PRESS ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: April 21, 2011

MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudia Gunter cgunter@auburnseminary.org 212-870-3174

A New Study Finds Keys to Seminary Leadership

In the only study of its kind, a team of researchers led by Barbara G. Wheeler, former president of Auburn Theological Seminary and director of the school’s Center for the Study of Theological Education, looked at new seminary presidencies and why they succeed or fail.

One key finding was a surprise. Success hinges not on credentials, but on character.

“There is no correlation between resume and presidential success,” according to “Leadership That Works,” co-authored by Wheeler and four other researchers: two former seminary presidents, Douglass Lewis and David Tiede; and two Auburn research staff, Sharon Miller and Anthony Ruger. Personal qualities -- rather than experience or training -- are the leading predictors of success.

"Experience would seem to be desirable,” the study notes. “But this study did not prove that presidents who had previously managed staff or raised funds in other settings necessarily do that work better when they become the head of a seminary than those with little or no practice at those tasks.”

The Leadership Report also finds that leaders who work outside of their "comfort zones," willing to tackle undesirable tasks, were amongst the most successful. "Presidents need to decide what the job requires and do that, rather than the parts of the job they're good at or feel good doing," Wheeler said. Conversely, “work avoidance,” the tendency to neglect functions that the institution needs, such as fundraising, personnel management, and financial discipline, can sink a presidency. Work-avoiding presidents, Wheeler noted, are usually very busy, but the activities with which they are preoccupied are those that give them personal satisfaction rather than those that presidency requires.

A third important finding of the study is that most seminary presidents and their boards work together less effectively than they should. Presidents are tempted to insulate their boards from the school’s real problems and challenges, and boards too often accept a passive role.

Because seminaries train religious leadership, they impact millions of faithful followers. As tough economic times make it even tougher for everyone, senior leaders in many sectors are struggling to keep their institutions afloat. The findings of this report apply beyond seminary doors and speak to leadership traits and reasons why leaders fail or succeed in both religious and secular institutions.

Reaction to the study has been positive. Richard Mouw, president of Fuller, the largest seminary in the U.S., said “I wish I had this study available to me when I started out as a president 17 years ago. And I am glad I have it now. It should become must-reading for all presidents of theological schools as well as for all who care deeply about the future of theological education.”

Veteran president Jeffrey Bullock, President of the University of Dubuque, called the study “a fine piece of work. From my perspective, it should be required reading for every new President/Board Member, and it should be something that every President/Board revisits once a year...kind of like changing the batteries in the smoke-alarm.”

One of the authors, David Tiede, president emeritus of Luther Seminary, said that “many of the lessons learned seem obvious in retrospect, but were not previously evident, even to those of us who had many years of experience in this arena.”

Interviews with Barbara Wheeler and other seminary leaders are available upon request, contact: Claudia Gunter,cgunter@auburnseminary.org, 212-870-3174

To read the report in its entirety, please request a hard copy or go to: www.auburnseminary.org/sites/default/files/LTW%20Report.pdf