SCSU’s Bertolino: To lead, sometimes you must follow

PHOTO | New Haven Biz He can relate: SCSU’s Bertolino Friday in Seymour.

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By Michael C. Bingham

Southern Connecticut State University President Joseph A. Bertolino provided a tutorial on Leadership 101 Friday. The occasion for Bertolino’s presentation, entitled “Leading Healthy Teams,” was the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce’s “Leadercast” anchored by a live broadcast of a Leadership Live broadcast worldwide from Atlanta. The event took place at the Invictus Theater at the Seymour headquarters of Basement Systems.

Bertolino brings a highly unusual background to the job of university president — not as a leading scholar, but as a social worker by training.

Bertolino is nothing if not social. Universally known as “President Joe” on the Southern campus, Bertolino has made his mark during his almost three years on the job for his open and collaborative leadership approach, as well as for his approachability and visibility.

He has made a priority of raising the visibility and public profile of his institution as well. In terms of undergraduate population it’s the largest university in New Haven. But while at another New Haven university, the path for undergraduates leads mainly to graduate and professional school, Washington or Wall Street, Bertolino says the path for SCSU students ought to point, simply, to graduation.

On Friday, Bertolino told his listeners that successful leadership is a function of creating, nurturing and managing high-performing teams. The most successful teams, he said, are well balanced: Members represent a cross-section of backgrounds, skills and personalities, and individual members feel appreciated and their contributions valued.

“My job is almost wholly about managing relationships,” Bertolino said, and he described what he called his “relational’ leadership model. Characteristics of effective leadership, he said, included:

• A clear sense of purpose: Everyone on the team ought to know the team’s destination, and the route to be followed to arrive at that destination.

• Inclusiveness: “Leadership is over-glorified,” Bertolino said. It is the followers who are the real risk-takers — and the earlier the followers sign onto the team, the more leadership they themselves exercise.

• Empowerment: The most effective leaders often hold back from taking direct action so that team members feel empowered to act on their own.

• Ethical — Effective leaders must ask themselves: Is the proposed action consonant with the values espoused by the organization?

• Process-oriented: Even when an organization has a shared objective/destination, ‘You need to have a road map to get there,” Bertolino said.

“Leadership is all about relationships,” Bertolino concluded, “relationships with the people who work for you — and, more importantly, the people who work with you.”

Contact Michael C. Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com