Ducks In A Row: Leadership, Ethics and MAP
December 23, 2008 by Miki Saxon
One of the most important things to keep in mind as you study and work to develop your personal leadership abilities, the ones you’ll use throughout your life, whatever you’re doing and no matter the position, is that they’re neutral.
That’s right, leadership skills and abilities are without prejudice, neither good nor bad—you might say they swing both ways.
According to Warren Bennis, a leader innovates, develops, focuses on people, inspires trust, has a long-range perspective, keeps an eye on the horizon, originates, and is his own person.
Does that sound like someone you’d like to emulate? Because it’s a perfect description of Bernie Madoff.
Leadership actions are a MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) function. In other words, it’s not the actions that are worth emulating, but the MAP.
Notice I said emulating, not copying.
Consider those people you respect, as well as those lower on your list. Even when you disagree with parts of their MAP, you may agree with others, which means you can draw from many sources, but in the end it’s your MAP and that makes it absolutely unique to you.
During this holiday season, think about it. The economic mess with which the world is dealing was created by people with great skills and, to be polite, challenged MAP.
Your comments—priceless
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Image credit: flickr