Authentic Leadership

The leader who basically focuses on himself or herself is going to mislead. The leader who is dead set on the right techniques, will drown in a sea of self-inflicted narcissism. The three most charismatic leaders in this century inflicted more suffering on the human race than almost any other trio in history: Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. What matters is not the leader’s charisma. For leadership is not the magnetic personality — that can just as well be demagoguery. It is not “making friends and influencing people” — that is flattery. Leadership is the lifting of a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of an individual’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. Nothing better prepares the ground for such leadership than a spirit of management that confirms in the day-to-day practices of the organization strict principles of conduct and responsibility, high standards of performance, and respect for the individual and his or her work.