Relationships and the Power of 'We'
Posted on March 14, 1996Reading the latest article in our ongoing series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the chancellorship at The University of North Carolina reminded me of when I was a student in the late ’60s. Carolina faced many challenges during that period, and the late J. Carlyle Sitterson ’31 drew upon his special qualities that were so effective during those turbulent years.
As a native of Kinston, an historian, and having earned three degrees from Carolina, Sitterson understood the history of North Carolina and the important role our University plays in our state. He knew that for several generations, most of North Carolina’s most prominent political and professional leaders were Carolina alumni. Chancellor Sitterson understood that our largely rural state placed a special value on each individual. He knew that to earn respect as a leader of our campus, he needed to draw upon the personal relationships that he developed in the classroom, as a longtime dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in his church and as a resident of Chapel Hill. Sitterson drew upon the personal relationships he and his devoted and talented partner and spouse, Nancy (’41), developed in the 30 years that preceded his chancellorship. On many occasions, their personal friends across campus alerted both Nancy and Lyle to opportunities and challenges that they might otherwise not have known about through more formal channels.
For 153 years your alumni association has been about the business of building relationships, reconnecting Carolina alumni with our University, helping you retain the special relationships that you developed while in Chapel Hill with classmates and faculty. And, happily, you need not return to Chapel Hill to reconnect with Carolina. Our local Carolina Club in your hometown, class and affinity group reunions, enrichment programs in your community, alumni tours and, of course, the Carolina Alumni Review all help you to stay informed and involved with UNC.
Chancellor Sitterson had another quality that made him so effective, and that was an appreciation for what is often referred to as the power of “we. ” Early in my transition as alumni director, an alumnus shared with me the often-noted quote”It’s amazing what people can accomplish if they have no concern about who receives the credit.”
Our most effective leaders possess interpersonal skills that draw people to them. They motivate others in pursuit of shared goals. Lyle Sitterson understood that to get something accomplished it was wise to allow others to think that his idea was really theirs. He seldom used the pronouns “I” and “my” but often noted what “we” could accomplish and identified what were “our” challenges.
In an election year, it will be unusual to hear public officials without hearing the pronouns “I” and “my.” Yet power, title and position alone cannot move an organization, a university, a state or a nation forward. Earning the trust and respect of those closest to you, who in an organizational chart may report to you, is important if they are to contribute all that they can and should. They must believe that they are part of a team that is moving toward a shared vision. That vision must reflect an understanding of the culture of the community, the organization, state, university or nation. For organizations don’t work, people do.
Fortunately for Carolina, like Chancellor Sitterson, all of our University’s great leaders have understood that their success depended upon their understanding that ours is a “we” university, one that respects and values the individual contributions that each student, each staff employee, each faculty member and, yes, each alumnus and each alumna can make. Relationships, forged over many years, have encouraged all those who care about Carolina to continue to contribute to its development in serving our state and nation.
Yours at Carolina,
Douglas S. Dibbert ’70
