Thursday, June 24th, 2010 10:33:59

Obama’s Vanity Fair, McChrystal’s Dystopia

I once had a boss whose primary interaction with me consisted of telling me that I was at risk of having the rest of the organization judge me as being incompetent. In retrospect, while terribly painful at the time, I learned much more about leading — and not leading — from this person than I did from the best boss I ever had.

What did I learn from my pseudo Parris Island management experience? People may have positions of power, but that does not make them leaders. Leading makes them leaders.

Good leaders instill in their followers the belief that they can accomplish their task. They move obstacles out of the way and ensure that people are positioned correctly based on their talents and experience.