[December 06, 2014] New readers of theLeaderMaker.com have asked me (via my email account) to summarize the major themes of my blog. Of course, I’m only too happy to help. Hence this post today that lays down some of my personal beliefs on leadership. My blog themes are sometimes eclectic and oft times unusual but never without a leadership focus. When guest writer submits an article, they are also required to have a similar focus.
Here are what I consider to be the top ten. Longtime readers, please feel free to add to my list.
- Senior leadership is discernible from other forms of leadership and there are distinctive characteristics that set them apart.
- Leadership is learned and can be improved upon by applying common principles that have been used successfully throughout human history.
- Humans are imperfect and have biases, preferences, and emotions. Knowing the psychology of people will help the leader utilize this knowledge to be better at leading human beings.
- You can learn a lot about leadership by studying the successes and failures of other leaders.
- Leadership is hard work and requires intense academic study and practical, relevant experiences. Professional level reading is a very important ingredient in this effort.
- The character of a person supersedes race, gender, religion, origin of birth, etc. in determining how successful a leader can be.
- Leaders need to have an honest and full assessment of their personal strengths and weaknesses. Only by doing so can they make improvements in leadership skills.
- Great leadership doesn’t require superior intelligence but it does require the ability to adapt quickly and effective action.
- Leadership fundamentally means rallying people to achieve a goal. Everything else is technique.
- Leaders is proactive and future-oriented. But a leader must prove their worth every day.
I also have a few side issues that I deal with on an irregular basis. For example, I have personal experience with socialist countries and in my opinion socialism is a failed socio-economic system despite its popularity with Western society elites. I also write about core values and how important they are in helping people move their organizations to success.
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