The Heart of Leadership
Mark Miller is quickly becoming one of my leadership heroes and mentors from afar.
This book is so rich with wisdom for leaders at all levels. Here are a few of my highlighted notes:
If you want to predict people’s ultimate success as leaders, evaluate not their skills but their leadership character.
Do not associate leadership with a position. You can lead, with or without, a title. If you wait until you get a title, you could wait forever.
It’s our leadership character that ultimately drives what we do, and why. It is a true reflection of who we really are as human beings.
The lack of skills is not what derails most leaders – skills are too easy to learn. It is ultimately leadership character that determines our opportunity for influence and impact.
Servant leadership builds trust – we trust leaders whose motives are others-centered. Candor, feedback, encouragement, and even directives feel different when trust is present.
Don’t confuse opportunities with leadership. Others control many of our opportunities, so that shouldn’t be our concern. We control our readiness.
Leaders don’t usually wait – they initiate. This is the courageous response; this is the leadership response.
When leaders lead well, not everyone is going to be happy.
You need to think of your quest for wisdom as a hunger that will never be satiated. The mere thought that you’ve arrived will spawn pride and arrogance.
They (leaders) are willing to assume responsibility for the vision and their progress toward it. They are willing to accept ultimate responsibility when the team fails. They are very slow to blame others.
The best leaders understand their role is to help others win.
Leadership is not about what you do nearly as much as it’s about who you are becoming – the heart of leadership is a matter of the heart.
So yeah, you should go get The Heart of Leadership: Becoming a Leader People Want to Follow
Thanks for the summary! Really helpful!