The president of Virginia
Problems
From the cases provided, we can identify various problems. In 2010, Teresa Sullivan becomes the UVA’s first female president. First, Sullivan had never before served as a university. She had also never had the responsibility of raising money and also reporting to the board of directors. According to Patricia Sellers, a reporter at Fortune, Sullivan was unspectacular when it comes to funding raising. The main problem in the case study provided is a lack of trust from the board members of the UVA on the leadership of Sullivan. Lack of trust in the leadership provided by Sullivan was due to an increasing number of significant events that occurred during her leadership. During her leadership, a student was murdered and also the rolling stone published an article about an alleged gang rape on campus. A student named Hannah Graham’s won’t be missing in2015. There were also cases reported about gang rape, which occurred at the UVA’s fraternity houses. According to the article by the Rolling Stone, the UVA fostered a culture of rape and that the gang of rape was part of an initiation ritual and the university officials had actively to hide all the rape cases that occurred in the fraternity houses. There were also cases related to race that occurred in the school compound. There was a student named Martese Johnson who was injured on the head with a white Alcoholic Beverage Control Police while being arrested outside a bar.
Causes of the problem
The main cause of the problems stated in the case study is the inability of Sullivan to lead the university in the right way. She had never been a president of a university before. De had also never performed some of the roles assigned to her. For instance, she had never been responsible for raising money. She had never reported to a board of directors and also never. Another problem was the difference in the way things were handled by Sullivan and the other members of the board. Sullivan believed that a sustainable leader is one that builds a team and leads it collaboratively, thus bringing a desire to solve problems. The board members felt that that was not the right trait for the president of the university.
Recommendations
The following are the various steps that can be undertaken to help solve the problems stated in the case study. Teresa Sullivan should approach the previous president of the university to get some of the information that may be helpful to her. She may learn new techniques and strategies that were used by Jon Casteen to ensure she performs better during fundraising and when reporting to the board. Both Sullivan and board members should work together and understand each other’s ways of leadership.
Reply
What essential qualities must Sullivan possess to be a successful leader? Sullivan needs to be decisive. She needs to show consistency with her decisions, without changing her mind, unless it is necessary. By being decisive, it indicates how committed she is in playing her roles. Being courageous and passionate about being a leader is important. It allows her to work harder and deliver as required.
What are the main challenges the leaders face when performing their duties? There are activist challenges whereby a group’s values and principles fail to reflect the reality of choices made or the systems in place. Leadership development challenge occurs when a group has untapped potential that is simply not yet developed. The challenges may occur in staffing models. Another challenge that most leaders face is the transition challenge. It may be hard to help a cluster unload its present beliefs and ethics to hold an original set of notions that can progress enactment.
Reference