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Dear list,

First of all, you can't teach anyone anything..if they don't want
to learn it...leadership is no different.

Before anyone will want to learn leadership, we need to value it.
I don't think a lot of Universities value it; and I don't think
enough Corporations value it.

I think it was Abraham Lincoln (and I hope that all of you Lincoln
buffs will forgive me for misquoting) who said:

"Show me how a man is measured, and I will tell you how he
behaves."

Leadership, just like anything else that you teach in business
schools is not an exact science. If you look at the history of
management, we are pretty much in our infancy, since the
industrial revolution is not that far back. A lot of theories
have been tried and discarded. At least from my limited view,
Corporations have tried and tested many things. We have seen many
a great giants collapse, because they couldn't put their fingers
on what was taking place in management.

I don't mean to be rude, but I see a lot of resistance on the part
of most of the list to WANT TO IDENTIFY LEADERSHIP and be able to
teach it. If that is true, why do you suppose that is? Do we
want our leaders to have this mysterious quality that we cannot
define, measure and teach? Are we afraid of having leadership in
this country?...in our schools, in our businesses?

I have stayed out of most of the debate over leadership lately,
because I have found it non-productive, until someone challenged
the list to define leadership. I am sure it will be picked apart
and discredited...but I don't mind. It is working for us. It has
almost become a game with this list...attempt to define leadership
or dare to say that it exists and 20 people will pounce on it like
hunting dogs on a three legged cat to tear it apart.

I really don't mean to sound bitter or rude. I just feel a great
resistance to wanting to understand leadership and decided that if
some do not want to admit or see that it exists...then so be it.
It can be put in the category of the Easter bunny and Santa...but
leaders are emerging and corporation are changing..as are teachers
and ministers and the way that we do business in this
country...and educators had better find out what is happening and
how to prepare the students for this or these students are going
to be looking in from the outside, mystified and perplexed by what
is taking place in the industries.

Thanks,
Rick Corcoran

On Wed, 12 Mar 1997, RICHARD CORCORAN wrote:

> Dear list,
>
> I don't mean to be rude, but I see a lot of resistance on the part
> of most of the list to WANT TO IDENTIFY LEADERSHIP and be able to
> teach it. If that is true, why do you suppose that is? Do we
> want our leaders to have this mysterious quality that we cannot
> define, measure and teach? Are we afraid of having leadership in
> this country?...in our schools, in our businesses?

The problem is that we have been trying to identify, define and measure it
for more than half a century, and the only thing we can agree on is that
we can't define it, but we know it when we see it. I hate to sound like a
broken record, but no construct validity, no definition.

> I have stayed out of most of the debate over leadership lately,
> because I have found it non-productive, until someone challenged
> the list to define leadership. I am sure it will be picked apart
> and discredited...but I don't mind. It is working for us. It has
> almost become a game with this list...attempt to define leadership
> or dare to say that it exists and 20 people will pounce on it like
> hunting dogs on a three legged cat to tear it apart.

Thanks, but I think I'm the only one to point out that the leadership
emperor has no clothes.

> I really don't mean to sound bitter or rude. I just feel a great
> resistance to wanting to understand leadership and decided that if
> some do not want to admit or see that it exists...then so be it.
> It can be put in the category of the Easter bunny and Santa...but
> leaders are emerging and corporation are changing..as are teachers
> and ministers and the way that we do business in this
> country...and educators had better find out what is happening and
> how to prepare the students for this or these students are going
> to be looking in from the outside, mystified and perplexed by what
> is taking place in the industries.

I agree, so let's focus on communication skills, interpersonal skills,
teamwork skills and the like. The leadership stuff will take care of
itself!

Regards,
Dave