What is Leadership?
What is Leadership?
CEO and President Sylvia Watts McKinney with CSIOBS Board Chair Mark Keating and Program Alum Marvelous Abraham
Leadership takes on many forms, each with its unique set of responsibilities. From CEO to Coach, Teacher to Board Director, and beyond, I've served in various leadership roles throughout my career. These roles span non-profit organizations, government agencies and for-profit divisions, schools, PTAs, churches, cultural institutions, special celebrations, professional associations, community centers, and more. The diversity of these roles has enriched my understanding of leadership and its different interpretations.
Leadership, as defined by the Center for Creative Leadership, is a social process that thrives on collaboration. This definition resonates with me, as all leaders, from presidents and CEOs to school coaches, achieve their greatest success when they harness the collective strengths of their teams. This approach, rooted in a growth mindset, is what we strive for at Cathleen Stone Island Outward Bound School - Learn, Thrive, Grow.
We firmly believe that leadership qualities are not innate but developed through challenge. Leaders are forged through partnership, collaboration, and engagement with others. They listen, guide, support, and mentor others to achieve a shared vision. We are committed to helping our participants practice the skills to become leaders by exposing them to challenges, fostering learning, and encouraging action on the issues that matter.
Our new strategic focus is to nurture the next generation of leaders who will strengthen our community’s climate resiliency and address climate action. We provide our participants with firsthand experience in Science education and opportunities on and off Cathleen Stone Island.
Using Outward Bound principles and practices, I seek innovative opportunities as I work with our staff and participants who come to Cathleen Stone Island. Having grown up in the coastal city of Boston and elsewhere, many are experiencing the harbor for the first time thanks to the great work of former Senator Edward Kennedy, former Congressman Joe Moakley, Senator Ed Markey, Cathleen Stone, and many more.
Thanks to these leaders in association with former and current trustees and advisors, now under the leadership of Mark Keating, an extraordinary executive at State Street Bank, our participants are encouraged to understand the importance of ocean life living in the marsh or experiencing kayaking expeditions to surrounding islands. These memories and experiences will help our participants become leaders who embody collaboration and resiliency to seek abundant opportunities in their lifetime.
I embody these principles in my leadership style. As a successful “socialpreneur” leading mission-driven organizations, I grasp new leadership concepts efficiently. I am inspired when participants discover how to bolster each other’s strengths and work together to accomplish something they couldn’t do independently. My passion for our work is renewed each time I see students and educators from our Boston School District motivated to learn more due to their time in nature at Cathleen Stone Island.
Being a leader requires courage, compassion, vision, humility and the ability to listen. Our most significant accomplishments as leaders are in engaging with integrity to build a matrix of strength, motivation, collaboration and connections to accomplish what we, as individuals, cannot accomplish alone.
