I am about to finish teaching Summer intensive course in Leadership which runs for two weeks 5 hours each. It's tiring, but self-rewarding. The opportunity to touch the lives of others through the course is something that I enjoy doing profoundly. Equally important is what I teach helps me to challenge my own preconceived notion of leadership and the many other issues associated.
We discussed many leaders from William Wilberfore to Steve Jobs, from Mahatma Gandhi to Jim Jones. What becomes clear to me is that leadership starts with a process of self-discovery. As there are no universal traits of leaders, one need to be authentic - to be who she or he really is. That is why a lot of soul searching is required for any effective leadership. Our earliest experiences as a baby/child did play a role in determining the effectiveness of our leadership, and so are all the 'defining moments' later in our lives.
Our fascination (and mine) with leadership will be likely to continue. Despite how unhealthy it may become, one should acknowledge that everything rises and falls on leadership. Borrowing de Vries' metaphor, you can have the most sophisticated engine and most aesthetic design in the world for your car, but without a capable driver, the only direction the car will run on itself is downhill. Organizations are not different. If anything, this course deepens my conviction that cultivating our leadership character is priceless, particularly since we have a role model to imitate: The Servant King, Christ Jesus.
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