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My Development as a College/University Administrator
I enjoy providing leadership at the organizational level, and have ever since I was a MBA student. Even prior to that, one of the things I enjoyed about being a youth pastor was the ability to lead and develop a group of people. While I was a successful youth pastor (hopefully in the eyes of God as well as those in the church), I was not a typical cheerleader-type youth pastor. My success was rooted and grounded in the growth and development of the youth to be leaders. It's not the fast way to build a youth group, but it works.
Early in my career as a professor, I had several people that encouraged me to get into educational leadership. First was Dr. Eugene Swearingen, who was serving an Dean of the ORU School of Business while I was on faculty there. Dr. Swearingen had become the Dean in his retirement, having previously served as Dean of the School of Business at Oklahoma State University, then in a Vice-President role at OSU, then as President of the University of Tulsa. From there he had been recruited to be CEO of the Bank of Oklahoma, from where he retired. He encouraged me to consider moving into an administrative position once my doctorate was finished. Given his vast experience, I took his encouragement seriously.
Next was Dr. Wayne Meinhart, Chair of the Management Department at OSU. Dr. Meinhart continually encouraged me to look for an administrative position once I was ready. Because of his administrative skills and teaching excellence, I also took his encouragement seriously.
The people who took the biggest risk—by allowing me the opportunity to become an administrator—were Dr. Bill Crothers, President of Roberts Wesleyan College, and Dr. Burton Jones at RWC. They recruited me to be the founding Chair of the Division of Business & Management at RWC, and to be the founding Director of the Master of Science in Management degree program. They gave me opportunities—challenging opportunities—to birth a new division and new master's degree program. Everyone who goes into educational leadership has to start somewhere, which means that someone has to take a risk. Roberts Wesleyan took that risk, and allowed me the opportunity to shine. Also instrumental in this process was Dr. John Martin, RWC's Provost (now President). John provided a marvelous example of grace-full leadership for me to follow.
In my time at RWC and at LeTourneau University, I had the opportunity to develop administrative skills and expertise in a number of areas. These include new program development, curriculum development, marketing, faculty recruiting, accreditation, faculty credentialing, advisory board development and relations, fund-raising, student recruitment, faculty development and mentoring, faculty evaluation, and many more. I enjoy each of these roles, especially faculty development, new program development, and curriculum development.
Although my leadership skills have increased, my leadership philosophy has remained constant. Leadership involves mentoring and developing a team of leaders who will together bring the vision of the organization into reality. That's part of what transformational leadership is all about.
Both Dr. Swearingen and Dr. Meinhart went on to their eternal reward during the month of November, 2002. As mentioned above, these two men served as my mentors in academic leadership. Both men knew Christ as Lord and Savior, so I rejoice in their homecomings. But I find myself grieving the loss of those who believed in me and encouraged me along the way. And I find myself reflecting upon the fact that others are now looking to me, and to those like me—the next generation—for mentoring and encouragement. It's our responsibility—and a high calling—to mentor the following generation of leaders.
 At the 2004 Christian Business Faculty Association annual conference, I was honored to receive the Richard C. Chewning Award for Biblical Integration in Business. In presenting the award, the awards committee cited the work that I have done to mentor others for positions of leadership, and for helping others to become researchers in the area of faith-learning integration. While humbled to receive the reward (and shocked as well), it has helped me to understand that not everyone shares my attitudes toward mentoring others. Nevertheless, it's the right thing to do. Each of us is responsible to mentoring the next generation of leaders.
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