Yesterday afternoon, University President Amy Gutmann used an unusual example while describing leadership to students.
"When I think about great leaders, I don't begin by thinking about great wartime heros or freedom fighters. ... I think of a fictional character -- Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird."
Gutmann said that Finch displayed leadership by defending a black man in a largely racist white Southern community.
Finch defended his decision to represent the man "because if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head again."
Atticus Finch, Gutmann said, typifies an extraordinary leader.
Gutmann addressed a sizable group of students in Houston Hall as part of the Fox Leadership series.
Gutmann has served one year as Penn's president and, earlier, as the provost of Princeton University.
A prominent theme pervading the speech was the idea of "turning moral convictions into actions." Gutmann drew on the failure of leadership by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Stressing the need to "seize" leadership when it shows itself, she urged the audience to take the "responsibility to be leaders of our own lives and not be followers of the bandwagon."
"She's very inspiring. It's rare to find a woman leader,' Engineering senior Stella Quek said.
Gutmann also spoke of a leader who will be forever remembered for his actions. She recounted the story of Gene Krantz, the NASA mission-control director who saved Apollo 13 from disaster.
Gutmann expounded upon similarities between Krantz and Finch.
Both "had to focus on what was needed to succeed," she said.
After completing her speech, the president fielded questions from audience members.
When asked about her greatest challenge as a leader, she said that it was overcoming her frequent lack of patience.
"When I see problems ... I want to bring people together quickly and solve them," she said.
Another major point of the presentation was the principle of leadership in a democratic age.
After emphasizing respect for others, she revised a famous line from Machiavelli.
"It is better to be respected than feared or loved," Gutmann said.
Wharton freshman Mike Paolini appreciated the approach Gutmann took.
"It was interesting to see a more informal type of opinion," he said.
