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EM PORTUGUES AQUI: Em busca do lider perfeito
EN ESPANOL AQUI: En busca del lider perfecto
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A reader sends me a questionnaire in which he presents the profile of three world leaders who lived in the same period of history, and asks if it is possible to choose the best one using the following data:
Candidate A was associated with witchdoctors and often consulted astrologists. He had two mistresses. His wife was a Lesbian. He smoked a lot. He drank eight to ten martinis a day.
Candidate B never managed to hold down a job because of his arrogance. He slept the whole morning. He used opium at school, and was always considered a bad student. He drank a glass of brandy every morning.
Candidate C was decorated a hero. A vegetarian, he did not smoke. His discipline was exemplary. He occasionally drank a beer. He stayed with the same woman during his moments of glory and defeat.
And what was the answer?
A] Franklin Delano Roosevelt. B] Winston Churchill. C] Adolf Hitler.
So what then is leadership? The encyclopedia defines it as an individual’s capacity to motivate others to seek the same objective. The bookstores are full of texts on this theme, and the leaders are normally portrayed in brilliant colors, with enviable qualities and supreme ideals. The leader is to society as the “master” is to spirituality. This, however, is not absolutely true (in either case).
Our big problem, especially in a world that is growing more and more fundamentalist, is not allowing people in prominent positions to commit human mistakes.
We are always in search of the perfect ruler. And we risk to have another madman like Hitler.
We are always looking for a pastor to guide and help us find our way.
The truth is that the great revolutions and the progress made by humanity were brought about by people just like us.
We only need to have the courage to make a key decision at a crucial moment.
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A true leader is someone who can take action and claim responsibility of those actions and admit to the imperfections!
I live in a nation where all leaders, from root level to the top office, have some kind of criminal allegations against them, and the society in turn making criminals out of ordinary citizens by victimizing them to comply to the corruption chain… It’s all about the power one holds in terms of public support, connections (national and international) and wealth to suppress and oppress the opposition and enforce the leader’s ideologies, whether right or wrong, no matter whether beneficial to the nation or not… What we need now is a benevolent dictator, since we aren’t sure which form of politics is good for us, democracy doesn’t work here, neither does socialist or communist or religious fundamentalist… It’s hard to get a balance as greed for wealth and power ruins any kind of system and the leadership eventually…
Maby we should go back and do like the acient greeks and have all the population to work in the government for 6 months in turn…..?
- democracy is not only a right it is also a duty!
The hope of human civilization lies in the practice of democracy practiced at the level comfortable to a nation’s level of economic and social progress. Democratization of any society is a long and arduous journey. Nations which want to follow the same standards as USA and EUROPE must take into consideration that their democracies are 100s of years old and still evolving.
I agree that a benevolent dictator may sometimes be the answer to a new nation. But remember the eventual corruption of these dictators -” power corrupts ….. absolute power corrupts absolutely ….”.
So perhaps for a start, the principles can be democratic but the process can be a tolerable benevolent dictatorship with a firm and resolute eye for full democratization, speedy and planned.
Is it too difficult to look for selfless leaders in the 21st century?
Hitler was not a vegetarian. Please refer to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_vegetarianism#Questioning_Hitler.27s_vegetarianism.
This is an argument frequently used by people who wish to discredit vegetarianism. Reduced meat intake does not make anyone a vegetarian. He was a meat-eater who occasionally gave up meat.
A devil will never come wearing the usual devil look, it would come wearing a chasuble.Leadership is not about historical backgrounds of people. Its about intentions to do good and and the capacity to deliver and inspire others to do the same.Lastly its more on the “to serve and not to be served” thing that matters. Sadly, the metrics of leadership should not be limited to the above given choices. Its the totality of the persona and his ideals- Personal visions should never be discounted.
I agree at some level, but Hitler was not wearing a lamb coat, ideology is what defines you, background can give an indication but is not the benchmark, the key is in what you said “to serve and not be served” and on a small note leadership does not define good or evil it defines a direction and achievement, so the above mentioned names did actually lead!
The question is “Do you lead because you are a born leader, or because you have been placed in a leaders position, i.e. power of the chair/post!
hey inspirador como siempre… pero eso ya lo sabe…
curiosamente 3 de los nombrados…. dos se que eran alquimistas… y uno se acerco mucho al horizonte…
pero no podian esperar que una matanza resuelva nada…
es de locos… pero el humano se matava desde el fuego , y ahora son diamantes, oro, petrolio ……. en fin vivimos en un mundo de loco … no estaria mal que los que vemos nos
pusieramos a hablar…..
le cuento una historia… este fin de semana.. fui a pedir
un cubata a la camarera y en la misma frase le pedi el telefono.. la chica solo me puso el cubata …supongo que la gente vive con una venda …….
pd: cuidate mucho
we tend to make leaders Gods..when they are only people like us.. and when gods and devils are all inside us..
what we can do instead is learn to love like the gods..and then we can learn to love ourselves and get the wheel in our ‘car’.. because we are not the passengers.. we are the drivers, the leaders..so get on that driver’s seat and go .. each his way
Love and Gratitude
Annie
A leader is someone that inspires, and has been inspired by others
A leader is someone who has a vision, a personal and collective vision and act upon it, and it began in its own personal life
A leader inspires the leader in everybody, is a trigger to awareness of who one is truly and its power
One can be inspired, share a vision, become its own leader by his encounter, relation with someone who for a time may assist …
But please one has to be careful
A leader is not someone who has all the answers, even if he knows that all the answers lie inside him
A leader is not someone who is perfect, for he has not and will never apprehend the immensity, but knows that there is one
A leader is not someone that gives the security and will be the actor of all change, for the security and change is an individual responsibility, something that must be interior and not exterior
A leader is just the same as you and me … it is just that one day he found the courage to say “it is enough … I must be free and live”.
In order to become a leader on a collective plan, one has to become a leader of his individual plan.
Follow your dreams for your dreams will lead you and you will be the leader.
Love, Jojo
Words of a True leader.
namaste’
hal
There is not and never was a perfect leader anywhere. What is perfect?
The leaders that we know are groomed and put in power by the hands polling the strings.
What we KNOW of the leaders and what the leaders DO is on the hands of the leader’s handlers.
What if Hitler would have been allowed to win, would we still considering him an imperfect leader?.
We need good teachers more researches less fairy-tales and more truth about everything.
The most valued quality among so many other, a great leader must possess is ability to create a platform, capable future inheritor of the baton to come from. Having said that Adolf Hitler fails miserably on that scale. But that does not necessarily conclude that the other two were great leaders. They are still prominent today simply because they were the leaders in the winning side. To my mind, those are the real global leaders who could implant some lasting values in the minds of mankind in general. Those values that inspire humans, generation after generation to think positively in search of the avenues to better human lives in general and actualization of those findings.
First the sky turned to pink. Then it turned to purple. But then the rain came. Well, really the snow did… but basically it’s the same thing.
And this little thing makes me feel so good.
Brilliant
No doubt Winsten Churchill was the best leader among all three. People know that their future is secured in the hand of their leader…A true leader is a good planner…and imposes the plans in such a way that his followers faces least pain…A leader make efforts for constructive deeds not destruction and demolishion….a leader knows that single mistake may spoil the future of his followers and the existence of leader is due to the existence of followers. Adolf Hitler never bother for the existence of his followers…so …he commited a historical mistake…History will never forgive him….but history recall Churchill with honour….Roosevelt was the follower of Churchill….so, leadership of Churchill was incomparable….a victorious leader like Gandhi…like Nelson Mendela…like ……..Paulo
The concept of leadership has certainly changed in past decade or so.The modern leader, only monitors. He or she trusts the others, sets only few rules, provides resources
and let others in a self-organized manner, take actions and meet the goals.In this model the hierarchy doesn’t exist.
I, like I feel many do, related each of the individual’s characteristics to those of my own. I found that I was much like Winston Churchill in every aspect but that my vice is marijuana; however, I do not consume alcohol at all. I have slept the better part of my life away and wasted the hours I spent awake in a daze of pondering life and coming to terms with how things are in the world. But today, my life is much different. After making sense of life the best I could with what I have been given, I have woke up. I have began to understand people to some degree and see that if given the chance we all have the capacity to do right by ourselves and others. I imagine Winston Churchill slept in late every morning dreaming of how he could make a difference in a world that is hard to make an impact in. But he left a strong mark on history despite his questionable traits.
Leaders are creation of a pandamic problem and looked upon as a solution of the same. Its immaterial what he looks like or what he does in his private life. The important thing is how deeply he understands a given problem,its influence on a commom being and presents a unique solution acceptable to the mass. and its the mass behind him makes out a leader out of him and propel him to achieve the goal.
I think that a leader is any person who is willing to step forward to do what needs to be done at the moment for the best good of her/his world.
I think that because the media is so intent on demonizing anyone who isn’t in agreement with with them ….it has been very difficult for any potential leader to get heard and also the amount of money it takes to get heard is daunting
Adolf Hitler knew how to become a great leader. His life style shows it to us. As all people can choose be good or bad so he chose to feed the black wolf inside him. What if Winston Churchil chose to be adopt a life style like that, maybe the hesitations and the number of deaths would be smaller. But everything happens for a reason so as Hitler
Creo que el liderazgo empieza por uno mismo, para esto tiene que haber lucha interna que termine con la aceptación que el ganador y perdedor están dentro de uno mismo.
Cuanto mas batallas enfrente una persona, mejor preparada estará para la guerra final.
Me imagino como serán sus luchas internas Paulo.
me encanta toda la publicacion,me sorprende siempre.
Wow ! I would have Never guessed !!!!
you’re difnitely right about ALL of us being human and therefore having human weaknesses – I keep witnessing that point every day ,with “examplary” peopel who “should” supposedly be beyond any faults and fine examples of “perfection”. yest the more I discover them as People, ridden of theor social and professional mask, the more I discover human with in some cases “worse” weaknesses and faults than any fellow humans….
I did and still do find it disappointing, to a point where it even put me off my own chosen field, a little….
But reading the descriptions of the 3 dudes above, it really makes one revisit our whole conceptual field of what is “right and wrong”, or rather who is “good or bad”….
Still one can be an Excellent Leader with Human qualities, and a lousy husband/wide, father/mother, son/daughter or/and friend…. and vice versa.
Those seem to be seperate things; it’s the same in life; we find some people who are Brilliant and Excellent workers/managers, yet when you discover their private life, you think “OMG”, and vice versa..
I guess it’s all a matter of priorities and choice !…
People from all walks of life are vessels. They carry with them the manifestation of the past, the present and the future. Leaders are not an exception; they are part of the rule. If the leader is magnificent, cruel, shrewd, kindly or anything else, he/she will influence time and motion, in just the same way as other professions – just on a bigger scale. But what is big in the eyes of the universe or in the depths of eternity? In my opinion, everyone has an influence on everyone and everything has an influence on everything. Hitler, Stalin, Winston Churchill, Moses….. have influenced us all and will continue to do so, for the better or for the worse of mankind.
Nosotros nesesitamos,lideres,maestros y gente que los acompañen y que sepan guiar un pais como si de un barco mercante se tratara navegando por aguas internacionales.
nobody is perfect! it does not mean that you are a good leader you will no longer commit mistakes. we are all humans and we are all entitled to commit mistakes. a great leader is not the one who shows perfect characters and behaviors. a true leader is the one who can influence and lead the public into the greater beneficence.
Leader is one who can take a key decision at crucial moment; but it is true for pilots, drivers too.
Practically leader is one who sees which way teh crowed is headed and is smart enough to go stand in front, well not too much in front too, because them he may get killed, who can go to front and can motivate others.
but a leader is expected to be more than that, he should not just be moral, but he should also be seen as such; conversely whatever that person beleives in, then he should not hide it, or at least accept that it is a human weakness for which he should not be judged.
having an expectation of others which we ourselves don’t fulfill is not correct. that way its true “Our big problem, especially in a world that is growing more and more fundamentalist, is not allowing people in prominent positions to commit human mistakes.” mistakes should be allowed, but if it’s a mistake then what is teh corrective action taken, that too should be put forward.
Leaders ! aha !! uneasy lies teh head that wears teh crown that old bard had said, does not seem about to change anytime soon.
love
Don’t know much , but picture in story above do tell something about Rahul Gandhi , the leading family member who are ruling India from last 50 years .( always rolling his sleeves over the arms while giving any address to public ). So D is the right answer
Very interesting comparison. The more I read your blog, and for that matter your writing in general, the more I find myself drawn back here. Your ideas a very thought-provoking and the content is almost always motivational.
Great example which shows that leaders can not be defined by the habits they keep but by the decision they make when given unprecedented power.
e.g.
Mahatma Gandhi – was a vegetarian and a teetotaler
We can forgive our own imperfections when we see the greatness that can be achieved in other imperfect lives. And we can commit to greatness too, knowing the path will probably not be what we expect, but we can be great anyway.
With Jessica I agree that the true leader has a cause/goal and in achieving this, (s)he preaches and consistently lives up to true values, (s)he is authentic. This is what many leaders (organisations, politics etc.) today miss. People will have no problem to accept mistakes from this type of leaders.
And here you are… not yet noticing again that you are judging some one before you truly know him and what has gone upon him. Although it does not give any excuse to some one who has gone such experiences to commit such crimes, but we should examine such cases more carefully and not so superficially to prevent from such things happening in the future or creating such another human as Hitler.
but coelho can not write a full book about that, it is just a short story just to show us the power of people to follow leaders that are just like us : unperfect ! we just have to believe in us and stop trying to find symbol or something else in others. we just need to trust us…so hard to do and easy to say :)
Parece que no cambiara mas la gente siempre se equivoca fijandose en lo superficial y no en lo que realmente vale la pena. los sentimientos de las personas en sus valores humanos y las actitudes que tiene para con los demas.pero en fin eso nos a llevado siempre a repetir los mismos errores
espero se creee conciencia y aprender a fijarse en lo profundo de las personas y no confiarnos de lo perfecto por que somos humanos y cometemos errores y estamos aqui para mejorar y perfeccionarnos para el mañana
Thank u paolo,for teaching us that we are all human,to err is human,and to be otherwise is..maybe fiendish??i.e there is something fundamentally wrong with people who pretend to be perfect,cos there is nothing like perfect!!
Also it has been interesting to read others comments here,there is so much insight and so much to learn from others too..we are all connected by you and and the fact that we are all warriors of light
Perfect does not excist. It is an illusion. Unless perfect = the right moment of a happening (signs, realisation, experience). In that case, we’re living the perfect lives. Every one of us.
todos tenemos la capacidad para ser lideres.no somos perfectos, somos gente simple .el detalle consiste en creernos todo lo que se nos dice y suponer que somos dioses.si por un momento nos centramosy mantenemos la humildad este mundo seria otro .mis mejores deseos para que esto se cumpla en nuestras vidas.solo existir y vivir cada dia como el ultimo.
Aspiration, inspiration, motivation, declamation, admiration, … many ‘ion’s that need be in a leaders little handbook
the comparison is biased.
while for A & B characterizations are used that in general are considered negative in many cultures, the focus for C is on properties that are considered positive.
this brings polemic into the story & shows that we may need to go beyond just always classifying people. humans love it :o)
using a more holistic approach, hitler had many features that were not as “impeccable”… e.g., he also had problems to keep a job. his prejudices towards people who were “different” was based on a long development, and was recognizable before he established his full power.
En una ocasión, respondí en el Blog de un personaje muy conocido e influyente,con una respuesta pregunta ¿líderes…para que?.
El auténtico poder emana del pueblo y es desde esa base, en donde ubico mi base de pensamiento.
No es malo-ni mucho menos-, encontrar un líder que conduzca un deseo emanado del pueblo. Pero la historia nos ha venido demostrando que vencedores y perdedores de la llamada clase social baja y/o media-baja de las guerras y revoluciones iniciadas…son los que tras las mismas…siempre acaban vencidos.
P.D.: Me refiero a líderes que encabezan iniciativas económico/sociales, con un fondo político.
¡Falla siempre el Ser humano que envuelve a los líderes!.
Reading those different profiles of men. It is more about discernment of the human than to judge or approve about habits. We , at least most of humanity is not able to look beyond the reason why some people act like they do. They are a piece in the puzzle of life. The personal colour of life, like drinking or other is just a veil through which we have to look. In the moment we can look in the heart and soul of a human we understand and will never judge someone about their act or behaviour.
Funny you should post this, my 13 year old daughter came home and asked me this question a couple of weeks ago. I happen to know that the candidate most would pick due to his self discipline and seeming character was the insane dictator Adolph Hitler. That is who I picked. Funny how we expect perfection of others when we all know we are not perfect ourselves!
Un lider escuchado hoy en día es un jugueton de las mentes perezosas e inquietas que buscan emociones y huesos que le den algún sentido a su vida cotidiana, que le de una participación agazapada en objetivos que ni ellos mismo entienden. Puesto que los verdaderos líderes, los pensantes no les gustan a la gente perezosa de poner en movimiento esas neuronas que Dios les dio, hoy en día son obsoletos y anticuados, repudiados por su valentía y abandonados a medio camino por la cobardía de sus pseudo cuasi seguidores.
The leader is a dealer in hope, & he always deal with the spiritual & psychological motives rather than physical ones.
awesome post paulo“
Perchè abbiamo bisogno di Leader, di riferimenti?
Per colmare le nostre lacune, per avere qualcuno a cui ispirarci. Chi sono stati i leader nella storia? E che cosa hanno portato veramente di buono per l’umanità, a parte il far iscrivere i loro nomi sui libri di storia perchè hanno fatto conquiste, promulgato leggi, ecc?
Alcuni leader hanno fatto grandi battaglie nelle quali sono morte migliaia e migliaia di persone: ma ne è sempre valsa la pena?
Altri hanno manifestato il loro pensiero di pace: ma ne è valsa la pena?
In entrambi i casi, l’umanità quanto ha saputo apprendere sia dal primo che dal secondo caso?
Sono ancora indispensabili i leader?
Oppure è meglio che ciascuno di noi si senta leader nella sua vita e si ispiri alla sua coscienza?
Tutti abbiamo una coscienza e non c’è bisogno di legittimare le nostre varie posizioni ispirandosi ai “leader”, tanto l’umanità rimane purtroppo sempre quella che vediamo attorno a noi. Facciamo parte di un’umanità indegna, molto spesso.
Quindi credo che le cose andrebbero meglio se ascoltassimo meno i “leader” e di più la nostra coscienza ed il nostro cuore.
Candidate C was very strict to himself, because he didn’t believe in himself.
So he didn’t trust anyone.
2 of the candidates here are painters, by the way.
You are politically correct Ken :)
XX
Leaders…
is it not better to elect someone
with empathy for the human condition?
understanding that what we should be judged by
is how we grow from our mistakes in youth
and journey through the tragedies of life
knowing that all is really well
I agree,
someone with Adolf Hitler’s exterior appearance of
good character yet is inwardly fundamentalist
to the point of evil
Yet Churchill and Roosevelt
seemingly rebellious,
are in fact just human
“Alone we are human, together we are humankind”…
The two great leaders were able to recognize they were part of a whole
while Hitler had his own warped selfish motives
stemming from his reactions to his childhood experiences
In fact, I would not want a perfect leader
I would wish for one that I could relate to
as I am also human and made numerous mistakes
I would hope for one who could relate to me as well
this is beautiful. i wish the modern-day Pharisees can read this, for one. but to be fair to the good ones who are really good inside and out, we can’t generalize those who fit hitler’s impeccable profile. :-) impeccable but not perfect. brilliantly written, thanks so much for keeping this blog alive with these sage posts… i keep visiting everyday.
Yahoo! You’re right Paulo!
This is the place I can share this crazy idea.
To me, it’s about people, sharing the load and helping as best I can. Why do people say that having a heart is not enough? Is not true.
There is no better time than now. (Got my shirt sleeves rolled up!)
Thankyou, Love to All xo
We do not need leaders, we only need teachers.
All Leaders are “insecure” and tend to dominate others to overcome their insecurity. Teachers will share knowledge freely, and without inhibitions. We need teachers who can show direction and help leaders to set the directions.
If you fail to honor your people,
They will fail to honor you;
It is said of a good leader that
When the work is done, the aim fulfilled,
The people will say, “We did this ourselves.
Lao Tzu, , 604-531 B. C.
Funny, I was talking with a friend about ghosts, and told her: “If you see two ghosts, one scary as heck and the other a pretty little child, be affraid of the one that’s powerful enough to actually disguise itself as harmless”
What struck me about this piece is that the writer is focusing on what the leader did or didn’t do, more than what he beleived, what were his convictions, what were his goals.
A great leader is not one who does or does not do what is socially acceptible; he or she is one who has a vision about what would make life better for the followers and the conviction and fortitude to stay the course despite adversity and work towards the goal.
A good leader adds something to the lives of the people he or she leads, whether it is moral strength, physical confort, stability, or prosperity. if a leader does not add value to the followers lives, he is a bad leader. FDR and WC and JC (and PC too!) all added value to their followers lives. AH took life and liberty and justice away from all but a few of his followers. That is what made him a bad candidate.
A warrior of light knows they are not perfect, and they may do things others in society disapprove of. This does not bother the Warrior, becuase he or she knows if they add value to others lives, others will accept them and forgive their trespasses.
Great insight once again, Paulo. Part of being a transformational leader is finding your voice. A voice colored by experience and culture. Without this, we often only mirror what is already out there and our message is lost in our interpersonal confusion.
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