2011 USAP Forum Welcome Address: Marichal Gentry
The Welcome Address at the 2011 Forum was given by Marichal Gentry, the Dean of Student Affairs and Associate Dean of Yale College.
Learn more about Marichal Gentry.
Below is a copy of the speech he gave to open the USAP forum at Yale University.
United States Student Achievers Program Forum
"Envisioning the Future: USAP Dreams Global"
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Thanks for inviting me to participate in this year's United States Student Achievers Program forum. On behalf of my colleagues in Yale College, I extend to you a warm welcome. We are extremely glad that you are here. I am humbled to have been asked to welcome you to Yale University and to say a few words in my capacity as Dean of Student Affairs. Yemu ([Mangwendeza], Yale College, Class of 2013), you honor me by asking me to speak to the USAP administrators and students who were able to attend this year's forum.
I begin by offering a word of praise and admiration for the vision of Rebecca Zeigler Mano. Now here's someone who saw a global need, stepped in, and is helping change the world and how we think about it--ONE student at a time. You, and the many educational advisors, directors and officers in admissions offices, directors of international student and scholar programs, and many others affiliated with USAP are to be commended for envisioning and nurturing a program that provides access to higher education for determined and bright youth.
I also take my hat off to you, students, who are affiliated with this program. I read (on the USAP website) that there currently are more than 100 USAP students from around the world, and you all have amazing stories, like, for example, Felix (Gondwe) from Malawi. Felix, a current student at St. Lawrence University, dreams to use the information that he is learning as a computer science and economics major to implement something that will positively impact his family, community, and country. Felix has said that "living is connected to giving." Before arriving in the US, he used his talents to volunteer as a teacher at an orphanage, where it is written that he "reached out to the children there with a vivid voice of love, faith, and hope." Felix wants to be part of the solution to the world's problems, and that means going the extra mile to help try to heal all that ails the world.
Then I read about a young lady by the name of Ife (Arinze), a student at Mt. Holyoke College
who hails from Nigeria. I initially was drawn to Ife's story because she is a gospel DJ for her college radio station. So was I. I love gospel music!
As I read more about her story, I learned that Ife already is making a mark in the world by "serving as a mentor to a high school student who is involved in a project for abused women, and plans to put her ambitions to work by returning to Nigeria one day and establish a foundation that sponsors the education of fatherless children."
And then there is Lennox (Chitsike), described as a young man who pulled himself up by the boot straps from being a country boy in Zimbabwe to being a student at Hamilton College. Lennox enjoys writing and "writes fervently about being resilient and passionate." Lennox is a dreamer, yes, but he also is defined by many as a winner.
I say you all are winners.
The theme that you have chosen, "Envisioning the Future: USAP Dreams Global" fits perfectly into what I'd like to say about dreams, about passions, about perseverance, about service, and most importantly, about leadership, and the mighty impact that you can have simply by dreaming big and acting on your instincts.
The best and brightest leaders always look toward and beyond the horizon. They envision the future with a positive outlook. My college basketball coach always said, "Without the dream, the people perish." While initially I did not understand what he meant, I learned to understand that my basketball coach wasn't referring to basketball when he would say this. What he was saying to my teammates and me and what I offer to you is this: That the mission of your life's journey should consist of big dreams, what ifs, and images of all the possibilities that will improve, invigorate, and make a difference in yours and the lives of others. It's difficult to realize your full potential without having a vision or a dream. The most successful people in leadership positions always have a clear vision of how things should be and are able to communicate that vision to others, and then are able to get others to work together toward achieving the vision. I urge you to continue keeping this in mind as you pursue your goals.
I base a lot of my leadership style on the wise teachings of Warren Bennis, an expert on leadership. He writes in his book, entitled, On Becoming a Leader, that "leaders are people who are able to express themselves fully…They also know what they want, why they want it, and how to communicate what they want to others, in order to gain their cooperation and support."
This does not mean that leaders should place themselves in lofty positions where they become incapable of listening or negotiating the details of the vision to other. Quite the contrary; it means that leaders should always listen carefully to others and be flexible to others' opinions. If your vision is on target, then the points representing the "big picture" to your vision won't be lost.
Effective leaders also are passionate about the cause they are promoting. They get others energized and worked up by convincing them that the impossible is possible. Great leaders always take the first step. When I speak of the term passionate as a quality that a leader must possess, I am speaking about passion that is sincere and deeply felt, and is not self-absorbed. When someone is passionate about something, others are able to sense and feel it. A leader's sincere passion about any matter can penetrate the very core of those who are listening, and can motivate others to do things far beyond their imagination. A leader that is passionate about his/her idea displays a commitment that goes beyond his/her own self-gratification. They also want others to share in their enthusiasm.
Effective leaders must have a philosophy and must lead with honesty and integrity. Leaders are clear about their personal values and beliefs. They keep people and projects on tasks by remaining consistent in their beliefs and values and by modeling how they expect others to perform. The best leaders build credibility by maintaining consistency between their words and their deeds.
Leadership also requires a great deal of perseverance. Good leaders learn from their failures, and when they fail, they always get up and try again, sometimes in a much different way. Effective leaders make a commitment to become lifelong learners, and when things don't turn out as planned, they use their gift of common sense and intuition to know when it's time to try a different approach. Good leaders also understand that team members also will fail and that they cannot penalize their failure, but find ways to re-educate and re-focus them so that they keep mistakes at a minimum. Penalizing failure often creates an atmosphere where team members become unwilling to take the initiative.
I also believe that every great leader always has a great mentor or mentors that have been influential and have touched and cared about you personally. I hope that each of you has found people that you can call mentors. Great mentors care about who you are and what you might become, about what you did and how well you did it. Mentors encourage you to take it to the next level.
Mentors come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. That special person may be a professor, a dean, a coach, a parent or a fellow student. If that person does not listen, guide, support, nurture, say gentle words of encouragement, or tough words of love, then your mentor is not serving you in the best way possible.
Never underestimate the importance of mentors in your lives. Mentors affirm that you are valuable to society and to the lives of others. Mentors often inspire and motivate you during critical phases in your lives.
The most important sustaining memories that I took away from my college experience resulted from the frequent contact from my mentors. Even though I did not realize the full meaning of their contributions until later in my professional life, my mentors opened up a whole world of knowledge for me then, and they still do even now.
A man by the name of Mr. Benjamin became my mentor in college. He continues to be one of my mentors today. He is one of the first people that I ever have identified as a mentor outside of members of my biological and church families. A tall, distinguished African American man who maintains a thick gray and black beard and who wears reading glasses that rest on the tip of his nose, Mr. Benjamin taught me how to recognize my talents, as well as how to demand of myself a high standard of excellence. Mr. Benjamin did not ever offer to teach me to be like him or anyone else. He never once has spoken to me about making a living. Rather, he taught me how to make a life. He pushed me to tap into my own personal resources that I never thought I had. His gift to me was that he ministered to my spirit—he helped me to learn to think for myself. As a result, my life changed forever.
All that I have consumed from the wisdom of my mentors, I now share with others. I've heard it called paying it forward. I challenge you as leaders of the present and of the future to do the same. Do not pass on any opportunity to make an impact and to shape the lives of people who crave your knowledge and wisdom. We desperately need each of you to be a mentor to others.
What does the emerging future leader of the professional workforce look like? What are some of the skills one must posses to be effective and successful in this multimedia, technology-driven world?
First of all, I believe that the leaders of the future must be more flexible, with a broader variety of experiences. For most people in our global society, the days of an individual's rise to the top with the knowledge of one single discipline are over. Leaders must ensure that they have a cross (multi)-disciplinary background, as this is necessary to address the complexities of an ever-changing world.
The leaders of the future also must view the ceremonial functions of being heads of organizations as necessary, and not a trivial one that must be endured. Leaders who fail to recognize the importance of being visible and accessible limit and restrict their ability to lead through knowledge and personal influence. We have moved into an era when people demand that heads of organizations be visible and accessible. More than ever, team members want to be able to hear what the leader has to say about the vision and the direction of the organization.
While the workforce has become more diverse, society has not always embraced or accepted many of the templates that have been developed with respect to eliminating racism, bigotry, discrimination, gender inequities, or religious intolerance in the workforce. In many ways, this has tended to reinforce the status quo.
In order to eliminate these social ills, leaders of the future must have value systems sufficiently expansive and flexible to accommodate socioeconomic dynamics and a rapidly changing world. Leaders of the future must be able to embrace the ever-changing workforce and utilize it in socially beneficial ways. In other words, leaders must fashion higher standards of social concern than have been exhibited by leaders of the past. This type of leadership consists of endorsing social values that will positively affect the workplace and society as a whole. Attention to these issues, I believe, is essential to successful leadership.
So I'll end by saying this: I hope you will effectively use the time that you'll have in this forum to develop and nurture the thoughts and plans you have for envisioning a brighter future for humanity, for the people in your native land, for your family, and for yourself. Yale welcomes you with open arms to think on these things. Thank you for allowing me to share this moment with you, and may your heart always be open to receive abundant blessings.
Reference:
Bennis, Warren. On Becoming a Leader. Basic Books, (1989).
United States Student Achievers Program Website