Never-ending quest for leadership
Came across an interesting post on leadership on the "Reforming Project Management" blog. Here it is: http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2005/04/12/476/
Thought I'd share a story from a professor of a class I took, "Managing Global IT." It was his attempt at describing the undefinable: leadership.
He grew up in a family of modest means with seven kids in the suburbs of Boston. As the oldest, it was a big deal that he was able to attend college after he graduated from high school. It was an even bigger deal when two years later, his next youngest sibling was also able to enroll. In order to make ends meet, both had to come home for the summers, where they could get rent-free housing while working to save up money so that they could afford to go back to school the following year.
This particular year, after his brother's freshman year of college, the two packed all their belongings onto the family AMC Rambler and headed home. They arrived in the middle of the day, and nobody was home. They began unpacking the car, staging everything in the dining room until they could figure out where in the attic and closets everything could be stored for the summer.
As they were wrapping up, their father -- a man who never missed a day of work -- came strolling into the house, presumably a father's way of getting some father-son time with his coming-of-age boys. When their father walked into the dining room, on the table sat a 27-inch bong. Both brothers froze. The older brother, knowing it was not his, was anxious but cool. The younger brother shuffled from foot-to-foot. After what seemed an eternity of silence, finally the father broke with, "Get that lamp into the attic before your mother comes home and sees it." Not a word was spoken about the incident ever again. What made the story even more impressionable is that the professor's father only recently passed away.
That is an example leadership: knowing what to say, at the right time, in a way that is sensitive to the audience and the context of the situation you are in. As I think about this story over and over, the many dimensions of it enthrall me. Rather than elaborate further, I'll reserve myself so that you can be afforded the same opportunity to turn it over in your own mind.