A leader is a thinker

A Leader and a thinker can be defined differently depending on who you are talking to and where . A leader as a person, who is strong, composed that has a positive attitude and most importantly someone who is able to set a good example for everyone around him or her. A leader can also be described as some who rises to the top and does everything to stay in that position, and also keeps the system going.

A thinker is someone who, Leads the way they think it should be done, and can dare to question the power or the institutions themselves if there is anything they think is not right. A thinker is opinionated and says it as it is, and does not always say things people want to hear but they should be heard. These types of people like to think inside the box rather than outside the box.

In most of the Institutions today there are more thinkers than leaders but once they enter the institution and start to become more adapted to the institutions, they train them to be leaders but some never change, they remain thinkers. Institutions like universities need both of these people because if everyone was a leader then there would be no one to lead, and there would be no changes in the universities themselves and also in society.

When the professors in the video are talking about leaders vs. thinkers, their giving their own personal opinion on what they think about this subject. One cannot assume that everyone thinks like these men, you also have to ask yourself a few questions, if the universities did not want thinkers in their institutions why are they continuing to admit thinkers? The answer to this is that they need a balance, because there are disadvantages and advantages about having thinkers. They might come up with bright ideas that advance the universities and they can ruin the image of the university. I agree with professor William when he says that leaders never show ''skepticism, sarcasm'' however it does not mean that if they do not show it they are not thinking it, ''A wise man thinks about all the things he says but doesn’t say all the things he thinks'', the reason why leaders can never say or show what they are thinking is because tit would cause chaos and there would be no leadership to stop it.

In this video it talks about the ''big questions'' and how they are not addressed in the time that they should be, that time being college. But really Universities/colleges do not have these answers for us only we do, all the institution can do is help us understand the questions and the answers are ours to find out. The problem is that these institutions are not helping people understand the questions because most of people in these places,have not found the answers to these questions. The reason for this is that when they were in the same position that their students are in the answers were already given to them, but the answers were what the institutions at the time wanted them to be and do,most came to find it was not what they wanted.

What was done then is what is trying to be done today but there are and more thinkers coming into these institutions and can not change their opinion. And because the universities are more interested in creating leaders, they let the thinkers think and concentrate on the leaders ,who keep the system running. It is just like the examples given of the Yale student,’’ the purpose of Yale College is to manufacture Yale alumni’’ I think that this is the only way the system can work. We need a balance of thinkers and leaders, but it is becoming more apparent to me that in future there going to be more thinkers than leaders.

One of the links next to the video, takes you to a part of a book called '' the disadvantage of an elite education'' something important is mentioned here that ''being and intellectual begins with thinking your way outside of your assumptions and the systems that enforce them'' I completely agree with this statement because an intellectual will think like that but in order to make something out of life they need to work with the system and keep with the system going . I think we should think about things the way we want to but sometimes it is better off for keep our thoughts to ourselves. A leader is leading everyone not just him or herself. But then again what would happen if there was no elite education? I think that would be more of a disadvantage because some people learn better when they are with people like themselves, it would also bring a sense of inequality among the students.

These two professors are criticizing the institutions as they know them but it is not all universities that are like that . Most of the points made are generalizations , but some are facts that can not be changed . Its all about how the scholar thinks at the end of their time there, the most important thing is what they feel that they gained form these institutions.