Sunday, March 10, 2013

Never enough Stockdale...

Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers. We are tired of leaders we fear, tired of leaders we love, and most tired of leaders who let us take liberties with them. 

What we need for leaders are men of the heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers. 

Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away. 

VADM James Bond Stockdale
Military Ethics
“Machiavelli, Management, and Moral Leadership.” 1987

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Captain Lambert,

What great words from a man of great leadership capabilities that few have ever attained. I was lucky to have served during the time that VADM Stockdale served, he was an inspiration to all us Sailors of the time, but it is an unfortunate episode in his life that he chose to try to remain in public life after his mind failed to do as he wanted it to do, this should be a lesson to us all, no matter how great you were in your youth you should have gained the knowledge to know when it was time to quit.

Very Respectfully,
Navyman834