A500.1.5.RB_WilsonLindsey
When I was young I felt that a leader was the person
who stood on a stage and gave speeches. To me this individual had somehow
managed to obtain this authority without having to ask permission; they just
took it. At the school assemblies the principal never asked for permission to
talk to the student body. The pastor at church needed no introduction to start
giving the sermon to the congregation, and in other formal events it was
usually a subordinate that introduced the person who would ultimately be given
the power of the podium and microphone. In my naïve mind leaders were just
lucky people that were given a job where they talked to large groups of people.
I now know that leadership is so much
more than giving speeches, and through experience I’ve learned that any skill
or ability must be carefully studied and practiced, hence why I’ve started this
educational journey in leadership.
In the first week of class my perception of
leadership has already been challenged, especially when given the task of looking
at leadership in the context of intellectual perseverance and critical
thinking. Nosich states, “Critical thinking is different
from just thinking. It is metacognitive – it involves thinking about your
thinking.” (Nosich, 2012). In other words, as a leader critical thinking goes
beyond finding a solution to a problem and inputting the answer. It means
taking a critical look at one’s own thought process to become a better leader. I would define intellectual perseverance as
the need to struggle with a concept or problem in order to gain deeper
understanding through critical thinking. (Valuable Intellectual Traits,
2014)
In other words, a leader is not someone who just finds a solution to a problem.
A leader needs to struggle to gain
deeper understanding, which goes beyond solution based thinking. This need also
implies an element of passion and through this passion the leader is able to
overcome obstacles and persevere. For example, the Wright brothers showed intellectual
perseverance because they had the dream that one day they could make man fly.
Despite public skepticism and failed experiments they continued to study the
mechanics of flight to achieve their goal. Finally, in December of 1903 the
Wright brothers proved to the world that man could fly. When I started to think
more about intellectual perseverance with respect to leadership Robert Frost’s
poem “The Road Not Taken” came to mind.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
(Frost, 1967, p.105).
A
leader with intellectual perseverance is like the man standing in front of two
roads. A good leader has the need to
self-reflect and to know what they do not know; to have the fortitude to walk
down the path less traveled in order to grow and develop as a leader.
How will this intellectual perseverance be important
in the progress of my studies? My gut response to this is: we’ll find out.
However, right away I realize the irony that I have just committed a fallacy by
avoiding the question. Why? After reflecting on fallacies I asked myself why I
use them so much, and why are they so prevalent in our daily conversations with
serious matters. I’ve come to the conclusion that fallacies are the mind’s
excuses to not use critical thinking for fear that we will struggle with our
own solutions. In other words we do not want to intellectually persevere because
we might discover our own short comings. As a learner and a leader I will have
to face my fears and show intellectual humility in order to become more practiced
at critical thinking and show intellectual perseverance. I’m beginning to
realize how little time I use critical thinking, and as a leader I will have to
actively pursue knowledge in its pure form vs. finding solutions and facts.
However, I feel that by acknowledging my fallacy and applying some critical
thinking to the issue I have already taken a step in the long road towards intellectual
perseverance. Through this, my understanding of a leader is morphing into
someone who is more of a scholar vs. a person with a microphone and podium.
Bibliography
Fieser, J. & Dowden, B. (Eds). (2003). Fallacies. In Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to Think Things Through A Guide to Critical Thinking across the Curriculum. Boston: Pearson.
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