RESEARCH
Commentary
Are We Training Leaders? Conversations with Three Leaders Carol Porter, PhD, RD, FADA ARTICLE INFORMATION
Copyright ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2212-2672/$36.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.02.022
This article is reprinted from the August 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (2005; 105(8):1204-1205).
T
HIS ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL CONTAINS TWO ARTICLES related to leadership. The first describes dietetics students’ perceptions of their own skills, and found that these students believe that they demonstrate leadership in a variety of settings.1 The second article identifies competencies that are important for those holding the position of hospital foodservice director.2 The authors asked those currently working in this position and hospital executives who hire and supervise these directors about the importance of these competencies and the preparation of the registered dietitian to assume this position. Dietetics professionals were not perceived to be highly competent in some of the leadership and operations management skills that were identified as important. Although we cannot conclude that the dietetics students described in the first article will not become leaders, we do have many midlevel and senior-level dietetics professionals who are not willing or able to take leadership roles. Certainly, our academic and clinical standards address leadership knowledge and skills,3 yet it seems that our profession has many “followers” who feel underappreciated, complain about their compensation, and generally feel unhappy about their professional lives. Is this unique to our profession? This was explored in three conversations with leaders: a chief operating officer, a dean of a business school, and a dietetic intern.
CONVERSATION WITH A CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER The chief operating officer at UCSF Medical Center was asked to describe her perceptions of the leadership strengths and weaknesses of department directors (midlevel managers) in health care. She did not focus on registered dietitians or even people at UCSF Medical Center, but on experiences she has had with midlevel managers in all disciplines over the years. Her impressions of these managers were that they were good “operators,” that they were skilled at “minding the S8
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
store,” and that they were experts in their area of influence. They were good patient and employee advocates and managed crises well. However, there were areas in which she thought that midlevel managers could be stronger leaders: challenging the status quo, thinking more broadly, planning ahead, owning issues, and solving problems across disciplines. She said that leaders are not in their jobs to promote themselves. They should be easing the work lives of their employees and worrying about their employees’ well-being. They need to create an environment that encourages and opens doors for others. A strong organization has leaders who give their employees confidence to do their jobs.4 There is a delicate balance between competence and confidence, she said. It weakens people to move up the career ladder too quickly. One must always be aware of boundaries when taking risks, yet people must be willing to take risks to be leaders. They cannot be timid. Leaders need to be provocative by probing and challenging current thinking.5,6 They should not let people feel too comfortable.
CONVERSATION WITH THE DEAN OF A BUSINESS SCHOOL The dean of business administration at The Citadel (Charleston, SC) is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, received his PhD in organizational behavior and political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a White House Fellow, and taught at the military academy and several business schools before going to The Citadel. He was asked how business schools and the army create leaders who take action in crisis, especially when their decisions can result in great risk to the people they lead. His response was that they teach men and women that risk and reward go hand-in-hand. Every leadership initiative, every new opportunity carries risk, but all of us must learn to “step off the edge” into the unknown if we are to serve our society and realize our potential. Furthermore, none of us will really ever be satisfied if we do not achieve that potential. Indeed, in his view, the source of most unhappiness in the workplace is just this unwillingness to take risk and thereby achieve our potential. He recommended reading a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt about taking risks, with the caveat that the wording reflected a different world in the early part of the 20th century. “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
RESEARCH sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”7
CONVERSATION WITH A DIETETIC INTERN One of the dietetic interns at UCSF Medical Center talked about experiences she has had in her internship that fostered leadership. She developed leadership skills when she had the opportunity to make decisions on her own, when she was encouraged by preceptors to think independently, and when she was allowed to take calculated risks. She was empowered and encouraged to look at the bigger picture when she had the opportunity to discuss her experiences and give objective feedback regarding the program. Leadership development was stifled when a preceptor had only one teaching style and that involved micromanagement. We can encourage our young professionals to take risks within boundaries when preceptors give guidelines rather than dictums and allow interns to accomplish work in their own way, as long as it meets desired outcomes.
not in our work world. This voice, he says, affects our ability to find meaning in our work, our ability to become leaders. It results in a feeling of powerlessness, having little faith in our own opinions and ideas, being invisible, living in the shadow. We fill our workdays with busyness and speed, which is noticed, praised, and makes us feel self-important, but becomes so all-consuming that we do not stop and appraise what we are doing or see the bigger picture that underlies our work.8 As we talk about and plan for changes in the academic and clinical preparation of dietetics professionals, we must make sure that they are prepared to be leaders. Their educations and work lives must offer them many opportunities to become good communicators, to lead multidisciplinary groups in solving problems, to have the flexibility and freedom to question how things are done, and the willingness to take professional risks. We should recognize that if dietetics professionals are only competent, accurate, and safe in their practice but have no leadership skills, they will be part of a group of followers, not the leaders.
References 1.
Arendt SW, Gregoire MB. Dietetics students perceive themselves as leaders and report they demonstrate leadership in a variety of contexts. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:1289-1294.
2.
Gregoire MB, Sames K, Dowling RA, Lafferty LJ. Are registered dietitians adequately prepared to be hospital foodservice directors? J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:1215-1221.
3.
American Dietetic Association. CADE Accreditation Handbook. Chicago, IL: American Dietetic Association; 2002. Available at: http:// www.eatright.org/Public/Files/accreditation_handbook.pdf. Accessed May 2, 2005.
4.
Kanter RM. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End. New York, NY: Random House Business Books, Crown Business; 2004.
5.
Kanter RM. The enduring skills of change leaders. Ivey Bus J. May/June 2000. Available at: http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/view_article. asp?intArticle_ID¼216. Accessed May 2, 2005.
COMPETENCE, CONFIDENCE, AND RISK TAKING Both competence and confidence enhance our ability to take risk. Yet there are those who have these characteristics and are still afraid to make decisions, to move in new directions, or to put themselves into vulnerable positions. Do our educational processes and professional practices focus so much on accurate and safe work that we are unwilling to take risks ourselves or let our students, dietetic interns, or young staff members take risks? Are we teaching our young professionals how to solve problems, to work across disciplines, to own issues, to challenge the status quo, to create, to lead? In his book, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, David Whyte describes an inner parental voice deep inside us that tells us to stay away from the edge, to find safe work, adventure only on the weekends of life and
6.
Heifetz R. Question authority. Harv Bus Rev. January 2004;82:37.
7.
Roosevelt T. “In The Arena.” Speech given at the Sorbonne, Paris, 1910. Available at: http://hoopsu.homestead.com/motivtrarena.html. Accessed May 2, 2005.
8.
Whyte D. Crossing The Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity. New York, NY: Riverhead Books; 2001.
AUTHOR INFORMATION C. Porter is director, Department of Nutrition and Food Services, UCSF Medical Center, and associate adjunct professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of California at San Francisco. Address correspondence to: Carol Porter, PhD, RD, FADA, Department of Nutrition and Food Services, University of California, 505 Parnassus Ave, Room M-294, San Francisco, CA 94143-0212. E-mail: [email protected]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author thanks Tomi Ryba, MHA, chief operating officer, UCSF Medical Center; W. Earl Walker, PhD, dean, Business Administration, Robert A. Jolley chair, The Citadel, Charleston, SC; and Kristen Buckshi, MS, dietetic intern, UCSF Medical Center, for their thoughts and comments on this topic.
May 2014 Suppl 1 Volume 114 Number 5
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
S9
Commentary
Are We Training Leaders? Conversations with Three Leaders Carol Porter, PhD, RD, FADA ARTICLE INFORMATION
Copyright ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2212-2672/$36.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.02.022
This article is reprinted from the August 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (2005; 105(8):1204-1205).
T
HIS ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL CONTAINS TWO ARTICLES related to leadership. The first describes dietetics students’ perceptions of their own skills, and found that these students believe that they demonstrate leadership in a variety of settings.1 The second article identifies competencies that are important for those holding the position of hospital foodservice director.2 The authors asked those currently working in this position and hospital executives who hire and supervise these directors about the importance of these competencies and the preparation of the registered dietitian to assume this position. Dietetics professionals were not perceived to be highly competent in some of the leadership and operations management skills that were identified as important. Although we cannot conclude that the dietetics students described in the first article will not become leaders, we do have many midlevel and senior-level dietetics professionals who are not willing or able to take leadership roles. Certainly, our academic and clinical standards address leadership knowledge and skills,3 yet it seems that our profession has many “followers” who feel underappreciated, complain about their compensation, and generally feel unhappy about their professional lives. Is this unique to our profession? This was explored in three conversations with leaders: a chief operating officer, a dean of a business school, and a dietetic intern.
CONVERSATION WITH A CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER The chief operating officer at UCSF Medical Center was asked to describe her perceptions of the leadership strengths and weaknesses of department directors (midlevel managers) in health care. She did not focus on registered dietitians or even people at UCSF Medical Center, but on experiences she has had with midlevel managers in all disciplines over the years. Her impressions of these managers were that they were good “operators,” that they were skilled at “minding the S8
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
store,” and that they were experts in their area of influence. They were good patient and employee advocates and managed crises well. However, there were areas in which she thought that midlevel managers could be stronger leaders: challenging the status quo, thinking more broadly, planning ahead, owning issues, and solving problems across disciplines. She said that leaders are not in their jobs to promote themselves. They should be easing the work lives of their employees and worrying about their employees’ well-being. They need to create an environment that encourages and opens doors for others. A strong organization has leaders who give their employees confidence to do their jobs.4 There is a delicate balance between competence and confidence, she said. It weakens people to move up the career ladder too quickly. One must always be aware of boundaries when taking risks, yet people must be willing to take risks to be leaders. They cannot be timid. Leaders need to be provocative by probing and challenging current thinking.5,6 They should not let people feel too comfortable.
CONVERSATION WITH THE DEAN OF A BUSINESS SCHOOL The dean of business administration at The Citadel (Charleston, SC) is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, received his PhD in organizational behavior and political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a White House Fellow, and taught at the military academy and several business schools before going to The Citadel. He was asked how business schools and the army create leaders who take action in crisis, especially when their decisions can result in great risk to the people they lead. His response was that they teach men and women that risk and reward go hand-in-hand. Every leadership initiative, every new opportunity carries risk, but all of us must learn to “step off the edge” into the unknown if we are to serve our society and realize our potential. Furthermore, none of us will really ever be satisfied if we do not achieve that potential. Indeed, in his view, the source of most unhappiness in the workplace is just this unwillingness to take risk and thereby achieve our potential. He recommended reading a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt about taking risks, with the caveat that the wording reflected a different world in the early part of the 20th century. “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and ª 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
RESEARCH sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”7
CONVERSATION WITH A DIETETIC INTERN One of the dietetic interns at UCSF Medical Center talked about experiences she has had in her internship that fostered leadership. She developed leadership skills when she had the opportunity to make decisions on her own, when she was encouraged by preceptors to think independently, and when she was allowed to take calculated risks. She was empowered and encouraged to look at the bigger picture when she had the opportunity to discuss her experiences and give objective feedback regarding the program. Leadership development was stifled when a preceptor had only one teaching style and that involved micromanagement. We can encourage our young professionals to take risks within boundaries when preceptors give guidelines rather than dictums and allow interns to accomplish work in their own way, as long as it meets desired outcomes.
not in our work world. This voice, he says, affects our ability to find meaning in our work, our ability to become leaders. It results in a feeling of powerlessness, having little faith in our own opinions and ideas, being invisible, living in the shadow. We fill our workdays with busyness and speed, which is noticed, praised, and makes us feel self-important, but becomes so all-consuming that we do not stop and appraise what we are doing or see the bigger picture that underlies our work.8 As we talk about and plan for changes in the academic and clinical preparation of dietetics professionals, we must make sure that they are prepared to be leaders. Their educations and work lives must offer them many opportunities to become good communicators, to lead multidisciplinary groups in solving problems, to have the flexibility and freedom to question how things are done, and the willingness to take professional risks. We should recognize that if dietetics professionals are only competent, accurate, and safe in their practice but have no leadership skills, they will be part of a group of followers, not the leaders.
References 1.
Arendt SW, Gregoire MB. Dietetics students perceive themselves as leaders and report they demonstrate leadership in a variety of contexts. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:1289-1294.
2.
Gregoire MB, Sames K, Dowling RA, Lafferty LJ. Are registered dietitians adequately prepared to be hospital foodservice directors? J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:1215-1221.
3.
American Dietetic Association. CADE Accreditation Handbook. Chicago, IL: American Dietetic Association; 2002. Available at: http:// www.eatright.org/Public/Files/accreditation_handbook.pdf. Accessed May 2, 2005.
4.
Kanter RM. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End. New York, NY: Random House Business Books, Crown Business; 2004.
5.
Kanter RM. The enduring skills of change leaders. Ivey Bus J. May/June 2000. Available at: http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/view_article. asp?intArticle_ID¼216. Accessed May 2, 2005.
COMPETENCE, CONFIDENCE, AND RISK TAKING Both competence and confidence enhance our ability to take risk. Yet there are those who have these characteristics and are still afraid to make decisions, to move in new directions, or to put themselves into vulnerable positions. Do our educational processes and professional practices focus so much on accurate and safe work that we are unwilling to take risks ourselves or let our students, dietetic interns, or young staff members take risks? Are we teaching our young professionals how to solve problems, to work across disciplines, to own issues, to challenge the status quo, to create, to lead? In his book, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, David Whyte describes an inner parental voice deep inside us that tells us to stay away from the edge, to find safe work, adventure only on the weekends of life and
6.
Heifetz R. Question authority. Harv Bus Rev. January 2004;82:37.
7.
Roosevelt T. “In The Arena.” Speech given at the Sorbonne, Paris, 1910. Available at: http://hoopsu.homestead.com/motivtrarena.html. Accessed May 2, 2005.
8.
Whyte D. Crossing The Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity. New York, NY: Riverhead Books; 2001.
AUTHOR INFORMATION C. Porter is director, Department of Nutrition and Food Services, UCSF Medical Center, and associate adjunct professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of California at San Francisco. Address correspondence to: Carol Porter, PhD, RD, FADA, Department of Nutrition and Food Services, University of California, 505 Parnassus Ave, Room M-294, San Francisco, CA 94143-0212. E-mail: [email protected]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author thanks Tomi Ryba, MHA, chief operating officer, UCSF Medical Center; W. Earl Walker, PhD, dean, Business Administration, Robert A. Jolley chair, The Citadel, Charleston, SC; and Kristen Buckshi, MS, dietetic intern, UCSF Medical Center, for their thoughts and comments on this topic.
May 2014 Suppl 1 Volume 114 Number 5
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
S9
