2011 Top American Leaders
Recently, I found a very interesting article regarding the men and women who were named the 2011 Top American Leaders (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/leadership-advice-from-the-2011-top-american-leaders/2011/04/01/gIQAc2zrZO_blog.html). Harvard’s Kennedy School and the Washington Post selected these seven selected leaders. The winners all gathered in a forum where they gave advice to the public about how to hone in on their own leadership potential. The winners were former FDIC chairman Sheila Bair, New York Governor Chris Christie, Google Ideas Director Jared Cohen, University of Maryland Baltimore County President Freeman Hrabowski, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts President Michael Kaiser, New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof, and Nobel Prize winner and United States Science Envoy to the Middle East Ahmed Zewail. They all had different backgrounds, came from different walks of life, and held different beliefs, but everyone was known for their outstanding leadership abilities.
Despite the obvious differences, each leader held very similar values. These values included honesty, focusing on the task at hand instead of worrying about the future, and the need to improve education. The general consensus was that “leadership is about groups rather than individuals and about character rather than title.” I could not agree more with this philosophy of leadership.
Although every single leader had a different idea for what makes a good leader, each person highlighted the fact that the group is more important than the individual and that one must have integrity in order to lead. What do you think? Are these the most important things for a leader to remember? Hrabowski put it perfectly when he stated that “leadership is not about the status of one person, but the dreams and values of a group of people.” Kristoff also believed that “leadership is above all else a state of mind.”
Do these ideas presented by the 2011 Top American Leaders line up with your ideas surrounding leadership? When leading, is it more important to focus on the task at hand instead of the future, or should the future be the first thing we worry about?
October 18th, 2012 at 11:02 pm
Leaders must first address the present, so the actions in the present can positively affect the future. It is vital to remember that actions in the present affect the future so you do not make an ill decision that will hurt future leaders and citizens of the organization you are leading.
We need to remember that as well- what we do and say today will follow us into tomorrow and there is no taking back what we say/do. That there are consequences for our actions, and that a good leader owns up to the decisions they make- even if those decisions end up going to a dead end or dark place.
October 23rd, 2012 at 11:39 pm
For me, I do believe that leaders should be honest and want to improve education, whether it be for their group members or for a larger group. I don’t find it odd that these leaders would all say that they like these values because they are pretty standard. The question isn’t if they believe in them, but if they actually strive for them. As to the issue of focusing on the task at hand versus focusing on the future I think that it is important to do both. If someone is focusing on the future then it is likely they are also considering what they have to do in the present to get to what they want in the future. When only focusing on the present it is important to also consider the future implications of what you are doing.