The Art of Leadership without Losing Your Soul

Managing Teams with Humanity and Grace

Leadership is a lost art. Many companies provide what they call “Leadership Training”, but taking a course or participating in a class doesn’t make you a leader. It doesn’t make you a leader any more than taking a class or course at a medical school makes you a doctor, or reading about being an airline pilot makes you a pilot. And while most would accept that fact, we still pretend as if it does.

We’ve all seen the Vince Lombardi (legendary football coach) quote: “Leaders are not born, they’re made.” We’ve decided it means we can make a leader out of anyone, and, we can do so, whether or not they want to be one. It just isn’t so.
I can never become a world class Olympic sprinter. No amount of training or practice or coaching will or could ever produce that outcome from me. I’m not too broken up about that, but I certainly won’t waste my time and effort trying to become something I am not, nor ever could be.

It’s not exactly the same with becoming a leader, but it’s also not as easy as most think it is. We think, “Hey give me the title of a manager or VP or CEO and I automatically become a leader. But that’s not how it works. And the people who work under you are the ones who will suffer.

This book won’t make you something you are not. If it could, I would charge a lot more for it. But it can help you be the best you can be and can help true leaders spot other potential leaders by examining how they stack up against these attributes.
I start with the “must haves” and then discuss other more pragmatic aspects of being a manager or leader of people. I talk to other leaders and get their insight as well. And finally, I challenge managers, employees, and senior leaders with some evergreen New Year’s Resolutions.

Start the journey with an open mind and a willing heart to become a leader without losing your soul.