Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies

Wheelhouse Explained

A wheelhouse is where the ship captain stands at the helm.

It's a place for blue sky (wide open) thinking and blue ocean (innovative) strategy.

It requires steadfastness in the face of uncertainty and inevitable storms.

 


The wheelhouse, by definition, symbolizes four essential leadership functions:

(1) setting direction, (2) leveraging expertise, (3) generating energy, and (4) creating community.

 

 

Wheelhouse (We:lhaus) noun

(1) A part of a boat or ship that serves as a shelter for the person at the helm.

(2) An area of great expertise; from baseball lingo, meaning the sweet spot in a batter's strike zone where the greatest power and strength can be utilized.

(3) The portion of a Watermill that contains the waterwheel and gears, used to generate energy for the millstone.

(4) In archeology, a prehistoric, aisled roundhouse with spokes-on-a-wheel structure; distinct chambers feeding into a community center.

 

Louie the Laker

 

Grand Valley State University's mascot, Louie the Laker, is based on the real life Louis Van Tressel.

Louie was a laker aboard the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes freighter famous for its size (dubbed the "Mighty Fitz") and its sinking on Lake Superior.

All aboard, including Louie, perished.

Today, Louie represents a university that is dedicated to preparing students for the wheelhouse.

Its mission -- "Educating students to shape their lives, their professions, and their societies" -- is a commitment to producing a new generation of leaders.