Where have they gone? The Walesa's Cheap Jerseys Wholesale , Thatcher's, Ronald Reagan's; the Winston Churchill's, the Golda Maier's, the Sadat's? Where is Mandela, Biko, de Klerk, Gandhi, Pope John Paul 11, Harry Truman. Generals MacArthur Cheap Sports Jerseys , Eisenhower and Schwarzkopf? Where are the Glover Johns's, Chesty Puller's and George Patton' Admiral Nimitz? Shirley Chisolm, Margaret Sanger, and Martin Luther King? Lee Iacocca and Pete Rozzelle. TR, FDR and JFK? Lombadri, Auerbach, and Halas? And the list goes on. But curiously, why is it so easy to go back in the past and pick out such names but so difficult to find their current counterparts?
Maybe I' m just too "old school," but it seems there is a dearth of leadership right now. When I listen to a Mitt Romney or Al gore Cheap Authentic Jerseys , I just don't hear that strong sense of passion to be able to get people to commit 100% and take the necessary action to see that vision become a reality. When JFK was guiding us through the Cuban Missile crisis during those 14 scary days in October 1962, that passion was contagious and my friends and I had it. We were ready to do whatever was necessary. We were ready to go. Great leaders excel in that kind of communication and motivation, instilling confidence and enthusiasm.
As well, they demonstrate integrity on a consistent basis. JFK instilled that confidence and passion. I doubt Al Gore could do that for me. Rudy Giuliani? Maybe. Bill First? Never. The late Paul Wellstone perhaps could do it. John Kerry could not. When I lived in Massachesetts, the late Lenny Zakim (a lifelong campaigner against racism and for whom the new bridge in Boston,The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, is named) and Paul Tsongas were leaders who led by example. My heavens what great leaders they were. And for anyone who does not know what Lenny stood for, I urge you to find out.
In any organization, a leader's actions set the pace. Such behavior wins trust Cheap Jerseys Shop , loyalty, and ensures the organization's continued vitality. One of the ways to build trust is to display a good sense of character composed of beliefs, values, skills, and traits. Lee Iacocca once said, "The speed of the boss is the speed of the team." These days, it's called walking the talk. If the leaders don't do it, do not expect the team members to do it. Chesty Puller walked the talk. So did his men. Greenbay Packers, under Coach Vince Lomdardi Cheap Jerseys Online , would do anything to win his praise. It was called mutual respect.
These leaders didn't pontificate; they led by led by having the aforementioned ingredients of values, traits, beliefs, and skills. Arguably, President William F. Clinton was a chief executive who produced rock solid results, but did he demonstrate integrity on a consistent basis? President Richard M. Nixon's ability to be visionary is historically manifest but he too stumbled along the way.
In their work "Leaders," researchers Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus conclude, "Leaders articulate and define what has previously remained implicit or unsaid; then they invent models that provide a focus for new attention. By so doing, they consolidate or challenge prevailing wisdom. In short Cheap Jerseys From China , an essential factor in leadership is the capacity to influence and organize meaning for the members of the organization." They continue, "Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing. The difference may be summarized as activities of vision and judgment -- effectiveness verses activities of mastering routine -- efficiency." In this sense, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are leaders of today, for they created technical models that provided a focus for rapt attention.
Bennis and Nanus describe leaders as changing the basic metabolism of the organization. Respected business lecturer Tom Peters wrote that leaders, "must create new worlds. And then destroy them; and then create anew ('Thriving On Chaos')." Interestingly, Peters defines visions as aesthetic and moral -- as well as strategically sound, which, of course, would eliminate Hitler's quest of the world as being a vision. Martin Luther King had a vision that was not only proclaimed Cheap Jerseys China , but was lived convincingly and was an exemplar of the process. MLK walked the talk. Pete Rozzelle had a vision for the National Football League and he influenced those around him to carry out his vision. He took the league to the next level. Ella Grasso, first woman elected state Governor in her own right (Connecticut), shut that state down during the Blizzard of 78. It was a decisive action by a great leader.
How do today's leaders stack up on the leadership index? The McCain's, Hillary's, Biden's, First's, Tommy Frank's, Wes Clark's, the Mitt's Cheap Jerseys , the Judd's, and so many others. Does our own NH Senator, John Sununu, have what it takes to become a great leader? Just maybe. Does Hillary? Time will tell.
And what about today's business leaders? We have Carol Bartz, Muriel Siebert and Robert L. Johnson. Michael Dell, the Wyatt's and the Wrigley's and they are darn where are the Lou Gerstner's, Jack Welch's Harold Geneen's and Lee Iacocca's? The Hewlett's and the Packard's. The Ken Olsen's, Lawrence Bossidy's, An Wang's and IBM's Watson's? The Land's and the Eastman's. Today Wholesale Sports Jerseys , an alarming number seem to be doing the "Corporate Perp Walk" on television, slurping excessive pay at the corporate trough, or playing insider tips on the stock market. Some are even called "Celebrity CEO's" as if they were movie stars or super athletes. How nauseous is that? Business ethics seems to have become an oxymoron. Today's corporate leaders seem to be saying, "do as I say, not as I do." Their obscene compensatory behavior is is hardly the stuff of leadership. Thankfully, we have the Gates, Jobs and Buffets, but there are too few like them. Regrettably, the period 2001 through 2004 will go down as the period of great corporate accounting scandals and that is just plain shameful.