The winning F-word is fair. There wasn’t a winning submission. However, the F-word submitted by Ronak Pai (faith) was a word I would have chosen if I hadn’t selected fair. I sent him a signed copy of Why It Matters. Well done, Ronak!
As with other letters of the alphabet, I considered several F-words before choosing fair. In fact, I used three different AI packages to generate a list of F-words for me to consider. Among the AI-generated F-words, I considered being firm, focused, flexible, and forgiving. Although not included by AI packages, I also considered fortitude, feedback, faith, and fun.
FAIR was included in all three AI-generated lists. In Chapter 5 of Why It Matters, I link fair with unequal among twenty paradoxes leaders face: “People claim they want to be treated equally, but I believe they really want to be treated fairly, which doesn’t mean the same thing. Equal pay for equal performance? Of course! But everyone shouldn’t be led in the same way.” I add, “My successor to the UA chancellorship, David Gearhart, told the leadership class he wanted to be remembered as someone who treats people fairly. Shouldn’t that be every leader’s desire? The challenge, of course, is the vast differences among the people being led.”[i]
In Chapter 13 of Why It Matters, I share an instance in which I believed that I was treated unfairly. It had a significant impact on my life.[ii]
Exemplary leaders need to be firm. As I stated in the previous blog, they need to have edge. I also addressed the necessity of being firm in Chapter 13 of Why It Matters by using one of my Keys to As: being arbitrary.[iii] However, in Chapter 14 on Balance, I addressed the need for leaders to balance standing firm and yielding: “I had to learn to accept losing small battles in order to win the big ones. Too often, I found myself majoring in the minors. I finally realized that insisting on perfection in everything can be aggravating and demoralizing to followers who believe what they’ve done is good enough. It took years for me to finally accept that I should be satisfied with a 90 percent solution.”[iv]
Being focused is also an essential attribute for exemplary leaders. The importance of being focused is emphasized throughout Why It Matters by me and leaders who met with my leadership class.[v] The key thing with focus, though, is to be focused on the right things. Remember, people come first.
Some will claim that being flexible is the opposite of being firm. Welcome to the world of paradoxes and the need for balance. Flexibility and inflexibility are addressed in Chapter 5, where I state, “Being flexible is an important leadership trait. However, there are times when an exemplary leader should be inflexible. The challenge in choosing when to be inflexible is a function not only of the subject but also of the circumstances.”[vi]
Being forgiving, like being firm, focused, and flexible, must be in a leader’s tool kit. And, like them, there will be times when you cannot be forgiving. Some mistakes don’t merit second chances. However, leaders must accept mistakes if they want people to take risks, but there must be a limit to the number of times a person makes mistakes, especially if it’s the same mistakes over and over again. There’s a time when some people have to be removed from Jim Collins’ metaphorical bus.[vii]
Fortitude is defined as “strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.”[viii] Included among the 25 Keys to As is adversity. Few leaders won’t be faced with the need for fortitude. Followers count on them having it. In Why It Matters, I say, “Two attributes I believe are essential for successful leadership are symbolized by the two marble lions in front of the New York Public Library. New York’s mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, named them Patience and Fortitude. These are attributes New Yorkers needed in order to survive the economic depression during the 1930s. Patience and fortitude are also attributes leaders need, especially during turbulent times. I certainly needed them during my years as UA’s chancellor.”[ix]
Feedback isn’t really an attribute, but it’s essential for leaders to give and receive feedback to and from members of their team. In Why It Matters, I addressed feedback in the section on assessing in Chapter 10 on Leadership Teams: “Feedback has been called by many the breakfast of champions. I value feedback. However, obtaining objective, candid, and accurate feedback is one of the toughest challenges a leader faces. As Shelley Simpson told the students, ‘It is difficult to get candid feedback because friends will let you off the hook.’ Judith McKenna reminded the students, ‘Feedback is not the most important thing. What you do with it is.’ Coleman Peterson shared an example in which he received candid feedback from his supervisor. He said the supervisor taught him ‘how to hold people accountable by punishing them and moving forward without holding their mistakes over them in the future.’ He said his supervisor never again mentioned the incident causing the candid feedback. Jeff Long advised, ‘After levying criticism regarding a person’s performance, don’t let the criticism carry over; let it go, and move on.’”[x]
Listen to my interview of Donnie Smith, posted at LeadershipWWEB[xi]. Toward the end of the interview he shared an example of someone who didn’t receive candid feedback and it ultimately proved to be a stumbling block for her. Among my leaders, Mike Thomas, from Georgia Tech, was the best at providing candid feedback. Often I bristled and didn’t want to believe I needed to change, but after I got over the sting I realized he was right. Too often, the extent of feedback I received was, “You’re doing a terrific job. Keep doing it!” That wasn’t helpful.
Also, as you listen to Donnie’s LeadershipWWEB interview, as well as my interview, you’ll find our faith played and continues to play a major role in shaping our lives. When I was interviewed by the search committee for the UA chancellor position, I made sure they understood that my faith, one of my core values, would influence what I did and said. Evidence of my faith is provided by A Layperson’s Commentary on the Gospel of John to be published by Advocate Press, Columbia, SC, in the spring of 2026.
Finally, leaders need to have fun. Not all the time, but enough so that they enjoy what they do. As UA’s chancellor, in my first meeting with vice chancellors I shared my commitment to them and what I wanted them to commit to me. In both lists was “have fun.” Occasionally what we had to do wasn’t fun, but overall we enjoyed working together to make the university better for all stakeholders.
Next: Leadership ABCs—G
Rules for the game to receive a signed copy of Why It Matters: 1) limited to U.S.A. mailing addresses; 2) limited to a single selection for the word; 3) cannot submit entry sooner than one week before the blog is posted on LinkedIn; 4) be the first correct entry I receive; and 5) send entries to me at johnaustinwhitejr@gmail.com. The earliest you can submit your G-word entry is 12:00 am, EDT, October 22, 2025; the latest time is 12:00 am, EDT, October 29, 2025.
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[i] John A. White, Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership, Greenleaf Book Group Press, Austin, TX, 2022, p. 97.
[ii] ibid, p. 272.
[iii] ibid, p. 267.
[iv] ibid, p. 122.
[v] ibid, pp. xii, 4, 24, 25, 37, 48, 83, 194, 116, 120, 125, 128, 141, 166, 198, 227, 242, 257, and 264.
[vi] Ibid, p. 87.
[vii] Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t, Harper Business, New York, NY, 2001, p. 13.
[viii] See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortitude.
[ix] White, ibid, p. 40.
[x] White, ibid, p. 188.
