Leadership

I was taught that leadership is about using what we know. We work hard to learn as much as we can. When we have the answers, we lead by putting them to work. The more I tried to know, the more it seemed there was still to learn. There was always a sense that there […]

People who help things grow impress me. As a boy, I grew up surrounded by people who helped things like corn, soybeans, and other crops grow. I have never been a farmer, though my friends include farmers, gardeners, even landscape architects. It takes hard work and wisdom to help things grow. Much of the work

People are amazing. People are dazzling in their variety, their potential, their ability to surprise. Each person has their own unique perspective on their experience. Each tells their story their own way. It is impossible to understand a person based on how they look. We need to listen to the stories locked inside each of

We know people who believe leadership emerges when we need it. They see crisis points in history when key world leaders were in place to make a difference. We may know other people who believe we build leadership through our own efforts. They talk about best practices or disciplines to develop leaders. They see us working

There are people who are afraid to become leaders, to take on the work of leadership. There are also people who want to be leaders because they are afraid. They work to compensate for their fear by controlling every aspect of what they do. They believe in planning and anticipation, being ready for anything. For them, leadership is

I know people in positions of responsibility who think leadership is kind of a pain. We look at people who move up the organizational ladder and think, “There is no way I am doing that.” We see leaders putting in long hours of hard work. Leaders appear to sacrifice their time with their own families, time

Our leadership relies on translating lessons from the past into actions in the present. The truths we have learned in the past and our behavior in the present shape our future. We reflect on where we have been as we try to understand where we are going. There are people whose leadership is rooted in their experience. The trauma they have

Our leadership is more about who we are than about how other people respond to us. Our own core values, principles, and vision are the ground in which our leadership grows. The leaders we become, the ways we lead, reflect who we are in our deepest selves. At the same time, it is impossible for

Dogs teach me important lessons about leadership. Though I do not live with an actual dog of my own, I meet canine mentors while walking around. It is educational to watch dogs leading their people around town. Some of them are even able to persuade their people to carry them. This week, not entirely by my own choice,