Former University president teaches leadership skills to students

Michelle Marchante/News Director

Successful leaders need three things: Judgment, persuasion and grit, said former University President Modesto Maidique.

Maidique, who was university president for 23 years, will be teaching what he calls the JPG model to students enrolled in his Honors College course IDH 3035: Lessons in Life and Leadership.

The JPG model consists of Judgment, Persuasion and Grit. Grit, for Maidique, means passionate creative persistence.

Infographic by Michelle Marchante/PantherNOW

“The core of my class is persuading people that the model works and two persuading them further that listening is the key to judgment, listening is the key to persuasion and listening is the key to figuring out what went wrong if things didn’t work out,” Maidique said to Student Media.

Teaching students to listen is a main component of the model, according to Maidique, as listening is the most important skill a leader can have. It not only crosses into all three sections of the model but it’s what makes or breaks a good leader, he said.

For Martin Villamizar, listening was the most important skill he learned from the class. Villamizar, a senior majoring in finance and minoring in international relations, took the two-part course during the 2016-2017 school year to be “challenged” and is now a teaching assistant for the class.

In the business world, most of the miscommunications that occur are because of the “lack of listening,” according to Villamizar, especially since his field involves working with different types of people in different environments. But after taking the course, he feels like he’s learned to be a more mindful active listener, something he hopes to utilize once he moves to New York City in August to begin his job with J.P. Morgan.

Maidique himself experienced the importance of listening when he was president. One day he was walking through campus when a student stopped him to ask a question. As they spoke, Maidique asked the student what problem he thought the school needed to fix.

The University needs to promote itself better to its own community was the student’s response. Later on, Maidique attended a meeting with a consultant. The high-priced consultant gave him the same answer as the student, Maidique said.

Besides learning about the model, students will be visited by several community leaders throughout the semester. During those visits, students will be given the opportunity to hear about their experiences, ask questions and analyze their leadership style, along with what they believe in.

Brian Keeley, president and CEO of Baptist Health South Florida, was the best visiting leader last semester, according to Yanira Onyewenjo, a junior who took the first part of the class last semester. All of the guest speakers had common leadership traits, but for Onyewenjo, Keeley exhibited most if not all of the traits, particularly listening.

Onyewenjo, who is majoring in international relations with a minor in art history, is taking the second part of the class this semester. She initially enrolled in the class last semester not because she wanted to become a leader but because she wanted to learn how to improve life for herself and others, she said.

“I see myself not so much as a leader but somebody that wants to have a good life and help people and just improve circumstances,” Onyewenjo said. “I feel like everybody is kind of dealing with the same thing in different ways and if we can all chip in and realize that we’re all in this together and we can make a difference no matter what color your skin is or what size you are you can really make a difference.”

The class, according to both Villamizar and Onyewenjo, is very hands-on and interdisciplinary. Onyewenjo also finds the class to be “empowering,” starting with Maidique’s teaching style, which includes having students call him “Mitch” instead of professor or President Maidique.

The first part of the course, held during the fall, had students examining and assessing leaders from the past. Students enrolled this semester for the second-part of the course will focus on “attacking” community problems or university issues, according to Maidique, and is something Onyewenjo is looking forward to as she hopes to learn how to turn her ideas into reality.

Students interested in the course will have to be either a junior or senior, have a 3. 7 GPA, and be part of the Honors College. If there are “doubts” about a student’s application, they will be required to write an essay explaining why they should be in the class.

Feature Image by Michelle Marchante/PantherNOW.