Academic Centers Need to Find a New Balance

To the Editor:

For the past 25 years I have been an adjunct professor at universities in Missouri, Colorado, and New York State that train non-profit leaders, so I read with great interest Pablo Eisenberg’s March 25 opinion piece on academic centers’ inability to develop true charity leaders (“Academic Centers Don’t Develop Charity Leaders”).

I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Eisenberg that most of the academic institutions are almost entirely focused on developing management skills rather than on leadership concepts. It is obvious that effective executive directors need to understand the technical aspects of their jobs, but in order for their organizations to thrive and adjust to the changing needs of their communities, chief executive officers must be able to lead organizations and their constituencies and not just manage resources and people.

Our society has many people in “leadership positions,” but few who exert the kind of ethical and moral authority that makes people feel proud to follow them. Understanding the concepts and strategies of public policy, community organizing, constituency development, risk and courage, cost-benefit analysis, motivation, and transformation are not luxuries or “liberal ideas.” These areas are the foundation of present and future leadership and need to be addressed not only in community settings, but also directly in institutions of higher learning. Students pay thousands of dollars to get educated, and schools have a responsibility to prepare students for what they will be facing in the new, competitive, market-driven world.

Leadership is one of the most talked about and least understood concepts in America. There are now thousands of undergraduate certificate programs and hundreds of graduate degree programs that offer educational opportunities for people going into the non-profit profession. What is it going to take for the colleges and universities to balance management skills with leadership focus? Unless institutions of higher learning prepare students realistically for the environment they will be working in, and foundations and corporations are willing to share the cost of doing so, grassroots and mid- sized non-profit organizations — where the bulk of these students will be working — will be at a distinct competitive disadvantage.

Richard I. Male
President
Grant Guides Plus
Denver