Students, faculty and staff welcomed Dr. Jerrund Wilkerson Saturday as the Office of Intercultural Development invited him to speak at a leadership seminar entitled “10 Key Qualities Of An Effective Leader.”
Wilkerson focused on ten qualities from John Maxwell’s book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of Leadership.
“There is a vacuum of leadership in America,” he said.
Wilkerson spoke of each quality separately, explaining the significance and using the DISC behavior test to show the audience the different behaviors that make up the country.
Each behavior has its own effectiveness to being a leader, according to Wilkerson.
“Average is the enemy of great,” he said “Be the best you can be and the rest will follow.
“I’ve always had a talent toward leadership and to see possibilities. Along the way I found that I had the ability to inspire people. I found that I wanted to make things better for people.”
Wilkerson said that in order to help other people, he had to first focus on himself. For Christians, Dr. Wilkerson quoted the book of Matthew to explain what it means to be leaders.
“We’re called to be light and we’re called to be salt,” he said. “Light and salt is about influence, so we’re called to influence. This means that we all have some ability to influence.
“Lead yourself effectively because that’s where you start. People follow people who are trying to go somewhere.”