| Maybe I' m too "old school," but it seems to me | | | | say, not as I do." Their obscene compensatory |
| there is a dearth of leadership right now. When I | | | | behavior is hardly the stuff of leadership or |
| listen to a Mitt Romney, John McCain, Hillary, or Al | | | | character. Thankfully, we have the Gates, Jobs |
| gore, I just don't hear that strong sense of | | | | and Buffets, but there are too few like them. |
| vision........that passion to be able to get people to | | | | Regrettably, the period 2001 through 2004 may |
| commit 100% and take the necessary action to | | | | go down as the period of great corporate |
| see that vision become a reality. When JFK was | | | | accounting scandals and that is just plain |
| guiding us through the Cuban Missile crisis during | | | | shameful.In sports, what ever became of the |
| those 14 scary days back in October 1962, that | | | | Larry Bird's, Y.A.Tittle's and Bobby Layne's who |
| passion was contagious and my friends and I had | | | | would take their bloody lumps and get up ready |
| it. We were ready to do whatever was | | | | for more instilling in their team mates a sense of |
| necessary. We were ready to go. Great leaders | | | | dedication seldom seen these days. That was "old |
| excel in that kind of communication and | | | | school" leadership.Today's leadership seems to be |
| motivation. They instill confidence and enthusiasm. | | | | personified by doing the boogaloo in the end zone |
| As well, they demonstrate integrity on a | | | | after a touchdown.Closer to home, how does one |
| consistent basis. JFK instilled that confidence and | | | | recognize or find a leader? Acknowledging that no |
| passion. I doubt Al Gore could do that for me. | | | | one is perfect, what are some traits to look for? |
| Rudy Giuliani? Maybe. Bill Frist? Never. The late Paul | | | | What about those special kinds of leaders right |
| Wellstone perhaps could do it. John Kerry could | | | | here in the Mount Washington Valley? Or in New |
| not under any circumstances. When I lived in | | | | Hampshire. Maybe they will possess some of the |
| Massachusetts, the late Lenny Zakim (a lifelong | | | | following:Personal ethics and integrity. "Relativity |
| campaigner against racism and for whom the new | | | | applies to physics, not ethics." Albert |
| bridge in Boston,The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill | | | | EinsteinCourage.....the willingness to take risks and |
| Bridge, is named) and Paul Tsongas were two | | | | be accountable for the outcome. "Courage doesn't |
| leaders who led by example. My heavens what | | | | always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice |
| great leaders they were. And for anyone who | | | | at the end of the day that says I'll try again |
| does not know what Lenny stood for, I urge you | | | | tomorrow." Mary Anne RadmacherInspires and |
| to find out.Just where are the great leaders? The | | | | motivates......nothing is as contagious as genuine |
| Walesa's, Thatcher's, Ronald Reagan's; the | | | | enthusiasm. "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, |
| Winston Churchill's, the Golda Maier's, the Sadat's? | | | | you will be fired with enthusiasm." Vince |
| Where is Mandela, Biko, de Klerk, Gandhi, Pope | | | | LombardiCommitted, dedicated and cool under |
| John Paul 11, Harry Truman. Generals MacArthur, | | | | pressure.......inspires confidence. "Dedication is not |
| Eisenhower, and Schwarzkopf. Where are the | | | | what others expect of you, it is what you can |
| Glover Johns's, Chesty Puller's and George | | | | give to others." Unknown source |
| Patton's....and Admiral Nimitz? Shirley Chisolm, | | | | A desire to envision and create. "A dream is |
| Margaret Sanger, and Martin Luther King? Lee | | | | your creative vision for your life in the future. You |
| Iacocca and Pete Rozzelle. TR, FDR and JFK? Billy | | | | must break out of your comfort zone and |
| Graham. Lombadri and Auerbach? And the list | | | | become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the |
| goes on. Curiously, why is it so easy to go back in | | | | unknown." Denis WaitleyThe ability to prioritize. "If |
| the past and pick out such names but so difficult | | | | you want to make good use of your time, you've |
| to find their current counterparts? Perhaps we | | | | got to know what's important and then give it all |
| don't know what to look for.In any organization, a | | | | you've got." Lee IacoccaA genuine desire to help |
| leader's actions set the pace. Such behavior wins | | | | others succeed. "The more I help others to |
| trust, loyalty, and ensures the organization's | | | | succeed, the more I succeed." Ray Kroc, Founder |
| continued vitality. One of the ways to build trust is | | | | of MacDonald's.Decisiveness. "If I had to sum up |
| to display a good sense of character composed | | | | what makes a good manager, I'd say |
| of beliefs, values, skills, and traits. Lee Iacocca, | | | | decisiveness.....in the end you have to set a |
| who led Ford and brought Chrysler back from the | | | | timetable and act." Lee IacoccaKnow anybody like |
| brink, once said, "The speed of the boss is the | | | | this in New Hampshire? I'll bet they are around; |
| speed of the team." If the leaders don't do it, do | | | | the trick is to find them. One particular man I |
| not expect the team members to do it. Chesty | | | | believe exemplified the very essence of leadership |
| Puller walked the talk. So did his men. Greenbay | | | | was the late Col. David. H. Hackworth, who was |
| Packers, under Coach Vince Lomdardi, would do | | | | working on a book about "Leadership" when he |
| anything to win his praise. It was called mutual | | | | died last year. His cause of death was a form of |
| respect.These leaders didn't pontificate; they led | | | | bladder cancer now appearing with increasing |
| by example...........they led by having the | | | | frequency among Vietnam veterans exposed to |
| aforementioned ingredients of values, traits, | | | | the Agents Orange and Blue defoliants. He spent |
| beliefs, and skills. Arguably, President William F. | | | | more than 50 years on the many different |
| Clinton was a chief executive who produced rock | | | | battlefields, first as a soldier, then as a writer, |
| solid results, but did he demonstrate integrity on a | | | | correspondent and sharp-eyed critic of the |
| consistent basis? President Richard M. Nixon's | | | | Military-Industrial Complex and of the many |
| ability to be visionary is historically manifest but he | | | | generals he dismissed as "Perfumed Princes." |
| too tragically stumbled along the way.In their | | | | After an interview in 1971 on ABC's "Issue and |
| work "Leaders," researchers Warren Bennis and | | | | Answers" in which he called Vietnam a "bad war," |
| Burt Nanus conclude, "Leaders......consolidate or | | | | and predicted that Saigon would fall to the North |
| challenge prevailing wisdom. In short, an essential | | | | Vietnamese within four years, he became the |
| factor in leadership is the capacity to influence and | | | | only senior officer to sound off about the |
| organize meaning for the members of the | | | | Vietnam War. He then retired from the Army and |
| organization." They continue, "Managers are people | | | | later became a powerful voice for military reform. |
| who do things right and leaders are people who | | | | Said Roger Charles, president of Soldiers for the |
| do the right thing. The difference may be | | | | Truth, "everything he did in his retirement was to |
| summarized as activities of vision and judgment -- | | | | try to give the young kids that our country sends |
| effectiveness verses activities of mastering | | | | to bleed and die on our behalf a better chance to |
| routine -- efficiency." In this sense, Bill Gates and | | | | win and to come home."Before he took ill, he was |
| Steve Jobs are surly great leaders of today, for | | | | frequently seen on cable television during the early |
| they created technical models that provided a | | | | days of the war in Iraq. Early military setbacks |
| focus for rapt attention. Bennis and Nanus go on | | | | convinced him and other retired military leaders |
| to describe leaders as "changing the basic | | | | that the Bush administration, some of whose |
| metabolism of the organization." Lee Iacocca | | | | backers sold the War as a "cakewalk," hadn't sent |
| changed the metabolism of Chrysler in plain | | | | enough troops to put down Iraqi resistance. He |
| sight.Respected business lecturer Tom Peters | | | | was one of the earliest to question whether the |
| wrote that leaders, "must create new worlds. And | | | | administration planned well enough to achieve a |
| then destroy them; and then create anew | | | | decisive military victory and to keep the postwar |
| ('Thriving On Chaos')." Interestingly, Peters defines | | | | peace. Some of his quotes about Donald |
| visions as aesthetic and moral -- as well as | | | | Rumsfeld are indeed eyepopping!For those |
| strategically sound, which, of course, would | | | | interested, a profile of Col. Hackworth appears in |
| eliminate Hitler's quest of the world as being a | | | | the book, "Leadership: Past, Present & Future," |
| vision. Martin Luther King had a vision that was | | | | written by Carlos M. Rivera less than two months |
| not only proclaimed, but was lived convincingly and | | | | before his death. The book deal with the four |
| was an exemplar of the moral process. MLK quite | | | | values a true leader has: "courage, perseverance, |
| literally walked the talk. Pete Rozzelle had a vision | | | | communication skills and teamwork."Col. |
| for the National Football League and he influenced | | | | Hackworth, by the way, was put in for the Medal |
| those around him to carry out his vision. He took | | | | of Honor three times. The last application is |
| the league to higher levels. Ella Grasso, first | | | | currently under review at the Pentagon. He was |
| woman elected state Governor in her own right | | | | twice awarded the Army's second highest honor |
| (Connecticut), shut that state down during the | | | | for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, along |
| Blizzard of 78. It was a decisive action by a great | | | | with 10 Silver Stars and eight Bronze Stars. But |
| leader.How do today's leaders stack up on the | | | | when asked about his many awards, he always |
| leadership index? The McCain's, Hillary's, Biden's, | | | | said he was proudest of his eight Purple Hearts |
| Frist's, Tommy Frank's, Wes Clark's, Lieberman's, | | | | and his Combat Infantryman's Badge. As with |
| Mitt's, Judd's, Jeb's, and so many others. Does our | | | | Lenny Zakim, I urge our young people to do a |
| own Senator Sununu have what it takes to | | | | little research on the WEB or at the library and |
| become a great leader? Just maybe. Does Hillary? | | | | find out about such leaders who are so very |
| Time will tell.And what about today's business | | | | worthy of our knowledge, if not |
| leaders? We have Carol Bartz, Robert L. Johnson | | | | emulation."Leadership is practiced not so much in |
| and Muriel Siebert. Michael Dell, the Wyatt's and | | | | words as in attitude and in actions." Harold S. |
| the Wrigley's and they are darn good.....but where | | | | GeneenTed Sares, PhD, is a private investor who |
| are the Lou Gerstner's, Jack Welch's Harold | | | | lives and writes in the White Mountain area of |
| Geneen's and Lee Iacocca's? The Hewlett's and | | | | Northern New Hampshire with his wife Holly and |
| the Packard's. The Ken Olsen's, Lawrence | | | | Min Pin Jackdog. He writes a weekly column for a |
| Bossidy's, An Wang's and IBM's Watson's? The | | | | local newspaper and many of his other pieces are |
| Land's and the Eastman's. Today, an alarming | | | | widely published.His works focus on issues and |
| number seem to be doing the "Corporate Perp | | | | themes dealing with socio-political topics, business |
| Walk" on television, slurping excessive pay at the | | | | and economics in which he advocates a free |
| corporate trough, or playing insider tips on the | | | | market approach to capitalism, patriotism, and |
| stock market. Some are even called "Celebrity | | | | matters dealing with individual freedom.They are |
| CEO's" as if they were movie stars or super | | | | frequently inspirational in nature and sometimes |
| athletes. How nauseous is that? Business ethics | | | | reflect the Objectivist philosophy of novelist and |
| seems to have become an oxymoron. Today's | | | | philosopher Ayn Rand. He also writes short stories |
| corporate leaders seem to be saying, "do as I | | | | that feature ironic and surprise twists. |