Perspectives on Leadership by Matt Dunlap, 2009 Henry Toll Fellow

Leadership is not power. These two manifestations of action are Oregon State softball player hit a home run in a game in 2008 often confused. The use of power—and the access to it—is a against Central Washington University, while rounding the bases dangerous narcotic that once employed is difficult for the most she tore ligaments in her knee and could not proceed. The home restrained mind to fully control. It is the intemperate use of power run would not count if she couldn’t tag the bases, and the rules that brings down the best among us. prohibited assistance from her teammates. Power comes not from the ascendency to leadership, but rather it emanates from the smallest places in our society. Power comes to a leader with one simple caveat—consent. For example, members of an assembly consent to give one person the responsibility to “Power comes not from the ascendency shepherd their business for them—thus the power of the speaker to leadership, but rather it emanates is bestowed—to get things done and protect both the will of the majority and the rights of the minority. from the smallest places in our society.” The use of power—such as in the context above—is an act of leader- ship. And ultimately, leadership is not a key position in government or industry. Leadership is an act. But the rules said nothing about assistance from the opposing team In his novella Typhoon, Joseph Conrad relates the story of how the assisting her. In an act that made national news, Central Washing- commander of the ship, the Nan-Shan, loses his composure in a ton University players carried their opponent around the bases terrifying storm—and how the ship is ultimately saved by the courage to a successful score. Their example stands as an act of collective of the first mate. This recurring theme of Conrad’s—how ordinary leadership. people react differently to moments of crisis regardless of their social At The Council of State Governments’ Toll Fellowship, individuals in or professional station—is a valuable illustration in the study of positions of great personal responsibility work in a closed setting to leadership. learn about themselves as leaders—and how those acts of leadership In the 1980s, a middle school student from Manchester, , are amplified when individuals work together as a greater body to studying current events became concerned about the deteriorat- leverage their common interests. ing relationship between the and the . If one looks carefully, these small acts of leadership and leadership Addressing her concerns, she wrote a letter to the head of the in cooperative efforts can be seen all around us. Girl Scout troops, Soviet government, , and asked the simple question historical societies, school boards and legislatures, among myriad about why the Russians may want to destroy the United States. That other examples, buzz with the work of people stepping forward to letter and Andropov’s humane response to it, which included an make their communities better and stronger. That is the power of invitation for the student and her family to visit the Soviet Union— small acts of leadership. propelled Samantha Smith to international fame. Hers was a bold act of leadership, no less than any celebrated act of John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln or any other recognized leader in our society. Leadership is often celebrated as a solitary act of courage, such About the Author as Smith’s, or that of another famous Mainer named Smith, Sen. Matt Dunlap—2009 Henry Toll Fellow Margaret Chase Smith, who risked her political career to take on McCarthyism and the Red Scare of the 1950s. But most often, Matt is the 47th Secretary of State for Maine. acts of leadership are found in groups of people. When a Western

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