{"id":5866,"date":"2016-02-11T06:21:37","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T11:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5866"},"modified":"2016-02-11T06:29:46","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T11:29:46","slug":"rare-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5866","title":{"rendered":"rare leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

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More and more I think we struggle from a lack of great leadership in our country. While I would hope to never fall prone to the historical temptation of clamoring for a king, I do crave wise leadership\u2026 from the presidency to the pulpit to our places of business\u2026 from our homes to our sports teams to all heads of state. We thrive from great leadership; we suffer from that which is something lesser.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m mindful of a piece published\u00a0in Forbes two\/three years ago. In it, contributor Mike Myatt wrote a great piece. Allow me to include a short excerpt here:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ever wonder why we\u2019re in a crisis of leadership all you have to do is to watch and listen to those in positions of leadership. While there are clearly many aspects of leadership that must work together in harmony in order for leaders to be effective, everything breaks down when leaders don\u2019t understand how to engage effectively.<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with what leadership is not: Leadership is not a monologue, a speech, a lecture or a filibuster. Leadership is not talking at or over people. Leadership is not sequestered, does not live in a bubble or operate in a vacuum. Leadership is not exclusive or arrogant. Leadership is not about the leader.<\/em><\/p>\n

What we see all too often in today\u2019s leaders are little more than egocentric talking heads. They are so enamored with seeing themselves on camera or listening to themselves talk they have forgotten it\u2019s their job to solve problems, not create or exacerbate them.<\/em><\/p>\n

History\u2019s best examples of leaders are of those leaders who were\/are highly engaged, very inclusive, deeply caring, and highly empathetic. They don\u2019t fear being proven wrong, but are deathly afraid about the thought of being wrong and not knowing it.<\/em><\/p>\n

The best leaders are not interested in who is right, but what is right. They not only embrace dissenting opinions, but they seek them out at every opportunity. Real leaders are just as at ease when unlearning as they are when learning.\u00a0 And perhaps most importantly, they never pass up an opportunity discuss, converse, dialog, or debate. They know that their leadership is only as good as their ability to engage, listen, discern, and to act.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Myatt \u2014 who describes himself as one who likes to \u201cwrite about leadership myths, and bust them one-by\u2013one\u201d \u2014 hits the nail on the head, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything breaks down when leaders don\u2019t understand how to engage effectively\u2026\u201d<\/em> how many times have leaders been silent \u2014 not engaging, not trusting supposed subordinates with information or perceived transparency. Often they ask for a following, albeit absent any authentic engaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership is not a monologue\u2026\u201d<\/em> Sorry, I don\u2019t care how brilliant a person is or what his\/her teachers in school told him\/her. I don\u2019t care about their mind-blowing talent or extensive, academic affirmation. I don\u2019t want my leaders shouting at me nor being the only ones talking. Great leaders need to be able to listen better than they speak. Leadership is not about the leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders are so enamored with themselves\u2026\u201d<\/em> I have seen far too many whose humility seems to be siphoned away with all upward mobility. They forget that humility is perhaps the most attractive trait in any leader. Note: I speak not of passivity. I speak of a bold, embedded empathy \u2014 a mindset of which I never question if the person cares most about self and hearing themselves speak. Yes, history\u2019s best examples of leaders were\/are marked by being \u201chighly engaged, very inclusive, deeply caring, and highly empathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best leaders are not interested in who is right, but what is right\u2026\u201d<\/em> Again, the best leaders care less about their role, their ideas, and their success\u2026 the best leaders don\u2019t excessively use first person pronouns\u2026 \u201cI\/me\/my\/myself\u201d will always be secondary to \u201cyou,” “us,” and “we.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, how I crave wise leadership\u2026 recognizing what a rarity it can be.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                More and more I think we struggle from a lack of great leadership in our country. While I would hope to never fall prone to the historical temptation of clamoring for a king, I do crave wise leadership\u2026 from the presidency to the pulpit to our places … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “rare leadership”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-issue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5866"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5891,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5866\/revisions\/5891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}