend the

work of Dr. Jim Laub. Check out his organization OLA

and his website  www.ola.org

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A Week in an Epilepsy CLinic

My Week in an Epilepsy Center

By Baylis

I gave them a scare when I arrived early on a Friday morning at the epilepsy clinic for a week of testing.  My wife, Elaine, had pulled up to the front door of the clinic to drop me off and give the car to the valet parking attendant. I grabbed my laptop brief case and a brief case with three books in it. The clinic had said to bring a laptop and reading materials because it can get boring sitting in the same room for a week without anything to do. Elaine grabbed my suitcase, duffel bag and CPAP machine for my sleep apnea. We took the elevator that was in the lobby. Elaine wheeled the suitcase down the hall to the check in desk and I carried my laptop and books. When we got to the check in desk, I was out of breath and in some obvious, but not serious distress. They made me sit down and checked my blood pressure and pulse. You guessed it. I was in A-Fib. My blood pressure was 150/110 and my pulse was 140. They called a doctor who made me lie down. After lunch and a short nap my blood pressure was 120/80 and my pulse was 110, but I was still in A-fib. My heart is extremely strong, my arteries are clear. It’s just that my heart doesn’t have any rhythm.

One morning during the week at about 2:30 AM bells and alarms started sounding off like fire alarms. Two nurses came running in and I asked them, “What’s up?” They said my blood pressure had dropped to 80/40 and my pulse had dropped to 55. By morning they were back up to 110/80 and 95. I didn’t have any official seizures while in the clinic for the week, just a few events that the doctors said left some tracks on the EEG but not where they thought they should be. I haven’t had any more impressionistic visions, but I did see spots, like those when you look at a bright light. For years when I looked at a bright light I would see fuzzy yellow donuts. This time they weren’t donuts and the spots were coming and going more frequently. One morning I woke up and looked up to the ceiling where the infrared camera was located. The camera was on because I could see a faint red glow. When I looked away I saw spots that looked like Mickey Mouse heads. They were large solid disks with two smaller solid disks, one at each side of the top of the larger disk. However, the disks weren’t black or gray. They were a smurf-blue in color. They lasted until I ate and took a nap. When I woke from the nap, and looked out the window, the spots returned but this time they were elongated donuts. After a while I recognized them as oval race tracks with the track one color and the infield another. The “head” of the clinic said that the EEG activity tracks were not where normal vision tracks would have been, so she had two guesses. One was side effects from medication. One of my anti-seizure medications is very effective against seizures but is known for strange side effects. She said that it was also possible that my optic nerve was displaced. She said that any one of the five traumatic events that I have gone through could have moved my optic nerves. The growing of the brain tumor might have moved them. The explosion of the blood vessel in the tumor could have scrambled things around. The filling of my cranial cavity with blood could have rearranged things. And finally although they try to be very careful in surgery, either the surgery or the aftermath of the surgery when the brain tries to return to its normal place could have displaced some nerves.

The Head of the clinic is “consulting” with my regular neurologist about switching me to different medication. In the meantime, each new day seems to bring a new set of spots. One morning, it looked like I was watching an aquarium. I didn’t see any fish, but there was a whole trail of clear air bubbles rising all across my field of vision. I had one other “event” in the clinic. Again it didn’t show up on the EEG as a seizure but it was strange. One morning, I woke up and hit the event button that they had given me and called the nurse. She came running and asked, “What’s the matter?” I pointed to my forehead. And the Nurse asked, “Do you have a head ache or pressure in your sinus area?” I said, “No, it’s a vacuum.” The nurse asked, “Does it feel like a vacuum cleaner is stuck to your forehead?” I replied, “No inside my head; my sinus area feels empty.” The head of the clinic said that was a new one for her. I told her I was afraid to tell anyone. I didn’t want it get out that I felt my head was empty. OOPS, did I just tell you? Promise you won’t tell anyone”.  Besides I have proof that there is something up there. The MRIs show that I still have at least half a brain, even if it does have a few scar tissues.

Today when I went with Elaine to the store to pick up something, the sun was very bright and reflected off a car in front of us. This time the spots were purple and orange whirlpools.

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Living in a French Impressionistic Painting

Living in a French Impressionistic Painting

By Baylis

 The past week has been bumpy. No full-blown seizures, however, a number of unusual things have been occurred. One morning I woke up at 7:00 AM. I got up and turned on my computer and wrote a response to a newspaper article that had appeared in paper a couple of days earlier. When I finished writing the response, it was 8:00 AM. I was a little tired and since my wife was still sleeping, I went back to bed and fell asleep. Sometime later I woke up feeling very well-rested and when I looked at the clock it was 5:25 AM. As I stirred my wife asked why I was getting up so early and I told her about the apparent time differential. She said that I must have been dreaming. I told her if I was dreaming I was sleep writing because I had a decently written essay on my computer responding to a newspaper article. When I checked my computer the essay was there.

At least three times in the past week, I have “awakened” from a nap or a zoning time-out and found myself living in a French impressionistic painting. What do I mean? Most everything further than 20 feet away had no definition to its edges. I could distinguish what it was, but it was not sharp. For example, this past Sunday morning on our drive to church, looking out my van window I felt like I was looking at impressionistic painting. I could tell that barns were barns but I could not be sure where the barns stopped and the outbuildings began. They all ran together.  After we got to church and I looked at the flowers on the platform in church, I could not tell when one flower stopped and another started, but I could tell that they were flowers. However, in our church we use a video projector with the words to the songs that we are singing. It was strange; I could read the words clearly. They seemed to be sharply defined. But the background pictures were fuzzy, just like an impressionistic painting. After church, we went home. I ate lunch and turned on a football game. We don’t have an HD TV, but when the camera was on the players and the game, everything was sharp. When it panned across the crowd, the impressionistic images returned. I feel asleep “watching” the game. When I awoke from my nap, having missed the entire second quarter of the game, the impressionistic images were gone. Everything had returned to normal and all images were distinct and sharp. When we went back to the evening service at church, I could distinguish clearly the barns and outbuildings on the way to the church. I could also see the flowers on the platform distinctly. I could also tell that they were standing in water in clear glass bottles that I had completely missed earlier in the day.

Are these mini-seizures or the side effects of medication? To really determine what’s going on, my neurologist wants to catch me during one of these episodes, so I am now scheduled to spend a week in a local neurological-science center for constant monitoring. After a week of being a lab rat I may have some more stories to tell. Stay tuned in for those stories.

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WHAT I KNOW IS RELEVANT

Living with Aphasia

What I Know is Relevant

By Baylis

This post was inspired by a response to an article that appeared in the August 31, 2010, daily e-edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education, entitled “As Literacy Declines, Faculty Members and the Media Share the Blame.” It can be found on the CHE website at http://chronicle.com/blogPost/As-Literacy-Declines-Faculty/26619. The general tone of the CHE article reminds us that for years it has been fashionable in educational circles to decry students’ lack of communication skills, both verbal and written. However, the comment that really got under my skin was one which stated, “If you can’t communicate what you know, it is irrelevant.” My first reaction was to scream “WHAT I KNOW IS RELEVANT.” My comment, addressed to the individual referenced above, was “I’m sorry that I can’t communicate what I know to your satisfaction. However, right now that is due to something that is beyond my control. I suffer from Aphasia as a result of a traumatic brain episode. Please work with me and perhaps we can both learn something.”  My second reaction to the article and other comments was to remember a song that I used to listen to on the 8-track tape deck that I had in my old pick-up truck. I could still remember some of the words of the chorus of Joe South’s hit: “Hey, before you abuse, criticize, or accuse, walk a mile in my shoes.” I looked up the lyrics of the song and I was pleasantly surprised at the lyrics of the first verse:

“If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour

If we could find a way to get inside each other’s mind

If you could see you through my eyes instead of your ego

I believe you’d be surprised to see that you’d been blind.”

This is the lesson that I would like others to learn. As we interact with others, before we summarily dismiss them when they have difficulties in communiation, we need to learn where they are, and from where they came. They may have legitimate communication challenges such as aphasia, dyslexia, or some other deficiency. We need to get to know them so that we can understand them and walk a mile in their shoes. We may be surprised at what we can learn from each other.

On my education blog, I am posting an essay with essentially the same ideas as the ones in this posting, but directed more specifically to educational settings. In that posting, I will suggest that some of my educational colleagues will accuse me of not understanding how important it is to judge all students against the same standard. Let me assure you that I have walked many miles in those shoes. I used to believe that all students had to be tested under the same conditions. I have since walked several miles in the shoes of a challenged individual. Aphasia is a communication deficiency. It does not affect intellect. It generally only affects the ability to communicate. This experience has completely changed my view of accommodations in educational settings. I now see how important they are. Institutions and individual faculty must not overlook or ignore appropriate accommodations for the students who need them. So sufferers speak up for yourselves and demand your rights. If you can’t speak up for yourself, your caregivers have a responsibility to be your spokesperson. Make sure that get all of the opportunities and accommodations that are due to you. It is not only your right, it is the law. However, I have also come to another conclusion that I will suggest in an upcoming blog, “It is impossible to legislate commitment. The best you can hope to get from legislation is minimal compliance.” Until the minds and hearts of the general public are changed, people with challenges will continue to be treated like second-class citizens, and most of the relevant knowledge they possess will be wasted. It took a traumatic brain episode to bring me to my senses. I hope and pray that others do not have to go through my experience, to realize what they are missing.