How We Choose Our Leaders

It seems as though many of the corporate and government leaders currently in power all come from the same places, highly regarded public and private universities, the land of the "best and brightest". I am sure these people are all getting great educations at these institutions and are building great network of other best and brightest; but, somehow those educations do not seem to be fully translating into ethical leaders.

Is there something wrong with this picture or have we as a people given too much credit to these universities as being the only source for good leaders? I would have to say it has almost become a form of discrimination in that someone who was not able to attend these universities would not be considered for many positions of corporate leadership. We currently have too many examples of this phenomenon to disregard the danger.

I, myself, get much more attention from recruiters for having attended Northwestern University for one year 33 years ago, than for a B.S. Accounting degree I recently completed. They say, "Oh, the company will like that you went there." This is even though I am applying for an accounting or finance position and I studied Engineering while I was at Northwestern. I loved being at Northwestern; it is a great school with great people, so don't think I didn't value my time there. It is just that it really has no bearing on the 20-year career I have been able to carve out in accounting and finance since I was last in Evanston, IL.

The whole purpose here is to get some of you thinking about how this prejudice may not be such a good thing for America right now. Some of our greatest citizens and leaders did not come from these backgrounds, yet now it seems as though many are shut out of any leadership opportunity simply because of where they went to school.

Food for thought....