One-Liners on Leadership
An old Proverb:
“Pardon me for I must leave. There goes my group and I must get in front of them; for I am their leader.”
What is leadership? Is it learned? Is it in the genes? Is it inspired by a situation or environment? Here is what some thinkers on leadership,
- Peter Druker, Author
- Tamim Ansary, Writer
- Thomas Cronin, Professor
- Max Webber, Sociologist; and
- Rick Warren, Pastor and writer of “The Purpose –Driven Life” have to say.
Some of these one-liners may seem to contradict another, but taken together, they give an experts’ view on the subject of Leadership.
- A leader is someone with followers
- Certain personal traits predispose a person for leadership (tall, strong, brave, smart, and discerning)
- Is a person that runs things a leader? NO, that is a boss
- Leadership is a force one is born with
- Leaders are as leaders do
- Leadership isn’t a person so much as a person responding to a situation. Is it possible to be a leader without a situation to resolve?
- Leaders don’t just organize people to get results; they infuse their followers with a noble purpose
- Leadership is not necessarily a moral high ground; consider Hitler
- A person with a gun has power; but not leadership
- A supervisor has authority, but not necessarily leadership
- Leaders do not push; they pull
- Leaders so not enforce; they inspire
- Leaders lead, which implies a destination someplace that is not here
- Most people are not cut out for leadership; as they abhor conflict. Leaders have to confront conflict; move to it; engage it; handle it and use it
- If we don’t have medical schools; we don’t have physicians. If we don’t have leadership schools; we still have leaders
- Management is not the same thing as leadership
- Leaders get others to work as one by articulating a vision that strikes a common cord
- A group that is not successfully engaged lacks someone to articulate a vision
- Leaders are not afraid of the strengths of others
- Leaders know how to put into service more able persons than themselves
- Leaders have a knack for picking out the truly important things to do
- Leaders understand that humans have the miraculous ability to turn fervent desires into physical realities
- Harry Truman did not have an ounce of charisma. Those who worked for him were very loyal because he was absolutely trustworthy.
Leadership may be like poetry. You can improve language skills, build vocabulary, learn about rhythm and rhyme and read great poets and in that way enable the inner poet to shine; if there is a poet already inside
Compiled by David Shipman
