The Prez at EKU

Great leadership impacts the moral focus of those who follow, it also inspires a new vision, stimulates intellectual capacity, and supports every individual in the Organization. This leadership is vital in 2015 because as we move into an age of social media, where every little thing we do is visible for everyone to see, we need to ensure, more than ever, that we have the type of leader that makes the correct decision, the first time, and thinks before they act. As with my first blog, once again I am going to draw on a keynote speech that was delivered at the OCCCIO conference at Fanshawe College in London Ontario. Scott Stratten, president of Unmarketing, spoke about the power and perils of social media and I was especially interested in his commentary about Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) president Michael T. Benson and how devoted he was to his student’s success. Scott spoke about how students could be classified as either ecstatic and extremely happy to be in school or static, meaning they were really just in school because they had to be. So the question was how do we get students from being static to ecstatic. While it all starts at the top and surprisingly enough it can be the little things sprinkled with a little social media magic that get the job done. 

The story about EKU president Michael Benson starts off with a tweet from one of the school’s students challenging the president to come and shovel his driveway so he could make it to class. It turns out they had a fairly big snow storm but the school had decided that there would still be classes the following day and this didn’t sit well with some of the students who wanted a snow day. So EKU student Devan Dannelly tweeted the president “Yo @EKUPrez come shovel my driveway/road and I’ll come to class tomorrow…deal????” (Dannelly, 2015a). Seven minutes later Devan gets a reply “@DADannelly11 it’s a deal. What’s your address?” (Benson, 2015a). Less than two hours later the driveway is shoveled and a before and after picture is tweeted with “A deal is a deal…Expect to see you in class tomorrow!” (Benson, 2015b). 

And what effect does something like this little gesture have? “I will literally never complain about going to class again” (Dannelly, 2015b) and “I’m going to ask Obama to come wash my car next week” (Dannelly, 2015c). The first thing that drew my attention to this story was just how fast Michael responded to Devan’s original tweet. Just 7 minutes! Here is a president who clearly has his finger on the pulse of his school and after hearing many stories of famous people making career ending mistakes on social media this is certainly a different side and a shining example of what this tool is capable of. However, there is clearly a caveat here and while it pains me to quote a comic book it’s just unavoidable. “With great power there must also come great responsibility” (Lee, 2015). 

So what type of leadership traits are a requirement for using social media? Well, they have to be intelligent and know what to say and when to say it. More importantly they need to know what not to say. Michael Benson could have responded negatively to the tweet but just what would that get him? They also have to be sociable, motivational and possess a ton of confidence in their ability. How many people do you know that would take the effort to shovel an entire driveway just to get one kid to go to school? If you think it’s a one-off sham then think again. Michael’s Twitter feed is filled with daily updates and many similar examples of selflessness that point to him being a magnificent leader. One such example is a student who couldn’t make her graduation ceremony due to competing for her school in the track and field championships. Her friends tweeted the president, who had just overseen 5 ceremonies the past couple days. After confirming a few details, Michael Benson showed up at her makeshift ceremony and conferred the degree to her. (ForeverColonels, 2015) 

I challenge anyone to read some of the tweets from @EKUPrez and come away without feeling truly inspired. This is the type of leadership that is vital in 2015 and beyond, especially in the field of education. Michael Benson’s has a transformational leadership style, he leads by example, walks the walk and affects not only individuals and social systems but empowers his followers to become leaders themselves (Burns, 1978).  The vast number of positive feedback on his twitter account strongly suggests that his students love him, feel inspired by him and are changed for the better by being around him. He has clearly shown that he cares for the well being of his students and his actions are innovative and creative.  I only wish that I had great leaders such as this when I was at school, but I will remember, imitation is the highest form of flattery!

References

Benson, M. [EKUPrez]. (2015a, February 17). @DADannelly11 it's a deal. What's your address? [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/EKUPrez/status/567785526309453824

Benson, M. [EKUPrez]. (2015a, February 17). A deal is a deal. Before & after at the driveway of @DADannelly11 Expect to see you in class tomorrow!  [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/EKUPrez/status/567804983064936450

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper and Row.

Dannelly, D. [Captain_D11]. (2015a, February 17). Yo @EKUPrez come shovel my driveway/road and I'll come to class tomorrow... deal??? [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/Captain_D11/status/567783643226316800

Dannelly, D. [Captain_D11]. (2015b, February 17). I will literally never complain about going to class again. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/Captain_D11/status/567814536586334209

Dannelly, D. [Captain_D11]. (2015c, February 18). I'm going to ask Obama to come wash my car next week. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/Captain_D11/status/568156557827035136

ForeverColonels [EKUStories]. (2015, May 18). A special, private commencement to remember thanks to @EKUPrez https://storify.com/EKU/a-special-commencement … #HigherEd #EKUGrad. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/EKUStories/status/600281534801797122

Lee, S. (2015). Wikiquote. Retrieved 02:02, May 23, 2015 from http://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Stan_Lee&oldid=1942117