The more I think about leadership, the more I realize that one of the most essential elements is timing. Smart leaders, the best of leaders, have a sense of timing that is parallels an athlete or a ballerina. They have a sense of when to act and when to hold back. That, of course, is no easy trick.
The moment you lose your sense of timing your leadership is greatly handicapped, if not doomed.
Think of any …

Leaders are often drawn in different directions: cost savings versus innovation; excellence versus equity; universal health-care versus a balanced budget. One of the great challenges for understanding Abraham Lincoln is what appears to many a central inconsistency. What was his main priority? Was he a unifier or emancipator?
How did Lincoln make judgments and maneuver through this apparent inconsistency. Lincoln, like all leaders, had a series of embedded complexities. On one hand he had a belief …

A good idea is not good enough. Good ideas don’t have wings and they don’t take off without a support base.
In the following podcast I discuss how great leaders rely on the skills of execution rather than the strength of an idea or vision.
I take a look at the leadership style of Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln and ask what was key to their successful leadership.

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I asked 22 Cornell graduate students to list 5 people they considered leaders–good, bad, or evil. Answers ranged from the obvious, MLK Jr., to the personal, lacrosse team captain, but what’s compelling are the top results. With the exception of Obama’s presence, the top 10 list has looked like this for a number of years.
Top 10 Leaders: Poll From Cornell Graduate Class
1. Abraham Lincoln: 11
2. Martin Luther King Jr.: 11
3. Barack Obama: 8

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