Leadership

  We think of leadership as a subject we study. We learn about leadership; choosing examples, dissecting them to understand. We want to see who did what when, drawing conclusions from the results of their actions. We would like to analyze our way into leadership. We can know a great deal about leadership without becoming leaders. We become […]

We act as if leadership were a magical secret power. We do not understand how or why we became leaders. It is a challenge for us to explain just what leadership is. Many of us believe we became leaders because someone else decided we were. We were chosen for a particular position, or for a training

We tend to think of leaders as people at the top. Leaders are at the top of their game, at the top of the organization chart. People who want to be leaders fight their way to the top. Some people even climb to the top of the leadership mountain. We believe that leadership flows from

We think of leaders as people up in front, attracting our attention. We see leaders having plans, motivating people to put those plans into action.  We hear leaders talk, directing and influencing other people to do things. We believe leaders are in the spotlight, in the front of the room. People who want to be recognized as

We think we have a handle on leadership. We read books about leadership. We study it in school. We attend leadership conferences, even hold positions of leadership. People have appreciated our leadership potential for as long as we can remember. We may have challenges in other areas of what we do; we understand leadership. We recognize the

We live in a culture that has a hard time distinguishing between leadership and sports. Some of the leadership people I know really love sports analogies. We talk about our game plan and our play book. People will say that someone hit a grand slam or completed a marathon negotiation. We compare challenging leadership situations

  I know people in positions of responsibility who are eager to reach the end of this year. The last twelve months have been filled with challenges, obstacles, and fear for them. They are straining to continue accomplishing their goals with fewer and fewer resources. They feel their strength draining away. Their leadership is filled with

I enjoy watching orchestras. There are times when I get distracted from the music, watching how the musicians work together. I wonder about the tensions between the sections. How do the brass instrumentalists get along with those playing woodwinds? Do the violinists even talk to the percussionists? What are the differences that make world class orchestras

Each of us suffers in our own unique way. We may suffer because of how we are treated by other people, or how we see ourselves. Our suffering may be intimately personal, or shared through our family or culture or nation. Each of us searches for someone who will ease our suffering and pain. Suffering is not

Where I live, we are in the middle of leftover season. It began with leftover candy about a month ago, then hit full stride last week. We will be riding waves of party leftovers for the next few weeks, when the tide really hits. There are things I appreciate about leftovers, and things I do not. The leftovers I