Carolyn Hendricks

Abstract

This case is the transcript of a student's report about her definition of leadership and includes some quotations from Frances Hesselbein, former national director of the Girl Scouts of America, to support it. The case is poignant because the author's background includes abuse as a child, and she demonstrates remarkable courage in moving out of that situation and establishing a strong foundation of what it means to be a leader. Excerpt UVA-OB-0601 Carolyn Hendricks After spending a semester on studying strategic leadership, I believe there are two very important sides to leadership. Just as important as the qualities one must have to effect strategic leadership are those qualities and intentions which one must not have. None of the effective leaders we studied ever set out to lead; they simply set out to accomplish a task, and others joined in to follow their lead. Perhaps this is the difficulty I have with writing about how I plan to lead strategic change in my career. Without a task to which I am one hundred percent dedicated, I will not be a leader of strategic change. Until I find that task or have the opportunity to work toward accomplishing that task, I will not be a leader of strategic change. However, in my personal life, I can affect strategic leadership. I am both the one who leads and the one who follows and in this way have been able to lead strategic change in my life. For most of my life, maybe even all of my life until last year, I had flashes of personal leadership, but then would revert to following the initiatives of others. By explaining some things about my life, this should be more understandable. I grew up in an alcoholic home. My father had a very successful military career, but would drink heavily whenever he was at home. One of my earliest memories is of a fight my parents had. My father was kicking my mother out of the house, while my sister and I looked on. My sister whispered to me that we needed to do something or else my mother would leave us forever. So we decided that each of us should wrap ourselves around one leg so that she couldn't walk away. As we grew older, the fighting got worse. My father shot at my mother. He would beat us. The verbal abuse was constant: we were stupid, worthless, evil, etc. Obviously, it was a life completely out of control. From that family situation, I learned that there was nothing about my own life that I could control. I could only attempt to manipulate a situation once it had arisen. Children of alcoholic families become very adept in this area. Because of these skills they often make excellent managers. . . .