Leadership crises

I went to a meeting this afternoon, by invitation, to take part in assessing ideas for the review of the medical curriculum at the University of Sydney (Australia's premier medical school) with a group of 8 (plus the 2 professors running the Review) in which I was one of only two students.
I felt distinctly under-qualified sitting there with people who (as well as their being medical doctors) have a PhD or Master’s as well as having finished their postgraduate medical training but it was great being given the opportunity to be there to give input into the next generation of medical education.

The Professor who was chairing today opened the meeting by explaining that the people around the table (excluding himself and the other Professor) are the future leaders of the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine. A strange thought and not something I’d expected to be applied to me but nonetheless, I'll usually take a compliment when it's offered by someone as esteemed as Professor Gouslton.

The thought of being a Faculty leader isn't an entirely new one to me - I have to say I have had thoughts (during one of my occasional delusions of grandeur) of myself behind a desk in these wonderful old buildings with the door labeled Professor Simon Nothman, Dean of Medicine. Then I woke up from the daydream.

Nonetheless, the topic of leadership is pertinent at this time.It's this time of year that many organisations contemplate their upcoming leadership. Recently I've been involved in running the elections for the Australasian Union of Jewish Students nationally, and in speaking to candidates on the state level about their candidacy. All the while, as I'm dealing with other people's leadership, I can't help thinking about my own...

Medsoc, the medical students' society at uni, seems to have had a couple of problems this year. Not to say that the organisation hasn't done good things, which it has, but rather that there have been problems with regards to leadership and struggles within the executive.It's also become clear, to one with experience in running student organisations, that some of the issues faced derive from a lack of fairly basic leadership training. While, certainly, there are some good/effective leaders (not always the same thing!) in the organisation there's nothing in place to teach those without it some basic leadership skills and techiniques.Also Medsoc, in my opinion, shoudl get involved again in general student issues. it used to be the case that every year at least one memebr of the Univeristy Union was a med student - now the level of apathy has reached such height students won't even vote, much less nominate!

I hear you all asking what the crisis in all of this is, as we approach the end of this blog entry. The answer, as always, is a question:
Is it enough for me to be able to diagnose these problems and others?
Is suggesting a management plan sufficient?
Or do I need to take an active role in the treatment of this disorder?

So I find myself once again contemplating offering myself for the vice presidency, a position in which I'd really be able to use what I've learned elsewhere and give all I can to the organisation, but one which would likely chew up what remains of my 'free' time.

So what do you out there think? To run or not to run, that is the question....