Rick Wagoner, chair of Duke's Board of Trustees, presents to members of Duke's Leadership Academy. Photo by Bryan Roth.

Durham, NC - Learning leadership skills and being a successful manager of others comes down to sincerity and seizing opportunity.

These were just a couple lessons imparted last week to members of the Duke Leadership Academy by Rick Wagoner, a Duke graduate and chair of Duke's Board of Trustees. Wagoner was a guest speaker for about 25 members of the program, who are handpicked each year by the dean or vice president from academic and administrative areas across Duke to learn new skills and strategies to become better leaders.

During his talk, Wagoner highlighted four areas he believes are important for any successful leader: a purpose in work, strong communication with others, effective management of people, and development of an individual style of leadership.

Wagoner said he learned these qualities by moving across senior positions at General Motors in Brazil, Canada and Europe not long after he was first hired in 1977. By learning new languages and how to interact with employees across cultural barriers, Wagoner said he was able to create relationships that helped him grow as a leader and pushed employees to successfully achieve ambitious targets.

"By setting goals that are important to everyone, not just me, I was able to engage them and make it clear they're important to me and not just a cog in the wheel," said Wagoner, who has served on Duke's Board of Trustees since 2001 and acted as chairman and CEO of General Motors from 2003 to 2009.  "It's important to let people know you're there to help and on their side, but everyone should keep raising the bar."

Chris Clarke, associate dean for development and principal giving at the Pratt School of Engineering, said that after listening to Wagoner, he felt a stronger grasp on how important it is to offer support and cultivate talented Duke community members.

"It's about recognizing the opportunity for Duke to position itself and its people to be leaders in our approach to education and interdisciplinary matters," Clarke said.

Starting each January, the Duke Leadership Academy class spends one year learning about leadership in a curriculum based on best practices from the Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics (COLE) model. Activities include coaching, classroom learning, intensive personal assessments and practical application of leadership theories. The aim of the academy, which is co-sponsored by COLE and Duke Human Resources, is to nurture the next generation of leaders at Duke.

"The Leadership Academy continues to benefit from the experiences and insights of seasoned leaders," said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration at Duke. "Having the opportunity to hear from and speak directly with Rick Wagoner was a tremendous opportunity for participants, and it was exciting to witness their active engagement."

For more information, visit the Duke Leadership Academy website.