The Thursday, April 26, 2012 edition of the Portland Tribune has a great story on Warner Pacific College. The article is entitled, "Warner Pacific gives city a lesson in neighborly skills."
Six years ago, the article states, the school was in a grim situation. So, WP hired a consultant to remake the school's image. What WP discovered: It had NO image! It didn't have a bad reputation. It had NO reputation -- at all.
What do you do if you (you the organization) have no reputation in the city, community or neighborhood? What would you do to turn things around? Here is what the President of Warner Pacific (Andrea Cook) did:
1. (She can't take credit for this one) They hired from outside. When hiring a President, the Board of WP looked to someone outside the Church of God. At times, if you are to close to something, you can't see the landscape for what it really is.
2. She provided SENSATIONAL LEADERSHIP. Most of the time it really is about LEADERSHIP.
3. She led the school to target NON-TRADITIONAL students. At times it is better to create new oceans than swim in the same shark infested oceans with every other, in this case, school.
4. She led the school to embrace "the outside world." A school who once had an insular mindset, discovered it's neighbors! Instead of fleeing the urban context, she led the school to embrace and take advantage of the urban context. An urban context became a selling point to a young adult context and WP capitalized on the opportunity. She even led the school to develop a degree in urban studies. Embracing your context can be a REALLY good thing. It even changed the way they began to view service. Traditionally, community service was limited to the community. This all changed under President Cook's leadership. Today if the service is directed toward to campus, it is self-service, not service! They even adapted a new motto: "in the city for the city" (from a speech of Rev. T. Allen Bethel).
5. She is leading them to evaluate every relationship and explore how they need to evolve as an institution. At times we need to change dancing partners OR learn some new dances!
6. Finally, she is leading toward the future not living in the past or stuck in the present. Leadership calls for vision and the ability to communicate a preferred future.
Read more here: http://ping.fm/It128
#leadership #organizationalchange #howothersseeyou
Six years ago, the article states, the school was in a grim situation. So, WP hired a consultant to remake the school's image. What WP discovered: It had NO image! It didn't have a bad reputation. It had NO reputation -- at all.
What do you do if you (you the organization) have no reputation in the city, community or neighborhood? What would you do to turn things around? Here is what the President of Warner Pacific (Andrea Cook) did:
1. (She can't take credit for this one) They hired from outside. When hiring a President, the Board of WP looked to someone outside the Church of God. At times, if you are to close to something, you can't see the landscape for what it really is.
2. She provided SENSATIONAL LEADERSHIP. Most of the time it really is about LEADERSHIP.
3. She led the school to target NON-TRADITIONAL students. At times it is better to create new oceans than swim in the same shark infested oceans with every other, in this case, school.
4. She led the school to embrace "the outside world." A school who once had an insular mindset, discovered it's neighbors! Instead of fleeing the urban context, she led the school to embrace and take advantage of the urban context. An urban context became a selling point to a young adult context and WP capitalized on the opportunity. She even led the school to develop a degree in urban studies. Embracing your context can be a REALLY good thing. It even changed the way they began to view service. Traditionally, community service was limited to the community. This all changed under President Cook's leadership. Today if the service is directed toward to campus, it is self-service, not service! They even adapted a new motto: "in the city for the city" (from a speech of Rev. T. Allen Bethel).
5. She is leading them to evaluate every relationship and explore how they need to evolve as an institution. At times we need to change dancing partners OR learn some new dances!
6. Finally, she is leading toward the future not living in the past or stuck in the present. Leadership calls for vision and the ability to communicate a preferred future.
Read more here: http://ping.fm/It128
#leadership #organizationalchange #howothersseeyou
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