Leadership Substance, Style and Shadow 35notes and leave. He barely looked at the class. We wondered
if he would notice if no one was there for this weekly ritual. A
group of us used to draw lots to decide who would attend in
any one week and secretly record the lecture so we could all
listen to it later. The only thing I remember about this man’s
lectures was that he pronounced ‘food’ as ‘fud’, which tells
you how captivated I was. This man knew a lot about his sub-
ject, without ever inspiring me to find out anything about it
above the bare minimum. Other lecturers were superb, stim-
ulating and not only did I remember what they told me, but
I also left the lecture hall wanting to find out more in my own
time because the subject came alive when they spoke of it.
So knowledge will win over authority – would you rather be
in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing or
someone who has the formal authority in the situation? – but
true leaders have something more. They give of themselves.
Example
Example is the third pillar of leadership, and the strongest. Peo-
ple look to a leader for ideas and guidance, and the strongest
message comes not from what you say, but who you are.
A leader who acts as a role model takes responsibility for
what they do. Responsibility is a double-edged word – the
ability to respond is one edge, the recognition of your influ-
ence the other. Influence and responsibility go together.
Your self, values, beliefs, expectations and actions enter
everything you do and affect everything you do, and if you
pay attention to your experience, then what you do affects
you and changes you and the people with you. A responsible
and effective leader does not think of themselves in isola-
tion. They are part of the team they lead. This means that
they lead and influence both themselves and others.
In order for leaders to act as role models and lead by ex-
ample they have to be true to themselves. In doing this, they
give us the message not to be like them, but to be ourselves,
a message we all recognize. And in being true to ourselves we
are developing our own leadership qualities, moving further
along the path of leadership.