Learning to lead now, instead of in the future

CHENEY – What is leadership and when should it take place?

The answers to those questions may not be as obvious as one would think. For Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Stephens, the answer to the latter is essentially now.

“You’re never too young to be a leader,” Stephens told a group of West Valley School District students last Friday, Feb. 28. “Leadership starts by being aware of all of the connections you have.”

Stephens, a 1983 West Valley High School graduate who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2008 by former Gov. Christine Gregoire and elected to the bench in 2014, delivered the keynote address at Eastern Washington University’s annual Civics Conference, part of the Partnership in Civic Engagement program launched with WVSD in 2010. According to a news release, the partnership cultivates civic awareness in selected elementary, middle and high school students who “think critically, value social justice, are involved in their communities and understand the purpose of government.”

“Mainly leadership kids from all the buildings (in the district),” West Valley Assistant Superintendent Kyle Rydell said.

As for what leadership is, Stephens used three examples of ways leadership reveals itself. The first was the inspirational leader who takes an idea or a vision and gets other excited about seeing it come to fruition.

“It might be as simple as planning a birthday party for a friend,” Stephens told the students.

The second is a strategic leader who identifies a conflict, steps back from it to see what needs to be done and recruits others to help solve the issue. Stephens said she sees a lot of this on the bench, and stressed the best approach to resolution is to find ways to move forward with mutual respect.

“There are a lot of issues that people really care about,” she said.

Stephens elaborated more on this in a post address interview, noting solving problems is not about winning and losing, but trying to identify and understand what is important for the communities affected by the issues. As an example, she said the controversial decision in the McCleary case in 2012 impacting education funding in the state involved understanding legal tradition, the roles of the court and the Legislature in adhering to that tradition and their relationship to communities.

“Knowing and understanding the values that anchor our democracy then interpreting those in a factual context,” she said. “People get outcome driven. You take the law in view. You have to love the law and love to see it work.”

“There is no single path, no single right,” she said.

The third example of leadership Stephens cited is that of servant leader, one she said she hoped to explore more with the students during morning breakout sessions. A servant leader is someone who is not comfortable in the spotlight, but wants to contribute and lead quietly, and Stephens gave the students examples of ways they could accomplish this, using a famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi that “You need to be the change you want to see in the world” to illustrate the need for action.

Stephens asked the students to “Speak your truth,” as well as to “be willing to do something that scares you and stretches your skills.” The latter didn’t need to be some monumental undertaking.

“It could be to speak to somebody in line at the grocery store,” she said.

Stephens asked students to imagine how they would want the world to be by using a quote from a friend of hers, former Justice Mary Fairhurst, who is battling stage four cancer: “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

Spokane High School Associated Student Body President Lucas Fyre (pronounced “fury”) said the different types of leaders resonated with him a lot, particularly the servant leader.

“You can be the person who sees a goal you want to see happen and make it work,” he said. “People who act with kindness and hope for the future. They can do more for the world than those in higher positions.”

For Stephens, that could begin with the 60-70 students gathered before her in Eastern’s Hargreaves Hall Reading Room.

“Some people say you are the future of the world,” she told the students. “I reject that. You are the world now.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.