Some of the strongest resistance to necessary change is the result of what Jim O'Toole has so aptly characterized as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom."

Leading with character gives the wise leader clear-cut advantages. They are easier to trust and follow; they honor commitments and promises; their words and behavior match; they are always engaged in and by the world; they are open to "reflective backtalk": they can speak with conviction because they believe in what they are saying...and everyone else knows that. They are comfortable in their own skin. They feel at ease in the spotlight and they enjoy it there. They tend to be more receptive to opportunity and risk.

To be authentic is literally to be your own author... to discover your own native energies and desires, and then to find your own way of acting on them.

I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symphony orchestra. But I don't think that's quite it; it's more like jazz. There is more improvisation.

Great Groups need to know that the person at the top will fight like a tiger for them.

Judgment without character is expediency... or worse.

Effective leaders make a full commitment to be a learner, to keep increasing and nourishing their knowledge and wisdom.