Written by Elliot Condon, participant in the 2020 Spring Leadership Discovery class, after hearing from mentor Dr. Dondi Costin, President of Charleston Southern University

The Spring 2020 Leadership Discovery ended with a bang as the series came to a close with Dr. Dondi E. Costin’s presentation. Although everyone has been adjusting to the world of virtual presentations with the pandemic, Dr. Costin’s contagious grin and genuine personality permeated through the computer screen in our virtual meeting.

Dr. Costin is the President of Charleston Southern University and has an impressive background tracking various leadership roles. He is a Wilmington, NC native, and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1968. Dr. Costin served for 32 years in the U.S. Air Force where he held various leadership roles, obtained the rank of Major General and was decorated with the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star Medal. Prior to joining Charleston Southern, Dr. Costin served at the Pentagon as Air Force Chief of Chaplains where he was the senior pastor. Dr. Costin has not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE master’s degrees, including a PhD in organizational leadership.

Dr. Costin admired the program name “Leadership Discovery” because you are never going to arrive. He explained there is a reason the program is not called “Leadership Complete.” Dr. Costin expounded that if you think you have “arrived,” then you will be the most vulnerable to yourself and dangerous to others. Leadership is a process and it is always ongoing.

At the outset, Dr. Costin explained that he uses the Church, the Bible and the Lord as his foundation because that is what works for him personally. He explained that if you do not share the same religious views, you, of course, can develop your own leadership model based on what works for you as an individual. Dr. Costin’s explanation was an important lesson that leadership is, in fact, an ongoing process and a one-size fits all approach will not suit everyone. Dr. Costin then shared a well-known parable with his own spin to lay the foundation for his leadership model.

Dr. Costin’s Spin on the Parable of Talents: An owner and CEO of a successful business decides he is going to take a long trip. This owner has three employees, which he has attempted to develop along the way. Before departing for his trip, the owner meets with each of his three employees. He leaves the first employee five talents, the second employee two talents and just one talent to the third employee. The owner reveals he will be gone for an extended period, that he is leaving the business in the hands of the employees and that there will be a performance review upon his return.

The one talent employee immediately buries his one talent in the ground. Upon his return, the owner conducts his performance reviews and learns the five-talent employee worked hard and turned the five talents into five more and the two-talent employee also doubled his talents. The owner praises these two employees and rewards them by providing even more responsibility. On the other hand, the one-talent employee returns the one talent he buried and tells the owner he did not turn the one talent into anything more but also did not lose anything. Infuriated, the owner responds: “You wicked lazy servant, the least you could have done is put the talent in the bank so I could have at the very least earned interest. You are fired.”

Using the parable as a backdrop, Dr. Costin explained his six leadership principles using the acronym LEADERS. Dr. Costin explained how all of these principles interplay with one another.

Dr. Costin’s Leadership Model:

L = Lordship Principle. This is the boss higher than your “boss on paper.” Dr. Costin explained that yes, he may work for a “boss” he wants to please so he does not get fired, but more importantly, he is more interested in pleasing the Lord. You are working first and foremost for a cause bigger than yourself. Dr. Costin encouraged everyone to “bloom where you are planted.” In other words, do your best in the job you have because you will never get higher in the pecking order otherwise.

E = Environmental Principle.  This addresses culture within your organization. Dr. Costin reminded us that simply put, our job as a leader is not to be a jerk. People working for your organization have families, lives outside of work, bills to pay, self-esteem issues, real world problems, etc., and part of your obligation as a leader is to create an environment where people can flourish as humans. Thus, your job is to make people understand they are to bloom where planted, so the organization can thrive and flourish overall. Dr. Costin shared his motto he has carried with him throughout his various leadership roles – “we are not an employment agency.” Dr. Costin explained that his job is not just to hire and pay people but also to prepare servant leaders to pursue significant lives. Dr. Costin reminded us, “a rising tide lifts all boats,” and thus, if we all become better, then by definition, our organization will become better.

A = Accountability Principle. It is no surprise you will be held accountable for the job you are doing. As a leader, this includes communicating what the expectation is and then subsequently checking in to see how the expectation is being met. Your job is to ask “how can I help you get better at what you are doing so when we hold each other accountable you will have met the expectation?”

D = Development Principle. Again, your job is to develop people because when people get better, the organization gets better. Remember, “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

E = Execution Principle. (Dr. Costin quickly assured us this was not a reference to the guillotine).  This means you have a mission or vision statement. Of course, the hard part is not simply writing a mission statement or strategy plan because Google can help with that. The hard part is actually executing or implementing the plan.

R = Results. The end goal is accomplishing the mission and accomplishing results. If you are not producing results, then the accountability principle comes into play, so all the principles interplay. Dr. Costin shared from his years of experience, you can fake many things, but you cannot fake results.

S = Shepherd Principle. A leader is a shepherd. A leader’s job is to love his people. You give credit where credit is due because you are the people’s advocate.

Dr. Costin emphasized this is his leadership model that works for him. He recapped that hundreds of leadership models exist and recommended to just pick one and go with it to get started on your journey. After opening the floor up for questions and engaging in dialogue with the participants, Dr. Costin reminded us of the very important saying that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” This is a valuable reminder to us all that we have to take the initiative to get started on our own “leadership discovery” journey.

Applications are now open for the Fall 2020 Leadership Discovery class!