Leadership In A Nutshell

The Daily Dozen For Leaders

1. Leaders get out in front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves ---- and by which they are willing to be judged.
2. To embark successfully on a career involving leadership demands courage.  Once a person has decided the part he wishes to play in life, and is assured he is doing the work for which he is best endowed, and is satisfied that he is filling a vital need, then he needs the courage to tackle the problems he must solve.
3. Leaders need to submit themselves to a stricter discipline than is expected of others.  Those who are first in place must be first in merit.
4. No sluggard need aspire to leadership.  There are passive persons who are content to go through life, getting lifts from people and wait until action is forced upon them.  They are not of leadership material.
5. Leaders are not impetuous.  They keep a balance between emotional drive and sound thinking.  Enthusiasm stimulates their energy.
6. The leader must take counsel from his people, but he will act on what his mind tells him is right.  He has trained himself out of the fear of making mistakes.
7. Leaders must steer a careful course between keeping their fingers in every pie, dictating in detail what is to be done by whom, and on the other hand slackening the reins so that assistants learn only by experience and make costly mistakes.
8. Leadership is getting people to work for you when they are not obligated to do so.
9. Vision, policies, and plans are more or less useless unless they are known to all who may be concerned with them.
10. To tackle problems in a masterly way, the leader must see things whole as well as in separate parts.
11. The most important thing in life is not to capitalize on our gains.  Any fool can do that.  The important thing is to profit from our losses.
12. In every significant event, there has been a bold leader, an object or purpose, and an adversary.
This week think about: 1) Which of the twelve hits me today? 2) Who first saw me as a leader? 3) How am I identifying and encouraging other leaders?
Words of Wisdom: “Those who are first in place must be first in merit.”
Wisdom from the Word: “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he had said.Moses chose capable men from all Israel, and he made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” (Exodus 18:24,25 NET Bible)
From Breakfast with Fred Fred Smith, Sr. 1915-2007 http://www.breakfastwithfred.com/