Letter from the Head of School

The one-hundred and twelfth graduation at Mercersburg was recently completed, and we all proudly celebrated both the accomplishments and the potential of the newest 132 graduates of this great school. I feel entirely confident that these young men and women have been provided every necessary academic and social tool to go out of these gates and exercise strong leadership at all levels, at a time when the world is crying out for effective leaders.

In an interesting book entitled Good to Great, which is aimed at the corporate world but also has clear applications and implications for all kinds of enterprises, the author, Jim Collins, devotes an entire chapter to the concept of leadership and what his extensive research reveals about the nature of exceptional leaders. He describes the duality of leaders at the highest level and their paradoxical blend of both “professional will” and “personal humility.” According to his research, a leader’s professional will “creates superb results and is a clear catalyst for moving from good to great” while the side of personal humility “demonstrates compelling modesty, shuns public adulation, and is never boastful.” The professional side “demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult” while the personal humility side “acts with quiet, calm determination and relies principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate.” Collins continues his leadership model by stating that on the professional side of the equation, a true leader “sets the standard of building an enduring great company and will settle for nothing less” while personally channeling “ambition into the company, not the self.” And lastly on the professional side, his research suggests that a true leader “looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck” while on the personal side, the great leader “looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company—to other people, external factors, and good luck.”

The occasion of this year’s graduation also marked a significant and important transfer of leadership at the highest level at Mercersburg, as the President of the Board of Regents performed his last official duty by assisting with the awarding of diplomas. I have been blessed to work with three different Board leaders during my time at Mercersburg and to know several others who served in that capacity prior to my becoming a part of this community. They all share one thing in common: in their own individual ways, they embody the concept of high-level leaders that Collins outlines in his book. Bill Zimmerman ’67 has provided exceptional leadership during his tenure as Board President, with an entire list of accomplishments under his watch too numerous to list in a column of this length. Some of those more notable achievements, though, include guiding the school through a successful extension of the Mightily Onward campaign, shepherding the Burgin Center for the Arts from concept to reality, supporting the creation of the fantastic Davenport Squash Center, participating in the process of identifying and electing several new, extremely effective Board members, ushering in a new round of strategic planning at the school, and the list goes on. Bill will be succeeded by Denise Dupre ’76, a person of enormous ability and resolve, who will, undoubtedly, be an equally inspired leader of Mercersburg’s governing body

If the model of leadership set forth by Collins has any validity, as I believe it does, and if schools have a responsibility for preparing future leaders, as I believe they do, then all the Mercersburg faithful can look confidently to the graduating Class of 2005 to continue providing this world and this school with superior leaders of every kind.

Douglas Hale
Head of School