On Leading with Greatness

What can a conscientious leader dedicated to human decency do to get a more objective self-assessment than private reflection will provide?

Let me ask the question more eloquently: who calls you on your s**t?

There is no leadership without justice.

If you’re a leader, the means to your goal is simple: just act justly to achieve justice.

Much bullying, even the vast majority of bullying, serves no real purpose at all. Think of the schoolyard bully. After he has successfully terrorized all his peers into submission, he really has no reason to continue bullying on a regular basis, but he does.

The story of Odysseus and his monstrous confrontations offer lessons for leaders, both good and bad.

What does it really mean to think and write about leadership?

The best writers on leadership—even if they don’t see themselves this way—are in fact moralists in that they concern themselves largely with questions of right and wrong, good and bad.

One aspect of leadership that rarely gets its full due is its integral relationship to power. The pursuit of power (as with its counterparts, wealth and fame) can be corrupting but not necessarily so. While power offers myriad opportunities for abuse, it also presents positive possibilities.

Here’s a dirty secret that few acknowledge inside or outside of education: teaching only takes place when learning takes place. In other words, unless someone actually learns, no one has done any teaching. For what is teaching without learning? One hand clapping.

It’s the same with leadership. You can’t be a leader if no one follows. Seems obvious, right? You can’t lead the cavalry charge if there is no cavalry. But we make that mistake all the time.

he First Follower Effect: How Fearless Followers Make the Leader

Every Leadership Problem Is a Teaching Problem

Have you ever seen the sitcom Abbott Elementary? Among the many memorable characters populating the school, my favorite is the principal, Ava Coleman. To say Ava is self-serving is an understatement, but she also can be outward looking if only when you least expect it. Overall, though, she’s simply a terrible boss and therefore a lousy leader for her struggling little school. Even so, Ava’s words and actions teem with sharp revelations about the impact crappy bosses have on the day-to-day workplace.

A Festive Parody for this Season of Joy

Without the core—the why and how of it all—most would-be leaders struggle to find generic strategies that fit their circumstances and implement them successfully over time. Forget adapting.