COACHING FORLEADERSHIPDEVELOPMENT 137

sounding together.”^6 Exceptional leadership demands a level of inspiration,

perspective, courage, understanding, and commitment that transcends day-

to-day management; twenty-first-century leadership demands approaches

that transcend the accepted practices of twentieth-century organizations.

Artists and leaders face similar challenges: to see reality as it is, without

succumbing to despair, while imagining possibilities that go far beyond cur-

rent reality; to have the courage to collude against illusion while articulating

possible futures previously unimaginable; and to inspire people to surpass

themselves, individually and collectively, for the benefit of all. The world

needs better leadership, and the people within organizations and communi-

ties are hungry for the change. They no longer want the narrow, circum-

scribed leadership of the twentieth century, nor its outcomes. And yet those

who choose to truly lead in this journey should not dismiss the risks. When-

ever a paradigm shifts, those who have the most to gain from the old ways

hold on extremely tightly.

Albert A. Vicere

Coaching for Leadership Depth

O

ver the years, I have had the great fortune to work with scores of busi-

ness organizations and to spend time with their leaders. The best of

those leaders share at least one very similar perspective—that the essence of

Dr. Albert A. Vicere is Executive Education Professor of

Strategic Leadership at Penn State’s Smeal College of

Business and President of Vicere Associates Inc., a con-

sulting firm whose clients span the globe. He is the au-

thor/editor of several books, including Leadership By

Design andThe Many Facets of Leadership,and more than

80 articles on leadership development and organizational

ef fectiveness. His article “Leadership in the Networked

Economy ” won the Human Resource Planning Society’s

2002 Walker Prize for the most inf luential article of the year. He can be

reached by phone at (814) 233-1120, by e-mail at [email protected], or via

the Internet at http://www.vicere.com.