Content area
Full Text
Jon F. Wergin (Ed.). Leadership in Place: How Academic Professionals Can Find Their Leadership Voice. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, 2007. 254 + xviii pp. Cloth: $40.00. ISBN: 978-1-933371-18-4.
Jon F. Wergin's Leadership in Place collects nine stories that illustrate leaders in today's academy. The contributing authors behind the tales aren't all "leaders" by title; they are what Wergin terms "leaders in place"-people compelled by their passions and care for an institution and its mission to lead no matter where they fit in the pecking order of the collegiate setting. Wergin chooses not to define "leaders in place" in his opening chapter but lets the very honest, real-life examples of the chapters paint a picture for the reader, then defines "leaders in place" in the concluding chapter.
Wergin's aim is to narrow the gap between academic workers and their formal leadership. This task begins with helping academic professionals (including faculty members) to believe that they "really are in a position to make a difference" (p. 245).
A few stories merit particular note. Professor X outlines how he and other faculty became leaders because they were faced with a new "illegitimate leader who had risen to power through the back door" (p. 48). Together the faculty members each used their talents to quietly change the system. In the end, the illegitimate administrator stepped down, and the faculty sent the clear message that they would lead if needed. The ability to rise to the occasion was a theme woven throughout the nine stories. A leader in place sees the need and takes action. One only needs the "opportunity, the ability, and the courage to sense the need for leadership in the moment, then seiz[es] that opportunity" (p. 224). And in many cases, like Professor X, they return to their daily duties until called upon again to lead in place.
Shelley A. Chapman and Linda M. Randall showed how a group without titular authority became leaders in place. In their chapter, a new chairperson enabled a group of adjuncts...