Spirit of Leadership

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Attitude #7 Accountability

Authority is 20 percent given and 80 percent taken. —Peter Ueberroth 38 T he spirit of true leadership always possesses a sense of accountability and responsibility. True leaders readily embrace submission to authority and are conscious of their stewardship of the trust given to them by those whom they serve. The spirit of leadership seeks to be faithful to the sacred trust of the followers rather than doing what will please the leader. In this chapter, I want to address a potential danger that leaders fall into and what we can do to prevent it. As I said earlier, the key to good leadership is the power to influ ence through inspiration, not manipulation. The danger of leadership is its potential for wielding power without answer ing to anyone else. Dictatorship and tyranny occur in the absence of a leader’s submission to authority. The protection of leadership, therefore, is in a vol untary submission to a trusted authority. The spirit of accountability is the active manifestation of submission to authority.

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