Conclusion 267
From this perspective it becomes especially clear why both leadership and
responsibility have to be effectively and widely shared in organizations of higher
learning. As integral strategic leadership takes hold in a college or university, the
values that it serves and the vision that it offers move to center stage. Conflicts
and distractions over protocols and position are relegated to the wings. So engag-
ing is the educational task of transforming human possibilities, so absorbing is
the quest for learning, so compelling is the errand of meeting human needs, that
people experience the powerful norms of a community that serves a magnificent
common cause. In such a community it becomes nearly impossible to draw sharp
lines between those who lead and those who follow. There is more than enough
work to go around, and more than enough responsibility to be shared by different
individuals and groups in different ways at different times.