Hickman Presents Paper at International Leadership Forum

Fall 2007

Can a common purpose – rather than a charismatic leader – inspire people to be leaders? Professor Gill Hickman, whose research interests include invisible leadership, believes it can indeed.

Hickman traveled to Shanghai, China, Oct. 19-20 to participate in the Leadership Forum 2007 hosted by the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, and to present her research in a paper titled, “The Power of Invisible Leadership.” Hickman co-authored the paper with University of Maryland professor Georgia Sorenson, a pioneer in the field of leadership studies.

The paper and presentation described components of an emerging theory of invisible leadership and examples from government, non-profit and private-sector organizations. 

“Our research in leadership studies leads us to believe that a common purpose can actually inspire people to engage in leadership,” Hickman said. “In fact, a great deal of leadership is done this way.”  

This was Hickman’s first CELAP forum. The forum began in 2005 and is held every other year. It draws an internationally-diverse group of scholars, business practitioners and government leaders. “Leadership, Transition, Innovation” was this year’s topic.  

Hickman was a representative for the Jepson School of Leadership Studies and for the International Leadership Association, where she is on the board as the vice president for internal affairs.

There were plenty of reasons the leadership studies professor enjoyed the forum and her travels, but one in particular stood out.

“What I found most exciting was the work by Chinese scholars on the intersection between Eastern and Western theories of leadership,” she said. “This topic has been an interest of mine since the founding of the Jepson School.”

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