"The True Hallmark of Leadership"-

I recently picked up my old college copy of Don Quixote. I opened the first page to see my name scribbled in blue ink and my address. It brought me back a couple decades to the carefree life of the 1980's before the internet, cell phones, and reality t.v. We all had more time to read the classics without the hypermedia distractions. We had more time to contemplate the trigger of self invention as the true hallmark of leadership. Miguel Cervantes places a huge burden of self invention on his hero Don Quixote,a middle aged, unmarried man, content to live a quiet life surrounded by books. Don Quixote begins a quest at a time in life when most people of his age where settled into a sedentary life. Instead, the knight and his sidekick Sancho embark on an adventure to discover worlds that will challenge, inspire and test the limits of human imagination. Leadership is a quest for excellence. And our ability to embrace self invention is an opportunity to discover our ability to influence others to believe in our vision.

Overfunctioning Leadership

Roberta M. Gilbert addresses the phenomenon of overfunctioning in her book, "Extraodinary Leadership"

"How Do You Cultivate Authenticity?"

In my ODL program we talked about authenticity. My interpretation of leadership authenticity is to say what you mean and mean what you say. Ultimately, it takes a great deal of integrity to cultivate a level of authenticity in word and deed that amounts to what Jim Collins refers to in his book, Good to Great as level 5 leadership. " Which according to author Jim Collins is the highest echelon of leadership achievement. amounts to takes a great deal of integrity to accomplish this right? But, that takes courage and discipline and a damn good memory. Which leads me to the question, "How do you cultivate authenticity"? In other words, how do you change a culture of cynicism into one of authenticity? How do you inspire committment and action with authentic communication? It really comes down to the engagement of the leader to listen, to demonstrate integrity and inspire trust. It is a great deal to ask of a leader. But, as a change agent within an organization, authenticity is the most critical component. I recently picked up a book by Terry Pearce called "Leading Out Loud"

Leadership Meterology

Storm systems aren't just for meterologist to analyze and explain. In business there are storms on the horizon and competent leadership is the bell weather.