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Wilkerson-Johnson, V.

, Closing Reflections
Author:

Veronica Wilkerson-Johnson
Posted Date:
March 3, 2015 3:24 AM
Status:
Published

What has your journey through this course as a culmination of the


DCCL program taught you?

This journey has taught me perspective. As we have learned


the many aspects of leadership - leadership styles,
educational leadership broadly and community college
leadership in particular, I have developed a deeper
appreciation for the intrinsic merits of higher education. I
have enjoyed the discoveries, learning, for instance, that
leadership is evolving. While this course focused specifically
on transformational leadership, we were also taught the
more mundane factors of transactional leadership early in
this process. For me this has been a learning curve, and I
equate it to navigating from leadership theory to leadership

practice. I also have come to know intrinsically that a


transformational leader's emotional resonance will
ultimately impact others. As we learned from the leaders we
have studied in this course and in previous courses, people
will observe and follow our lead when we are excited about it.
A charismatic quality ignites interest in our faculty and staff,
and it will carry them through the good times as well as the
challenging times. Without this social capital a leader will
have a hard time gathering and guiding his/her organization.
As we progressed in our courses we began to talk more about
leaders genuineness, authenticity, credibility, and
trustworthiness. Drs. Shugart, Bumphus, and other leaders
we reflected upon spoke about these qualities - the need to
be ourselves, and the need to treat others with
connectedness, patience and respect.
As was one of the goals, this path to earning my doctoral
degree has helped to shape and sharpen my reasoning. I can
drill more deeply into any process as I expand my mind to
better embrace and aid the environments in which I
currently serve. I see opportunities that will assist my
colleagues and institutions in ways that I might not have
before, and this will certainly be an immediate benefit to
them, and as I prepare for my next steps. Also, the group
projects, the capstone and the discussions have aided my
ability to conceptualize and navigate change across
disciplines, and this is already aiding my institution's work
on transformational projects. This ability to think flexibly
and "outside the box" is going to be needed in our ever
changing world. From the heads of state, to the heads of our
institutions, we will see change. As we have learned in this
course, change is imminent, and we are best prepared when
we embrace it and plan to manage it. Dr. Bumphus managed
the rebuilding of a college torn asunder by Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. In the face of such cataclysmic

circumstances as that, I take heart in believing that we too


are fortified with substance far beyond what we think. As
well prepared leaders we will be able to call on this strength
and presence of mind when we need it.
How have you developed as a person, scholar, and
community college leader in this course/program?
It has been my goal to become a leader who influences and
inspires by being a part of the team. I want to create an
innovative model focusing on supporting the community in
efforts to promote increased scholarship, opportunity, and
educational involvement for people of all walks of life. My
dissertation topic, creating a primer for parents of
underrepresented students, first generation students and
women seeking STEM professions, also heralds my interest
to reach out broadly to aid these parents, and ultimately to
aid their students for success. In this program we have been
students, scholars, practitioners, mentees, and sometimes
mentors. This is excellent training for us as we now seek to
expand as leaders, influencing and inspiring others and
forging opportunities for for many.
Reflect on your Professional Leadership Philosophy (IDSL
825). Does a consideration of organizational change and
culture change your philosophy in any way?
My Leadership Philosophy in IDSL 825 stated that I wanted
to embody many excellent qualities in the realm of
leadership. While I still espouse the goal of being an
inspiring, innovative and caring leader, what I have added to
that ambition is a greater sense of tenacity, more coolness
under pressure, and a knowledge that none of us have to do
this alone. We have an amazing Cohort of fellow leaders who
will also be traversing this path, and into the future we will

encounter many whom we will call friends and colleagues in


our professions and in our lives. As Professor Roberta
Teahen told us at the beginning of this doctoral journey, this
is a business where people become known very quickly, and
when we extend our best, we are sought for opportunities.
We have a network of fellow leaders, a professional family,
with whom we can consult. Wherever our paths lead us, I am
excited to have colleagues with whom I have walked this
preparatory path.
I value the opportunity to make a difference. Much is
changing in the world of community colleges as it is in our
society, and these changes bring tremendous opportunities
for institutions of higher learning, but they also bring
challenges that community colleges have not had to face in
the past. I believe that good leaders must be circumspect and
aware of these new realities, and that they must think deeply
about what best guides them. As educators we have a long
way to go in leading the charge into a new paradigm of
empowered, no-holds-barred teaching. The principal upon
which community colleges was founded, "education for the
masses", must truly be one that we espouse, and not just for
finance driven accountability based on student success
reporting mandates, but because we really will be teaching
scholars of tomorrow!

Shugart, Sandy, PhD. Leadership in the Crucible of Work.


Maitland, Florida: Florida Hospital, 2013.

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