“Perhaps the biggest disservice done by the outsize glorification of ‘leadership skills’ is to the practice of leadership itself — it hollows it out, it empties it of meaning. It attracts those who are motivated by the spotlight rather than by the ideas and people they serve. It teaches students to be a leader for the sake of being in charge rather than in the name of a cause or an idea they care about deeply.”
We’re in the midst of a leadership crisis right now, but it’s not in the way you think.
The New York Times explores the way colleges — and particularly their admission boards — overemphasize leadership and the detrimental impact it’s having on students and leadership in general.
Susan Cain explains why the world needs more followers and suggests the qualities colleges should look for in students shouldn’t be leadership, but rather “excellence, passion, and a desire to contribute beyond the self.”