Leadership - vision, passion, integrity, adaptive capacity

Our local County Bar President, Michael G. Yoder, prepared for his post by reviewing studies on LEADERSHIP. Great idea. One of the leading authorities on leadership is Dr. Warren Bennis, the Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California. In his widely recognized classic, On Becoming a Leader, Dr. Bennis isolates four qualities of an effective leader: (1) Vision – a leader must have a clear idea of what he or she wants to accomplish; (2) Passion – A leader must have a distinctive voice that can inspire and move others; (3) Integrity – A leader must stay true to his or her core values in order to earn the trust of others; and (4) Adaptive Capacity – A leader must be able to recognize and respond to change.

What an admirable way to prepare for taking a position of leadership. Is there something "undemocratic" about requiring nominees or candidates to reveal their achievements against the criteria that scholars, as well as the citizens, journalists, and historians will judge them?