The dynamic 21st-century business environment requires leaders who are comfortable dealing with both ambiguity and complexity. How do we develop the next generation of leaders, who must be prepared to continuously learn, change, and innovate and do so faster than our global economic adversaries? The key question is simple, but finding the answers for developing these adaptive leaders is the number-one imperative for the continued health of our nation.
(1) Separate Facts and Values in their thinking. Ideology must never be the sole driver of decisions and policy because ideology bends, selects, and ultimately distorts the facts in service of a "higher" goal. This is true at the individual, team, organization, and even national levels. Reality is what it is and is never changed by human wishful thinking. Only by beginning our thinking with a search for the facts, and only the facts, can our values -- which set priorities and boundaries for action -- find the best expression.
(2) Put mission & followers ahead of themselves. Leadership is a responsibility, not a reward. The military leader is preoccupied with both "men and mission", and exercises the authority of rank as a last resort of influence, never a first resort. The non-military leader should not be held to a lower standard. Of course leaders should be well paid, but those who seek maximum financial compensation for their efforts are opportunist, not leaders. History teaches us to beware those who see aggrandizement of either their office or themselves. It took a great leader, Harry Truman, to put a brilliant but pompous Douglas MacArthur in his place.
(3) See Means and Ends as Siamese twins. A philosopher could argue that there aren't any "ends" in life, only the certainty of bodily death though it may be useful to distinquish means and ends as a tool for clear thinking and problem focus. But engaging in reprehensible means to pursue noble ends is a self-delusional trap. One can cheat and "win", but the victory is not only empty but makes ultimate success less likely.
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