Thursday, August 09, 2007

Students share world-wide perspective on leadership

Takeshi Hatakeyama, local national human resources professional from Japan, shares his thoughts with Kari Layman, an engineer specialist with the St. Paul District of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, during the Civilian Education System Intermediate Course at Army Management Staff College.

“An effective leader is caring, enthusiastic and communicates a positive vision for the future.”

These are the thoughts of Takeshi Hatakeyama, a graduate of the Army Management Staff College Civilian Education System Intermediate Course Class 07-5, who completed the program July 27.

Hatakeyama is a national human resources professional from Japan - affectionately known as “T.K.” to his classmates. He traveled 6,781 miles to Fort Belvoir, to take part in the three-week resident phase of the CES Intermediate Course.

Hatakeyama enjoyed the course, and upon graduation said, “I learned about the big Army and the civilians and Soldiers who support it. I haven’t seen the big picture throughout my 13-year career - it was a great eye-opener. Most of all, I learned about myself. I started thinking about who I am and where I’m heading.”

Hatakeyama and his 13 student colleagues formed a bond, and together, they shared their perspectives on leadership, problem-solving, ethical decision-making and organizational diagnosis, among other topics. In doing so, they used their collective 259 years of leadership experience as a point of departure for their studies - along the way learning about themselves, the U.S. Army, and the ëways and means’ others have used to meet Army mission requirements.

During a student discussion on leaders and leadership, each member of Seminar 2 was asked to consider the question, “Are leaders born or made?” There was lively debate and thoughtful outlooks, and Hatakeyama and Kari Layman, an engineer specialist with the St. Paul District of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, were teamed to “consider the possibilities” of ënature vs. nurture.’ Students presented their own outlooks and compared and contrasted them with the U.S. Army’s “Army Leadership Requirements Model” and its competency-based leadership philosophy. In the end, their own perspectives were moving - bringing emotional vibrancy to the academic discussions.

Hatakeyama chose to express his feelings and thoughts in his native calligraphy and explained its significance to the seminar.

According to Hatakeyama, leaders are “born with the seed, but their skills need to be nurtured.”

His views were unique yet also representative of others, such as Warren Bennis, the author of “On Becoming a Leader.”

Bennis, who interviewed leaders for the book, found “- all agree that leaders are made, not born, and made more by themselves than by any external means.”

Leaders also set out to express themselves freely and fully - not necessarily to herald their leadership to all who would hear, according to Bennis.

The students aren’t any different.

Just like Bennis stated, Hatakeyama and the students intended to express themselves freely and fully through pictures, metaphors and writing that was unique to themselves and their worlds.