Cathy Read was my first mentor at Boston College. At orientation the summer before my freshman year, I sat down with Cathy – who was then Associated Dean of the Connell School of Nursing – to plan out my fall semester course schedule. The next fall, Cathy hired me as a tutor for Keys to Inclusive Leadership in Nursing (KILN), a program that she directs for students from underrepresented backgrounds. In the spring, Cathy taught the first of my nursing theory courses. In these roles and others, Cathy exemplifies intentional, impactful, and inspirational leadership. I interviewed her in the hopes of learning more about her experiences, her philosophy of leadership, and how she understands her role as an agent of social change.
Cathy Read began …show more content…
A paradigm of leadership, as such, provides one with the personal guiding principles necessary to effectively navigate one’s role in a group or organization. When I asked about her understanding of leadership, Cathy first and foremost distinguished positional leadership from personality leadership. The former, she said, is based on power, whereas the latter is based on skills and attitudes. “There are plenty of positional leaders who lack personal leadership and there are plenty of personality leaders who lack position or power,” she elaborated. Cathy went on to assert that how an individual navigates an organization and one’s role in an organization determines the quality of leadership. “You’ve got to find a way to blend positional and personal leadership; you’re either an autocrat or a democrat.” Lewin, Lippit, and White (1939) explored the effectiveness of different leadership styles, including autocratic and democratic attitudes. The researchers established that democratic leaders, who collaborate with others in decision-making, are more effective than autocratic leaders, who take all decisions upon themselves (Lewin, Lippit, & White, 1939). Cathy’s idea of blending positional and personal leadership in a democratic style underscores these
Cathy Read began …show more content…
A paradigm of leadership, as such, provides one with the personal guiding principles necessary to effectively navigate one’s role in a group or organization. When I asked about her understanding of leadership, Cathy first and foremost distinguished positional leadership from personality leadership. The former, she said, is based on power, whereas the latter is based on skills and attitudes. “There are plenty of positional leaders who lack personal leadership and there are plenty of personality leaders who lack position or power,” she elaborated. Cathy went on to assert that how an individual navigates an organization and one’s role in an organization determines the quality of leadership. “You’ve got to find a way to blend positional and personal leadership; you’re either an autocrat or a democrat.” Lewin, Lippit, and White (1939) explored the effectiveness of different leadership styles, including autocratic and democratic attitudes. The researchers established that democratic leaders, who collaborate with others in decision-making, are more effective than autocratic leaders, who take all decisions upon themselves (Lewin, Lippit, & White, 1939). Cathy’s idea of blending positional and personal leadership in a democratic style underscores these