Business

The secret word on leadership

We have been led to believe that an army of generals cannot win a war. We have always been trained to distance ourselves from the leader within us and accept the role of followers. However, leadership is what is needed for people to move forward and improve their lives. Leadership is key to happiness and development, both personally and socially. Furthermore, the potential for leadership exists within each of us and discovering it is within our grasp. As Brian Tracy says ‘You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world may throw at you’.

The interest in what makes effective leaders is as long as history itself. However, the literature on the subject is more like a contest for personal statements on leadership and the formulation of frameworks, models and approaches. In the study and discussion of leadership, everyone seems to have a personal opinion. Even the definitions of leadership are as varied as the explanations. Philosophical discourses on leadership are scarce to be helpful, while discussions have been in terms of morality or elusive prescriptions of lives for the general population, as in Rawls’s A Theory of Justice. In psychology, social psychology, politics and organizational behavior there are very interesting entries on “leadership”, but these entries are quite descriptive, without being analytically or critically rigorous, and the philosophical questions must be drawn from the maze of considerations.

Some years before taking the kidneys of power, a prince asked his wise adviser to write a book on leadership, a kind of guide to his rule as the new king. The sage spent some years writing his knowledge and wisdom about it. When the book was finally completed, the sage was asked to compose an executive summary to prevent the busy prince from spending a lot of time reading it. Meanwhile, the prince became involved in important matters and could hardly find time to read even the summary of the book. Then he asked the sage to summarize the entire leadership book in one word. A few months later, the sage returned to the prince to reveal the magic word of leadership that sums up all his knowledge and wisdom. When the word was revealed, the prince replied proudly and laconically that he had always known.

Claire Booth Luce popularized the “life sentence” idea, noting that ultimately, history often summarizes a leader’s contribution in one sentence. It has also popularized the idea that we are the perpetrators of our own “life sentence.” If you want your ‘life sentence’ to bear the stamp of an effective leader, then you must know the secret word that sums up all the wisdom and knowledge about leadership. Don’t worry if you don’t know the word. Leadership can be improved and developed through lifelong learning and experience. However, the principles and concepts of leadership can be mastered more quickly through study and training. You may be surprised at how easily the word of leadership can be expressed.

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