Interview Paper

Leadership Interview Paper

     I met Dr. Consuelo Stebbins while on a study abroad trip to Spain one summer. She was our group’s instructor, coordinator, and at times, translator. I soon found myself looking up to Dr. Stebbins, as she held many similar interests as myself and was successful in her career. She had traveled all over the world, lived a fulfilled life and continued to follow her dreams and create pathways for opportunity. While traveling throughout Morocco and Spain with Dr. Stebbins, I felt immediately that I could benefit from her shared experiences, as I had many similar interests and life goals, yet didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do as a career.

     As part of a project for a university women and leadership course, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Stebbins in her office on campus. This gave me the opportunity to inquire of her thoughts on leadership and of her own path to becoming a leader, in which I was already curious.

     Dr. Stebbins has achieved many pursuits in her 66 years of living. Though born in New York, Dr. Stebbins grew up with extended family in Key West with her older brother, as her parents got divorced during her fourth grade year. Her father (though he didn’t graduate high school) was a pilot for American Airlines and her mother was an office assistant.

     Living with her grandparents, Dr. Stebbins attended high school and later went on to attend college. During this time, she waited tables as a source of income and every summer she worked as an auditor at the local bank. Though she was a good employee at the bank, she soon decided she wanted to work in education, and so Stebbins began teaching high school in Columbia (1977-79). In 1981-87, Dr. Stebbins started the TESOL program at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Florida. This made her realize the importance of program development and her own potential to create space for things that didn’t exist before. In 1987, Dr. Stebbins founded the ESL program at the University of Central Florida and later on, the Center for Multicultural/Multilingual Studies on UCF campus.

     Discovering her enjoyment of program development and international works, Dr. Stebbins opened her UCF office in 2007, where she applied to be the assistant vice president in the office of Internationalization. She stated that the job description appealed to her areas of interests and expertise. Accepted, Dr. Stebbins became responsible for creating programs abroad, strategic planning, and maintaining a professional demeanor as a leading coordinator.

    All of these means were achieved by Dr. Stebbins independently. She had no financial support from her family and was forced to seek out opportunities and scholarships to help reach her goals. Dr. Stebbins notes, “The key is not to rely on others, but to take advantage of opportunities given to you. You must have the initiative to seek these out, paying attention to flyers and available programs; be a risk-taker. If it is to be, it’s up to me”.

     With these strong quotes in mind, I was curious as to what Dr. Stebbins considered to be leadership and what she thought it took to be a leader. She had this to say: “Being a leader is all about vision. One needs to be a good judge of character in order to help reach a common goal. It is best to have a leader for each sub-goal to carry out the objectives. One must be a good collaborator and maintain a balance of delegating authority and staying on top of the project at hand. The most important vision is bringing your team together for a common goal.” Dr. Stebbins also stressed the importance of patience in leadership. It took her two years of planning just to get the programs up and running at UCF.

     When asking Dr. Stebbins if she considered herself to be a leader, she smiled and walked over to a table near her window, where a number of awards were gleaming in the sunlight. “Yes”, she stated. Her awards included an Outstanding Leadership in International Education 2011 glass trophy. “I collaborated with many groups on campus to bring them together in order to earn this award. Always keep in mind your goal- you can’t do it alone. You have to work through people.” When questioned about her philosophy and style of leadership, Dr. Stebbins believes that we are all leaders to varying degrees. She holds a collaborative style of leadership and feels that you can’t let ego stand in the way.

    Concerning the concept of gender and leadership, Stebbins stated that she does not see gender. “Personally, I do not see a disadvantage of being a woman. However, I am only familiar with what occurs within my field of study. Others may notice problems, however, this is due to a different experience.” Dr. Stebbins did, nonetheless, note key differences in styles of leadership observed among genders. She feels there is a certain amount of truth to differences in management styles. Stebbins states that women tend to be more nurturing and do a better job at mentoring, yet also tend to be more emotional.

   She notes the importance of these features in a good leader, as she believes a good leader is a nurturing visionary that uses collaboration. She feels that men could actually be ineffective as leaders if they are too direct. Though she notes these observational differences in gender, she realizes that these are only differences in managerial skills and one may not hold importance over the other, but rather a happy medium should be applied. She also believes that gender differences are usually not as noticeable within the field of education, as many employees and employers are already well-educated, as opposed to the more noticeable differences between genders in fields such as business.

    

    My own interpretation of Dr. Stebbins as a leader is formulated from both my personal values and the multiple encompassing definitions of transformational feminist leadership. I respect the fact that Dr. Stebbins created her own reality and stayed true to what made her happy. Independence and self-definition are crucial to one’s identity, self-esteem, and happiness. The importance of self-dignity and life choices are expressed in CREA’s own definition of leadership:

 “CREA visualizes leadership as a dynamic quality that is present and can be enhanced in most individuals…[and] that enables people to live their lives as they choose, with dignity and with sensitivity to other people’s choices and decisions. [CREA’s] leadership program works on the assumption that leadership is not a fixed state of being but a process through which women assert their rights by continually evaluating relevant experiences, questioning their roles in society, challenging power structures and effectively catalyzing social change.”

     Though some critique this definition as idealistic, exclusive, or vague, it is important to consider the main ideas and the emphasis of making space to talk about these concepts, which reveal the problems in our current “classical” and masculine definitions of leadership.

     Dr. Stebbins again fits the leader profile when referencing back to Black Womanist Leadership: Retracing the Motherline, where leadership is defined as:

“The desire, ability, and efforts to influence the world around us, based upon an ethic of care for self and others and fueled by a vision that sustains over time.” (King & Ferguson).

     Not only did Dr. Stebbins make extreme efforts to influence the world around her, but she also made time for herself to learn Spanish and take care of two children. She notes the importance of vision in her own definition of leadership and she lives by example in sustaining her own vision via her career.

     Referring back to CREA’s definition of leadership, the concept of “continually evaluating relevant experiences” is regarded as an important process. Throughout my own travels and global experiences, I have discovered the value of this. Continuously gaining knowledge of other cultures, norms, social systems, and ways of life has been extremely crucial to my own understanding of reality, authority, and myself. It seems that once you think you know something, you immediately learn something else that strengthens or challenges your previous involvement in the situation. These experiences change who we are as individuals, how we view ourselves as leaders, and many times our values, interests, or philosophies. Therefore, continuously evaluating these experiences (in this case global and multicultural relations) is important for growth in all aspects of life, and in order to be a stronger, more empathetic leader.

     Founding international programs for universities is not an easy job and requires many skills using continuously-changing and broadening situational knowledge in order to achieve the goals at hand. This requires an open mind, a constant re-evaluation of what constitutes cultural norms, and the recognition of where you are viewed to fit in the particular social structure. This brings us back to CREA’s leadership definition, where the evaluating of relative experiences leads to women questioning their roles in society and challenging power structures. Networking with many countries such as Turkey, Columbia, Japan, Spain, and many others is sure to bring about problems in regards to gender. Not only did Dr. Stebbins have to be keenly aware of social differences and expectations in other societies, but had to work her way through delegating with many leaders who viewed women should not be leaders.

     Many definitions of transformational and feminist leadership call for collaboration and the idea of bringing people together for the common good of the community. Dr. Stebbins follows this in her position as a leader and conveys the importance of collaborating with various resources for the best outcome in her own definition of leadership. She specifically calls for group effort and the importance of noticing and utilizing individuals’ talents and strengths to achieve a major objective. For example, Dr. Stebbins describes the beginnings of piecing together CMMS on UCF campus, which allowed foreign exchange students to study at the university. She mentioned that her group needed someone to contact many countries, delegate with customs, with schools, with government. They needed someone that was good with computers and various forms of technology. They needed teachers and equipment.

    Dr. Stebbins used her social connections, previous achievements, and intuition to seek out people who were good in these areas and could help collaborate to make her idea a reality. She assigned other leaders to help carry out the tasks and did much of the traveling and delegating herself with foreign universities. She challenged herself and those around her and took a great risk by attempting to create something new. In her own definition of leadership and that of King, Dr. Stebbins fits the mold. I believe she would strongly relate to a quote by Debbie Armstrong of the Disabled Network Ontario:

 “Even though I am recognized in my position as the formal leader, I believe leadership resides in all of us. I reach out to people, asking for help when I need it and acknowledging that I don’t have all the answers.”

     In evaluating Dr. Stebbins as a leader, I learned many things about myself, gained ideas for my near future, and questioned the concepts of defining leadership. Just as Dr. Stebbins realized the importance of founding programs, I am beginning to understand the power and necessity of creating feminist and multicultural space, whether it is via a program, group, organization, or classroom. I realize my own desire to travel, continuously learn, and make a difference in the lives of others to create a more equal, responsive, global community. Directly connecting to Dr. Stebbins, whom I consider a role model, was an important step in my own self-realization- that these goals and desires I had could be a realistic career.

    Reflecting back upon my own valued experiences, I called to mind the three month duration that I taught English in Spain, where there was a high population of Muslim immigrants. The intelligent, creative Morrocan girls I taught didn’t have a shot at a choice for their future. I then began to think of what I could do to encourage and integrate these women and girls. These experiences were necessary to provoke these ideas and spark emotions, which is the beginning of change and an important cornerstone in CREA’s definition of feminist leadership.

     Having a female role model in my life is also a new experience for me. This is a very important element to consider, as this relates to the concept of connecting to a motherline, discussed in King & Ferguson’s text. Though I don’t have much direct connection with my own motherline, via my mother and grandmother, having a female role model is important for young women. I have always dreamed of doing something great, but I have never had a template to follow, or at least not a female one. Interviewing Dr. Stebbins was a way to connect to my own feminine strength and encouraged me to pursue what makes me happy.

     When considering my own definition of leadership, I believe a composite of CREA’s and King & Ferguson’s definitions captures the concept fairly well. King & Ferguson’s definition is more inclusive, as it engages every person, not just women. The emphasis of the word “influence” within the definition values the importance of all contributed help to reach a goal and doesn’t burden an individual with the responsibility of achieving change, but rather at least influencing it.

   King & Ferguson’s definition also introduces “care of self” as centric. In American society, our system is based on work performance only, which tends to dehumanize employees and focuses totally on profits. It therefore devalues the crucial work done within the home or time that is necessary to maintain bodily health, such as meditation, exercise, spending time with family, cooking at home, or sleep. However, many other countries value family and respect personal time for individuals. This is where I feel multicultural experience and knowledge is useful in creating change within a system that does not value what is obviously crucial to an individual’s well-being and personal autonomy.

     I feel that the current social definitions and connotations around leadership are very masculine and exclude many people and situations. I feel it pushes us to obey authority or become authoritative over others, rather than looking inside ourselves for our own strengths and applying them collaboratively within a group. Feminist transformational leadership is a push in the right direction for social thought and hopefully, change.  

Sources

•         Batiwala, Srilatha. "Feminist Leadership For Social Transformation: Clearing the Conceptual Cloud."CREA. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://web.creaworld.org/files/f1.pdf>.
•        King, Toni, and Alease Ferguson. Black Womanist Leadership: Tracing the Motherline. New York: State University New York Press, 2011. Print.