So on Saturday I went to the library to finally get "Leadership is an Art" by Max De Pree, which I've been wanting to read for a while. Dr. Fullmer's recommended it to us since our freshmen year so I thought it would be an interesting read. I read for a few hours in the Orem library in this nice comfy chair and then went to the park. It was so nice! 60 degrees in the middle of January? Madness! But totally rad madness!
Anyways I finished it that day in the park and it was a really thought provoking book. My concept of leadership is really an important part of my core philosophy so this definitely added to my perspective. It even got me taking notes on my phone which I filled up a good 2000 characters with of notes. I definitely recommend this book to everyone, but since I know most of you won't read it, (it took me forever to get myself to go out and check it out) here are some highlights:
-The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader.
-Leaders don't inflict pain, they bear pain.
-The signs of outstanding leadership appears primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving?
-As the apostle Luke said a leader is "one who serves"
-It is a way of thinking about stewardship rather than ownership.
-Leaders are responsible for effectiveness...Efficiency is doing the thing right, but effectiveness is doing the right thing.
-Effectiveness comes about through enabling others to reach their potential--both their personal potential and their corporate or organization's potential.
-Being faithful is more important than being successful. If we are successful in the world's eyes but unfaithful in terms of what we believe, then we fail in our efforts.
-We are all in the process of becoming.
-We need to be learners together. The steady process of becoming goes on in most of us throughout our lifetime. We need to be searching for maturity, openness, and sensitivity.
-Technically it has to do with the second law of thermodynamics, but I choose define entropy as meaning that everything has a tendency to deteriorate. One of the important things leaders need to learn is to recognize the signals of impending deterioration. Some of those are:
A tendency towards superficiality
No longer having time for celebration and ritual
A growing feeling that rewards and goals are the same thing
When problem-makers outnumber problem-solvers
When folks confuse heroes and celebrities
Leaders who seek to control rather than liberate
When people seek of customers (or others) as impositions on their time rather than as opportunities to serve
As you can tell from these delicious fruits of wisdom this book is worth reading, because that's only a fraction of its goodness...so you should. I even have a copy you can borrow if you want!
