It's not the job of a leader to keep everyone happy. Strength, said Dr. Rodin, means being willing to take risks, particularly in higher learning. It won't be enough to be technically competent students need a broad experience of training. The leaders of medicine's teaching institutions must have the wisdom to win back a skeptical public. At a time when technology holds the promise of tremendous breakthroughs for medicine and health, she said, the ability of those who people it to effectively communicate and cooperate with the public is faltering.
Passion is the ability to inspire people.
Passion that burns from inside is what makes us real and believable. And finally, Dr. Rodin said leaders need vision the ability to look ahead, to see what an institution could be, to convey that vision to those within, and to make strategic choices in order to get there.