Dear Chancellor Wrighton,
This past semester I, Jack J. Sun, studied a course titled “Bad Leadership”. As its name implies, the course highlights the negative side of leadership. We explored failures in leadership through a variety of fields, such as business, politics, and education. The class has allowed me to see leadership from new perspectives.
One of the fundamental questions in the class is the definition of leadership. What is good leadership? What is bad leadership? There is no definitive answer; everyone in the class held unique positions to the question. I define good leadership as the process in which leaders harness the desires of their followers in order to reach a commonly desired goal. Bad leadership is a failure to reach that goal.
The course has shown me various ways in which bad leadership occurs; in other words, there are many ways in which a group fails to accomplish their objective. For example, leaders may suffer from the effects of narcissism, incompetence, or intemperance. Any of these traits can hamper a group from reaching its goals. Additionally, there are many ethical issues that leaders should consider in guiding their groups. For instance, leaders should consider how their actions affect the people who are not explicitly in the group. This phenomenon is the most interesting concept I learned in the course. It is often too easy for leaders to neglect the well being of non-members.
Thus, I recommend you to avoid practicing insular leadership. When making future decisions, consider how it will affect the larger community of St. Louis, of Missouri, or the United States. Stay classy, Chancellor Wrighton.
Sincerely,
Jack Sun
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