Ron Carruci and Tom Ryan have joined to write a new book on leadership based out of the writings from MHGS students. The writings came out of the MHGS leadership class that Ron and Tom taught. Below is an excerpt from the text, which is now available.

In the Spring of 2008–amidst dreary, overcast Seattle skies–forty students, representing all three degree tracks, gathered together for the first in a series of three courses in our Leadership curriculum. Our primary focus for the course was on making them more aware of the strengths and liabilities they bring to leadership (Leadership 1). In subsequent semesters they would continue their work by examining their proclivities and behaviors while working with teams (Leadership 2), and learning how to facilitate broad systemic change in organizations (Leadership 3). Since this first course asked them to wrestle with their own particularities as leaders, many of the discussions and much of the content focused on their previous experiences or conceptions of leadership and both the problems and promises of those experiences. The format was highly interactive and provided a great deal of space for testing, and reflecting on test results. We spent three days together wrestling through the harm of their leadership experiences and wondering about ways to lead that would embody a more compassionate, holistic approach and that would honor the cacophony of voices in the room.

Prior to the course beginning we asked students to submit a one- to two-page essay chronicling their experience in leadership, and to keep a journal about a particular leader of their choice for one month. The hope in this pre-class assignment was twofold: first, we wanted to hone their attention on what they value in leaders and what shapes their expectations of those leaders. Secondly, as teachers we make a concerted effort to tailor our course around some of the specific leadership questions and concerns in the room. For a generation of leaders who feels largely neglected and overlooked because they value different things from their leaders, it was crucial to us that they hear the weight of their own experiences and be forced to wrestle with them with integrity.

During the week leading up to class, we communicated often with each other about our impressions from the course essays, and we were overwhelmed with the amount of cynicism, betrayal, and contempt our students had both received and dealt as leaders. We had a hunch that our group was suspicious of anything having to do with leadership, but the realities of our students’ stories and words were dark and heavy.

In response we felt that the final course assignment needed to be different than most. Rather than asking our students to simply recap their learning through a paper or recite how they had been influenced by the material, we felt that it was crucial to their development to make their stories count in a way that they hadn’t before. So we asked them to write “Leadership Stories from the Future,” essays that are both reflections of where they’ve been as leaders and earnest hopes for change in how leadership is done. Our hope was to get them thinking generatively and positively toward a future of leadership to which they could truly and passionately give their lives, and one which kept them from sinking into an abyss of leadership disillusionment.”

Tom is a 2007 graduate of MHGS with a Master’s of Divinity, and currently serves as one of the school’s teaching assistants. He also writes on his personal blog, No Direction Home.