FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
February 21, 2006
Be Responsible
"By leadership I mean taking complete responsibility for an organization's well-being and growth and changing it for the better. Real leadership is not about prestige, power, or status. It is about responsibility."
--Robert L. Joss, dean, Stanford Graduate School of Business
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at February 21, 2006 10:47 AM | Category: book discussions |
3 Comments
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Agreed. But essentially, aren't power, prestige,and status fundamental accoutrements of one's ability to respond, or of one's 'responsiblity'? And as such the just rewards of good leadership or stewardship? What is that Roman text, 'Fame follows those she is unworthy to lead', not 'unable' to lead. I tend to agree with Buckminster Fuller who said "On spaceship Earth there are no passengers - only crew." Good leadership recognizes and nurtures the talents of,and finds ways to reward, members of the crew, recognizing the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln who remarked "God must have loved the common man; he made so many of u s." Pride may come before a fall, but great leaders are born of humility and hard-won truths. For it is not the knowledge of a man today that is important;what matters if a man knows more than I if he loves less than I? Rather it is the 'state of consciousness' in which it is won
that is important, for that is the trasformative element, the transfigurative element in the equation that turns the dross of a job well done into the leadership gold.
I guess this is not a discussion about George Bush
'Responsibility' is an excuse I observe as a manifestation of poor leaders who use it as a mask of 'I know best'. 'Returning authority’, a key thought pattern identified in world class leaders, (David Burham's work) allows a greater possibility of real transformation.