2.What makes a leader?

Irwin Federman, president and CEO of Monolithic Memories, one of the most successful of the high-tech companies in Silicon Valley, illustrates this brilliantly in the following quote: “if you think about it, people love others not for who they are, but for how they make us feel. We willingly follow others for much the same reason. It makes us feel good to do so. Now, we also follow platoon sergeants, self-centered geniuses, demanding spouses, bosses of various persuasions and others, for a variety of reasons as well. But none of those reasons involves that person’s leadership qualities. In order to willingly accept the direction of another individual, it must feel good to do so. This business of making another person feel good in the unspectacular course of his daily comings and goings is, in my view, the very essence of leadership.”

Leaders love people. They expect the best from them. Sensitivity to employee needs, wants and concerns is at the top of their priorities. The courage to make decisions based on “what is right for people” governs their day-to-day responsibilities. People respond to such leadership.

John W. Gardner, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare pinpointed four moral goals of a leader:

1. releasing human potential

2. balancing the needs of the individual and the community

3. defending the fundamental values of the community, and

4. instilling in individuals a sense of initiative and responsibility.