1X
David Heenan, a Campbell Estate trustee, and Dan Boylan, a professor of history at the University of Hawaii, examined the nature and state of leadership in mid-1990s Hawaii. Heenan argued that followership — the quality and commitment of those led — matters as much as leadership itself, and that overstating a leader's role excuses followers from their responsibility. Boylan, drawing on political history, contended that strong leaders tend to emerge from crisis and that Hawaii's political figures currently lacked the organized bases — unions, political parties — that once sustained civic action. Invited telephone guests added further dimensions: retired General Alan Ono stressed perseverance and goal-setting; University of Hawaii regents Aquan Mcrath and Momi Casimero emphasized principled vision and passion; leadership trainer Murray Badden argued that leadership is action rather than position and that a leader's chief duty is to serve followers by clearing obstacles. Callers raised questions about executive-to-worker pay gaps and whether university governance illustrated the limits of leadership in autonomous professional settings. The question at issue is whether Hawaii's economic difficulties might yet create conditions in which stronger, more purposeful leadership can emerge.
Transcript
Read or download the full transcript (.txt). Speaker labels were assigned automatically and may contain errors.
Companion newspaper commentaries
Commentaries by the guests, published in The Honolulu Advertiser around the broadcast.
