So You Want To Be A Leader? Character and Leadership Fundamentals for College Students (review)

Enter into any bookstore and chances are that if you go to the leadership section you will find shelves stacked with books by authors who proclaim that they have the secret to becoming a successful leader. These texts are usually marked by cleverly worded titles such as Leadership 101, Mayday: We Need Your Leadership, or Finding the Leader Within You that are meant to grab the reader's attention instantly as the individual peruses the endless selection of allegedly effective leadership touting works. So when I was first presented with Earl E. Paul's So You Want to Be A Leader? Character and Leadership Fundamentals for College Students my initial impression was yet another leadership touting work. However, to his credit, the author's approach does differs from the "leadership" mainstream in that the purpose of his book is to focus on basic social and moral skills in college students.

Dr. Paul has distinguished himself as an individual who is very knowledgeable about today's college student. He has worked within higher education extensively as both an educator and student affairs administrator. In addition, the author is actively engaged in professional organizations that focus on college student development and has numerous publications and presentations on leadership and character development to his credit. Therefore, who better than Dr. Paul, a veteran of college student engagement and leadership development, to offer college students tools for being an effective and ethical leader?

The author emphasizes the importance of adopting basic principles when in a position of leadership, principles that we have all heard at one point in our lives; however, as the years progress and our leadership skills are tested we often forget some of these "cardinal rules" of leadership and a refresher lesson is sometimes useful, if not necessary. That is what Dr. Paul provides in his book. Not only can the college student benefit from his suggestions, but the seasoned student affairs practitioner may benefit as well.

At the beginning of the book, Dr. Paul poses a series of questions to his readers about their commitments to being an effective leader. He cautions that along with leadership comes responsibility and it is how one handles responsibilities that distinguishes a good leader from a not so good leader. In Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow, Johnson (2001) takes up the issue of leaders being ethical as they go about their normal tasks that potentially impact others. On the importance of leaders exhibiting integrity, Northouse (2004) comments "leaders with integrity inspire confidence in others because they can be trusted to do what they say they are going to do" (p. 20). Dr. Paul continues this examination of moral reasoning as a part of leadership as he consistently associates leadership with character and vice versa throughout the book. He stresses "leadership and character are inextricably linked" (p. 1). Neither is able to exist without the other.

Dr. Paul also suggests that the notion that a person is born to be a leader is somewhat misleading. Instead, he contends that leaders emerge and rise to the occasion when needed. In observing notable leaders of the past, some more well-known than others, the author reminds the reader that "all of them learned how to be leaders" (p. 2).

The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 is titled "Leadership and Character" and covers what he believes are the essentials for anyone striving to be a leader. These helpful tools stress the importance of possessing integrity, developing a vision, making sound decisions, and getting into the practice of being dependable and developing good relationships. In part 2, appropriately titled "Soft Skills", he goes through a host of do and don't comparisons of which any aspiring leader should be cognizant. Remember how you were told to develop a firm handshake when greeting others because it can speak volumes as...