Welcome to My Blog on Leadership

   Welcome! Welcome, specifically, to an ongoing discussion about leadership. I've been working in various arenas of leadership since I was a kid.  It has always intrigued me. Why do some people naturally rise to positions of visibility and influence with relatively little effort?  Why do others so avidly want to follow them, for there is no leadership without followership.  What are the qualities and behaviors that separate the great from the rest of the field?  How do they get that way?  Is it genetics?  Upbringing?  Destiny?  Divine guidance?  All of the above?  Why is it that even the greatest seem to have fatal or near fatal flaws?  Can folly be avoided?  Is there some kind of formula that good leaders can apply to elevate to greatness?
We're going to dive and dive deeply into all of these possibilities and more.
   In the United States, we are particularly fond of sports and military metaphors.  We seem implicitly attuned to the possibilites of leadership in both those arenas.  I'm sure we're not the only culture with such a bent.
I was in Costa Rica recently and was struck by the avid followers of soccer teams and all the press on the key members of those teams as well as their coaches.  Certainly, leadership matters in sports and in the military.  But it also matters in any community of intention, from children trying to raise money for a class field trip to non-profit organizations try to raise money to help the misfortunate, from the mayoral offices of small towns to the palaces of the powerful in Washington, Paris, Mosco, Beijing, New Delhi, London, and so on.
Why do we so favor sports metaphors to define this area when there are so many other arenas in which leaders rise and "strut and fret their hour upon the stage"?  Is it because sports are easy to relate to or because these examples really do strike at the essence of what otherwise seems awfully complex? 
   Well, we're going to dive into that question, too.
   It might not surprise you to learn at this moment that I believe one of the many marks of great leaders is CURIOSITY, and the ongoing practice of asking cogent questions and getting their followers involved in finding the answers.  So I invite you into this inquiry with me.  Go ahead and take a shot at answering any of those I've posed here...or let me know what else you'd like to ask.  The world is clearly in need of great leadership. Maybe our discussion will help guide and grow someone whose name is currently unknown to us but who, through clarity, compassion, creativity and determination, will have a positive impact somewhere on the planet.
  For more on me, feel free to visit any of the following:  http://www.bobkamm.com/, http://www.slrii.com/, http://www.loveover60.com/