Home - Dr. Patrick R. Turner, EdD.


Program Outcome: Develop as a Person, Scholar, and Leader

Narrative and Reflection

Francis Xavier Regan, NYPD Commissioner from Blue Bloods, and Josiah Edward Bartlet, a.k.a. Jed, President of the United States from West Wing have long been my  idols and leadership models. Their selfless servant minded manner inspires traits I strive emulating. Dispatching wisdom, compassion, and sternly principled ethics, clearly inspired by a Christ-like-life; while being human enough as worthy models, knowing admitting mistakes is proper. "I don't care who is right, I want to do what is right" has been one of my motto's for a very long time.

The DCCL program is absolutely helping me grow as a person, scholar, and leader through examples provided by faculty, guest speakers, program staff, and course content, readings, theories, and assignments. From Foundations of Effective Leadership learning about leadership characteristics, effectiveness, and limitations to Leadership for Teaching and Learning providing benchmarks for comparison, best practices, and describing realities faculty face while striving to engage, inspire, transform, and help students grow (Smith, 2019). 

DCCL program classes adding journeyman tools to my community college leader arsenal include Marketing and Community Engagement, Resource Development, Leveraging Human Resources, Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, Managing Financial Resources, and Policy and Governance together filled in gaps of knowledge and leadership best practices making me a better, more well-rounded community college leader.

Most influencing my scholarly growth is our Leading Organizational Transformation and Cultural Change class. First, Dr. Goben's insistence on scholarly writing, with equally important guidance from Dr. Tracy Russo, my Dissertation Chair, is transforming my writing and allowing me to find my academic or scholarly voice. I now read and write with different eyes. Second, DCCL's entire program framework provides ongoing guidance regarding scholarly research searches, proper reference citation, differentiating opinion from scholarly objective support, and properly applying rigorous qualitative and quantitative methods; all improve my scholarly credibility as an academic and leader.

Regarding growth as a person and leader, what I have learned about myself, while striving and believing myself a principle-centered servant leader, is I tend toward managing rather than leading. My methods are transactional when much more emphasis on relationship building is clearly needed. My analytical mind and manner stifles bonds created by trust-based interpersonal relationship development. Going forward, my objective directness must give-way to caring, empowering, engagement, compassion, and inclusion (Shugart, 2013). Relationship-based leadership will help me be more intentional and effective incorporating inclusion, equity, and justice into my leadership portfolio (Rock  & Grant, 2016).

Leaders must know who they are and have a defined set of values or principals by which they lead; a principled leader is not swayed by circumstance, emotion, or with time. Leaders who use such principals for every decision and discussion soon transform them into a lens through which they view the world (Irving, 2019).  My technical and management skills are honed razor sharp and ready for the second enlightenment (Smyre, 2016), but are worthless as a leader if I do not develop the eight C's, namely, coordination, cooperation, compromise, consistency, communication, coherence, congeniality, and commitment. A leader who can engender these in their constituents can’t, in my opinion, fail. This is the leader I strive to be.

Literature

Shugart, S. C. (2013). Leadership in the Crucible of Work: Discovering the Interior Life of an Authentic Leader. Maitland, FL: Florida Hospital. ISBN-13: 978-0983988199

Rock, D. & Grant, H., (2016). Why diverse teams are smarter. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter

Smyre, R., & Richardson, N. (2016). Preparing for a world doesn’t exist – yet: Framing a second enlightenment to create communities of the future. ISBN-13: 978-1785354519.

Irving, M. [Doctorate in Community College Leadership] (2019, October 8). DCCL: IDSL 830 Interview: Dr. Merrill Irving [Video File]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=IF9xL6CheJE&feature=youtu.be

Smith, J. [Doctorate in Community College Leadership]. (2019, Oct 23). DCCL: IDSL 830 interview j smith [Video File]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxlP8PLioGQ&feature=emb_logo
 
Evidence
1.) I selected my capstone project for our Leading Organizational Transformation and Cultural Change class as it is our last class of DCCL's program and giving me a final opportunity for casting all I have learned about various facets of community college leadership; correlating all those concepts in this, my seminal, DCCL leadership work.  
PO8E1-201121-Turner-Transformational Change Capstone Project-IDSL830-Final v2.pdf
 
2.) In 2017 I was invited to speak on leadership at a user's group for our student information system, Ellucian Colleague, called the Great Lakes User's Group.  I have selected this presentation titled, Leadership, Workplace Engagement & Key Skills for Driving Change as it shows my professional experience and position on how to develop leadership characteristics and methods.  Much of the principals I espouse therein I continue to believe and value. However, I have augmented my position as described in my above narrative.
PO8E2-170925 - 2017 GLUG Presentation by Turner v2.pdf
References
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