Throughout my life, I have been a student of leadership. In the business and non-profit world, I have worked for leaders and have observed leaders, both good and bad. I have been a leader myself. Leadership fascinates me. Perhaps it fascinates you too. What makes an effective, or even a superlative leader, has been both a personal and professional quest for me.
This blog is dedicated to leadership. It is created to serve as a valuable resource of information, ideas, guidance, stories, discussion and tips about leadership, because one thing I have observed about great leaders is that they have a constant and insatiable desire to continue to learn how to improve their leadership skills and to be more effective.
One doesn’t have to be the CEO of a giant corporation to be a leader and to care about improving to be a better one. Leaders are present at every level where people get together and do things – at work, church, school, and play. Ultimately, leadership is about influencing other people and to having them embrace and feel good about helping achieve ones vision, beliefs or goals.
There are all kinds of leaders, from so-called natural leaders to those who work very hard to lead. However, we have identified one common thread – the best leaders are those who cultivate a culture of leadership within their purview. A culture of leadership is where people and their ideas and capabilities are encouraged and respected, and where individual responsibility is valued. It is an environment where leaders cultivate leaders, and at every level throughout the organization.
A culture of leadership goes far beyond the individual leader. The reason it is so valuable is because it magnifies or leverages each individual’s contribution to the success of the whole by strengthening each person’s commitment to that success. However for all its strength, a culture of leadership is also a fragile thing. Seemingly inconsequential words or actions can quickly destroy it or make it extremely difficult to repair. The subject is truly fascinating. We hope you agree and find it worthy of following our exploration of it in this blog.
