A few thoughts to share in this series from my learnings….
If there is a time when peoples and nations are in dire need of True Leadership, it is now. Many people agree that 2016 brought along several shocking surprises… And these were situations that we might have foreseen as part of our leadership moments… when someone somewhere just needed to take the right action to save a Nation, a life, a firm, or a product. Micheal Useem, my Professor at Wharton, indicates that these moments will come at least once in the life of an individual…and will require that deliberate steps be taken. Steps that would either make, mar, or change the course of peoples’ destiny.
As we witness a new dawn in 2017 it is imperative to watch for those Leadership moments to make a difference in our own little way and not be limited by the Moral framing of leadership, which substantially categorizes leaders into “good or bad” irrespective of the complexities, dilemmas, and choices that confront them. We must continue to do our part to positively impact other lives, empower people, and seek advancement for others–outside our own constituencies.
Remember, the most successful and admired leaders were pragmatists, who rose to the occasion and were willing to go the full mile to resolve the complex issues of their time. Leaders including Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy, who were not only shaped by their enduring convictions, traits, values, beliefs, and principles, but were influenced by their convictions and constraints that vary by their circumstances