Spirit of Leadership

THE SPIRIT OF LEADERSHIP

calling. Therefore, when they are in their offices, they act a certain way, but when they leave, they lead double lives. This is a contradiction of true leadership. Leadership is not a technique, a style, or the acquisition of skills, but a mani festation of a spirit. Many institutions, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, civic organizations, and nonprofit entities spend billions of dollars every year training thousands of would-be leaders in management techniques, human manipulation skills, organizational systems, methods of control and per suasion, and much more, in the hopes of producing poten tial or better leaders. Yet such seminars cannot produce true leaders. Furthermore, the quality and standards of leaders are not increasing, but decreasing. The shelves of every bookstore are stacked with books on the subject of leadership. Some promise instant trans formation from follower to leader, while others sell cheap ideas that purport to create leaders by the application of shallow psychology and worn-out principles that frustrate those who invest in them. Research on how to be a leader continues by the leadership gurus, as colleges and universi ties add special courses designed to produce or improve the cadre of leaders. Yet I believe that all the college courses in leadership can never make a leader. Many of those whom we idolized as leaders in our modern societies have disappointed us as their fragile, formerly hidden inconsistencies have been exposed. Just L EADERSHIP HAS BECOME A ROLE ONE PLAYS RATHER THAN A LIFE ONE LEADS .

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