About Dr. Jim Weese
Dr. Jim Weese is the former Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences (2004-2015) at The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. He has also served as the Special Advisor to the Provost and on two occasions as the Acting Vice-Provost (International). He was the Dean of the Faculty of Human Kinetics (1999-2004) at the University of Windsor before moving to Western in 2004.
He teaches, consults, conducts research and delivers speeches to local, national, and international audiences on the topic of leadership. He is recognized as a transformational academic leader and a leading authority in the area, whose research papers appear in the top journals in his field. He recently served as the Founding Executive Director of the Western Leader Academy, an intensive leadership development program designed to develop future academic leaders.
He has engaged and informed audiences across many sectors on the merits of a team approach to leadership. His acclaimed The 5C Leader: Exceptional Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Times book has been embraced by academic and practitioner audiences and has led to invited speeches for universities, corporations, and service clubs throughout the world. He recently published The Leadership Lifecycle: How to Prepare, How to Excel, and How (and When) to Effectively Exit, as well as a children’s leadership book entitled: The Grandpa Rules: Essential Lessons for Success in Life and Leadership.
His books and research have been featured in major news media outlets, including the CBC, Bell Media, and CTV Breakfast TV. He has been a consultant and speaker for multinational and national companies, including General Motors, the Ford Motor Company, Sport Canada, Dare, U SPORTS, and HydroOne, as well as with leaders at many colleges and universities across the globe.
He has earned a number of academic and leadership awards throughout his distinguished career, including the top research and leadership awards from his profession, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal by the Government of Canada in 2002 for his academic leadership and ten years later, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition for his leadership and advocacy for exercise and physical activity. His accomplishments have earned him some of his professional association's most prestigious teaching and research awards. For example, the North American Society for Sport Management NASSM) awarded him a Research Fellowship in the first year that the award was offered. At the time, he was confirmed as the third most productive NASSM researcher despite his relatively young age and career stage. NASSM has also honoured him with their three most prestigious honours: the Dr. Earle F. Zeigler Award in 2001, the Dr. Garth Paton Distinguished Service Award in 2015, and the Distinguished Sport Management Educator Award in 2022. He is one of only three scholars to receive all four of these awards/honours, and to date, the only Canadian to hold that distinction.
While his teaching and research record warrant high praise, his academic leadership and service to higher education distinguish him even further. He is heralded as a transformative academic leader. He has served in several senior leadership positions during his career, including the President of the North American Society for Sport Management and the National Deans Councils for both Kinesiology (CCUPEKA) and the Health Sciences Deans (CAHSD). He has been an active volunteer and Board member with organizations like the United Way, The YMCA of Southwestern Ontario, See The Line, Play On, Give and Go Sports Education, and the Sunningdale Golf and Country Club. In 2010, Weese worked with the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Hockey Teams at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. He currently serves as the Government of Canada Representative and the Chair of the Legacy Fund Allocation Committee for the surplus/investment funds following Canada’s hosting of the 2015 Pan Am Games.
In 2014, his alma mater, the University of Windsor inducted him into its Sports Hall of Fame. In 2023, the University of Windsor Alumni Association awarded him their top honour, the Alumni Award of Merit.
Dr. Weese lives in London with his wife, Sherri. His passions include golf, hockey, guitar, and gardening.
Overview of His Books
Note: Listen to the The 5C Leader with Dr. Jim Weese podcasts
https://www.buzzsprout.com/881980/7978354-the-5-c-leader-with-dr-jim-weese
Want to be a leader, or perhaps a better leader?
If so – The 5C Leader: Exceptional Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Times is the book for you.
Weese distills over 130 years of leadership research and theory development, couples it with his extensive research program, mixes in his consulting experience and his practical experience, and delivers a leadership book for the ages. This book is required reading for anyone interested in learning more about leadership and/or being a more effective leader.
In Chapter One, readers are taken on a journey through the theoretical developments in leadership research. Readers will know that the area of leadership has captured the interests of scholars and practitioners alike. Readers will also be provided with information on the profound impact that leaders can have on people, and on the groups or organizations that they lead. This material, coupled with the “On the Shoulders of Giants” section provides the rock-solid foundation for his 5C concept.
Each of the 5C's of Leadership is discussed in the subsequent chapters in the book. Each of the C’s represents a leadership practice that consistently, but often independently, appears in the leadership literature. This text is an effort to bring these consistent themes together into a central, digestible package of what leaders are, what they do, and how they think. The 5C's of Leadership are:
C1 – Credibility
C2 - Compelling Vision
C3 - Charismatic Communicator
C4 - Contagious Enthusiasm
C5 - Culture Builder
Readers are also presented with a diagnostic tool that they can use to measure their 5C Leadership Practices and determine their relative strengths and areas for development (i.e., LAQ - Self form and the LAQ - Other form). An interpretive guide is provided to add meaning for the specific LAQ - Self and LAQ - Other scores for each of the five scales.
This book has been prepared to focus on the area of executive leadership and the application of its contents will help current and aspiring leaders deliver exceptional leadership. Examples of leaders from a plethora of industries and settings are profiled to help explain and apply one or all of the 5Cs. While contemporary examples of transformative leaders like Angela Merkel, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Justin Trudeau, Sheryl Sandberg, and Jeff Bezos are highlighted and highly appropriate, their leadership practices and accomplishments are ongoing. As a result, Weese takes a page out of a good biographer’s guidebook and focuses on leaders whose major accomplishments are complete. They can’t change course. Their work is done. As a result, you will read about Steve Jobs, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Herb Kelleher, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Mary Kay Ash in addition to understanding the historical leadership practices of leaders like Ray Kroc, Sam Walton, Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson, and Frank Purdue.
Being an effective leader is not easy, but the good ones make it look easy. They build strong leadership teams comprised of members with complementary skill sets and orientations. They ensure and communicate a clear, clairvoyant vision that the overwhelming majority of members embrace and take ownership for attaining. They lead from an emotional intelligence base that brings the best out in stakeholders. They ensure that a crystal-clear vision and behaviour code and progressive edge is baked into an organizational culture that supports and sustains success. Sounds easy – and it could be. That said, anyone who has been a leader knows that there are high and low periods. However, effective leaders stay the course, and in so doing, serve as a breath of fresh air to their organizations and to the people who comprise them. Unfortunately, effective leadership is not omnipresent and when it is observable, it is often fleeting.
Leadership researchers routinely suggest that people lack confidence in their leaders. However, it is Weese's contention that effectively leading a group is not as arduous, fleeting, or impossible as some suggest. Blue ribbon examples of effective leaders abound in a host of different situations from sports, government, business, education, and social movements. To a large degree, effective leadership involves the application of a few common-sense principles that need to be universally and consistently applied. Weese provides a clear and practical blueprint for current and aspiring leaders who seek to heighten their effectiveness.
A pragmatic and thought-provoking resource for anyone in, or aspiring to be in, a leadership role. Timely, progressive, and practical. Jim weaves in rich examples from his vast experience to provide readers with essential knowledge and tools for leadership success. I especially like his creative and effective 5C “house metaphor”. I love this book and recommend it - highly.”
David Scott, PhD
Author of Sport Leadership and Dean of the College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
“The world could use more 5C leaders”
Joe Henry, Dean of Students at King’s University College, London, Ontario Canada
The Grandpa Rules: Essential Lessons for Success in Life and Leadership (2023)
About the Book
Are you a grandparent or parent looking to inspire your grandchildren/children to think big, set goals and strive to attain them, persevere, be disciplined, and expect, but overcome hardships? What advice would you give them to successfully navigate their lives and develop a rich and meaningful life filled with personal and professional success? How might you deliver these rich lessons in a format that resonates with them and inspired them to action? If these questions interest you, The Grandpa Rules: Essential Lessons for Success in Life and Leadership is the book for you.
Noted leadership scholar Dr. Jim Weese and author of The 5C leader: Exceptional leadership practices for extraordinary times and The leadership lifecycle: How to get on? How to Excel? When (and how) to effectively exit? has incorporated the latest thinking in leadership and leader development and prepared a book for the ages. He has taken the perspective of a new grandfather, and prepared a masterpiece, filled with valuable lessons that he has learned through his career and as an expert in leadership. Young readers, graduates of elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools, new parents and new grandparents will all enjoy and benefit from the contents of this book.
His talented illustrator, Ms. Kayla McInnis, has expertly prepared a series of illustrations designed to entertain readers of all ages and help effectively transmit each of the 10 lessons for success in life and leadership. Young readers will be captivated by the story and inspired by the accompanying lessons. Grandparents, parents, siblings, coaches, and teachers will enjoy sharing the book with younger readers. They can also use the last two pages of the book to add personalized messages to help shape and inspire these young people. These personal lessons will make the book a keepsake for a lifetime.
The Leadership Lifecycle: How to Prepare; How to Excel, and When (and How) to Effectively Exit (2023).
Response to The 5C Leader: Exceptional Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Times (https://www.5cleader.com/) book has been remarkable. I couldn’t be more pleased. The book was authored to make a difference, and it has clearly met the mark. The book synthesizes the vast leadership resource base into a simplistic, but conceptually strong concept that students, leadership scholars, and current/aspiring leaders could understand and immediately put into practice. Based on the responses of readers and those offered by people attending a campus or community speaking engagement, the book has more than met the mark.
Responding to readers and audience members attending book signing events or speaking engagements has been a great pleasure. I was pleased when many told me the book has made a difference for them. However, I noticed that three questions seem to consistently emerge from these interactions, namely:
1. How can I best prepare and position myself for future leadership opportunities?
2. What can I do to work these 5C concepts into my leadership practices?
3. How can I get my boss to read this book and apply the concepts? Some phrased it as, “Can you sign this book and make it out to my boss? He (and sometimes She) really needs to read this book.”
These questions served as the genesis of this book, entitled The Leadership Lifecycle: How to Prepare; How to Excel, and When (and How) to Effectively Exit. Readers will understand the leader development literature and how they can best prepare and position themselves for leadership opportunities. Practicing leaders will better understand how they can embed the 5C Leader concepts into their current leadership practices. Practising leaders will also understand the signals that their influence is waning, and they must either change their approach or depart from the role and move on to new challenges. They will better understand the signs and signals that their impact is diminishing. They will know that it is time for them to change (or, consequently, be changed)? Rather than let others make decisions about them, this book was prepared to provide leaders with the necessary guidance to get ahead of the process. They can change and renew, or perhaps they will decide that it is time to leave the leadership role. Readers will be provided with the learn insights and strategies to do so with grace, dignity, and the assurance that the organization will continue to move forward.
There is a leadership lifecycle, and my goal was to help current and aspiring leaders effectively navigate each stage of their leadership journey. I shared the concept with participants in my leadership seminars, and the leadership lifecycle model resonated with them. I could see it in their eyes and feel it in their body language as I delivered the content. Many participants publicly or privately admitted that they could have used some guidance to help them effectively navigate through the stages of the leadership lifecycle model. I was especially moved by the reaction of those nearing the end of their tenures. They desperately sought advice on effectively navigating this stage in their development and shared with me that they found very little on the topic. This was a revelation for me, and their reactions proved to be a nirvana moment for me. I was on to something, and we all knew it. This was all the motivation I needed to delve into the leader development and effectiveness literature, sprinkle in my own research and experience, and craft this new book, which I entitled The Leadership Lifecycle: How to Prepare; How to Excel, and When (and How) to Effectively Exit.
Those aspiring to leadership roles will be able to reflect on their preparation and adopt empirically validated strategies to best prepare for leadership roles and position themselves for opportunities. Those currently in leadership roles can use the tried-and-true leadership practices and make necessary adjustments to heighten their success in the role. Last but not least, leaders can assess their impact by more effectively identifying the unobtrusive signals that their leadership impact is waning. They can commit to making the necessary adjustments to reinvigorate their effectiveness or make the decision to effectively depart from the role and move on to new challenges and invigorating opportunities. Regardless of the decision, these leaders can help ensure that they manage the decision while ensuring a strong and effective leadership development program is in place to facilitate a smooth and successful succession. Leaders want to leave their units in better shape than it was upon their entry, leave the role with pride and dignity, and ensure that the unit they lead is positioned to springboard into future success.
I wish readers well in this incredible and exciting journey. Onward!!!