“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”
“In the end, we will conserve only what we love;
We will love only what we understand;
And we will understand only what we are taught.”
“Vibrant communities are dependent on an ever-expanding base of strong, supported and nurtured leadership.”
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
“Leadership is not the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It is a process ordinary people use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others. When the leader in everyone is liberated extraordinary things happen.”
“Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that everyo human being seeks—we will also find our path of authentic service in the world.”
“New leadership is needed for new times, but it will not come from finding more wily ways to manipulate the external world. It will come as we who serve and lead find the courage to take an inner journey toward both our shadows and our light—a journey that, faithfully pursued, will take us beyond ourselves to become healers of a wounded world.”
No leader sets out to become a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders. So the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, to use yourself completely–all your skills, gifts and energies–in order to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing. You must, in sum, become the person you started out to be and enjoy the process of becoming.