Fram Virjee, President of California State University, Fullerton, joined Dr. Edna Chun’s Capstone class on May 18, 2021 for an inspiring guest lecture on Leadership in Organizations. CSU Fullerton is the largest university in California with over 40,000 students and is the second in the nation for graduating underrepresented students. Fifty percent of the student body are first generation students and sixty percent are Pell eligible. The University is the only one in the 23-campus CSU system in which HR is a separate division: HRDI or Human Resources, Diversity, and Inclusion. President Virjee stressed the strategic importance of human capital as well as the University’s commitment to DEI and antiracism.
Among the wealth of insightful perspectives President Virjee shared were:
- Rather than top-down leadership, horizontal leadership and empowerment are key leadership precepts as well as holding leaders on your team accountable for results.
- Organizational leaders need to leverage systems of leadership and structures that work in concert to ensure consistency, equity, and buy-in from all stakeholders. These structures will help organizations stay on track in terms of the goals they need to accomplish.
- The leadership structure needs to be true to the central mission of an organization, such as student success in the case of a university.
- Formalized structures that include mission statements and strategic plans are important vehicles for ensuring that the organization moves together as a whole and “rows in the same direction.”
- The larger and more diffuse the organization, the greater the need for structures and systems to ensure leadership effectiveness. The age and size of organizations not only the need for structures, but also the types of structure they develop. New organizations are most at risk without the benefit of organizational structure and established traditions.
- In terms of communication and collaboration, it is important for leaders to share broadly, find consensus in concert with stakeholders, and create a common vernacular that connects organizational initiatives.
- When describing leadership rules to live by, President Virjee emphasized active listening; remembering who you serve and keeping that in the forefront; meeting stakeholders in their own place and space; embracing success, celebrating, and giving credit to those who contributed; being vulnerable and transparent; taking personal responsibility for missteps; and not taking oneself too seriously.
President Virjee engaged in lively and meaningful dialogue with the Capstone students and the perspectives he shared illuminated the principles of engaged and purpose-driven leadership.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any other person or entity.
