Thursday, July 16, 2009

The shifting tides of Leadership

I recently read an article by Richard Stengel, Managing Editor of Time Magazine, about Sarah Palin's leadership style. He describes her style as, "she is the textbook example of Weber's charismatic leader, who uses personal appeal and magnetism and a disdain for traditional structures as a route to power. Hers is the opposite of the legal-bureaucratic style and seems based on intuition, emotion and frontier values." Richard also states that "we don't write about leadership in a theoretical way-every week we write about leadership in real time involving real events." Inspirational leadership is what most people remember. You only need to think about the leaders you would follow. It would be for your personal reasons of how they

Air Force One flying over Mount Rushmore.Image via Wikipedia

made you feel. Did you become angry and eager to make/force a change? Did you become more educated and ready to jump in and do some research to inspire others to take action. Did you feel safer? Did you feel less secure? What was that feeling stirring in you veins making your heart pound a bit harder and your senses become more attuned to your surroundings. It wasn't theory. It was and inspirational leader that you took the time to listen to. Someone with conviction, commitment, and a drive that, perhaps, instilled in you a sense of well being and of progress. Or maybe they made your blood boil and your sense of patriotism rise to heights you never thought you had. I can think of leaders that did that for me and I can think of the times of my life in which that happened. We all are at a point in time where the essence of leadership will dissected in the future and through hindsight we'll make course corrections. We all are at a point where we all will move forward. We all are at a point where there is

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 20:  The Seal of the Pres...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

no backward...never was, ever, at any time. So the real question is, what type of leader will you follow or even more importantly, what type of leader will you be. Will you reach out and grab the brass ring? Will you dedicate your life to taking steps to improve? Will you learn, mentor, coach, act and be accountable for your actions. What are your values? What will you do and how do you want to be envisioned? What do you want people to say about you? There are a plethora of questions to answer, personal blocks to overcome, steps to take, and opportunities to lead. I leave you with this thought...many leaders have come and gone, many have been taken apart by the press or their adversaries, but a very small number of the population can say they actually ran for the President of the United States of America, or for the Vice Presidency of this great country of ours. Think about it...what will your legacy be as a leader?



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