Bad Leadership? Not the Folks from Academic Writers Studio

Anytime I think about Academic Writers Studio and the staff members that I work with (Laura and Berkeley), I only think about good leadership, which requires anyone reading this post to think about and conceptualize the exact opposite of everything that Kellerman articulates in her research about lousy leadership. In her review of lousy leadership, Kellerman described leaders that embody traits like incompetence, rigidity, insular, callous, corrupt, and evil. After learning about bad leadership practices and principles, I am happy to say that I work for community leaders who embody none of these traits. The leaders of Academic Writers Studio are instrumental in the sense that they can create positive change. For two years, Academic Writers Studio has been empowering minority and underrepresented scholars of scholars. Because of the work that Academic Writers Studio does, these scholars receive tenure and promotion. They publish research that they’ve spent half a lifetime thinking about. And they participate as members of an inclusive community that prioritizes empathy and diversity. The folks at Academic Writers Studio are everything but rigid. They have a standard that hard to break away from, but they were completely open to new, innovative ideas that I suggested and implemented. Additionally, I would hardly describe Berkeley or Laura as out of control. Each of them is temperate and can put others before themselves, as demonstrated by their commitment to the scholars who are a part of the studio scholars community. Laura and Berkeley always asked and still do ask about my needs, and I don’t think that I could ever describe them with words like liar, cheater, or thief. They both care about others and are both culturally aware. They did/do their best to protect each member of the AWS community and me from evil, and I appreciate every bit of their work, commitment, and energy.