Whenever you're called on to make up your mind,
and you're hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find,
is simply by spinning a penny.
No -- not so that chance shall decide the affair
while you're passively standing there moping;
but the moment the penny is up in the air,
you suddenly know what you're hoping.
- Piet Hein, A Psychological Tip
When we began our study of leadership bests we were fortunate to cross paths with then U.S. Army Major General John H. Stanford. We knew that he had grown up poor, that he failed sixth grade but went on to graduate from Penn State University on an ROTC scholarship, that he survived multiple military tours in both Korea and Vietnam, that he was highly decorated, and that the loyalty of his troops was extraordinary. John headed up the Military Traffic Management Command for the U.S. Army during the Persian Gulf War. When he retired from the Army he became county manager of Fulton County, Georgia, when Atlanta was gearing up to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, and then he became superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools, where he sparked a revolution in public education.
When John Stanford wanted change, he didn't simply order it, as his long-time friend Billie Reilly explained. For example, in Korea, John never told soldiers under his command that they couldn't stay out late. He just kept moving up the time of the morning physical training - to the point that it once started at 3 A.M. When he finally moved it back to 6 A.M., Reilly said, John got 100 percent attendance. "Have you ever met someone and immediately said, 'I need to listen to that person'? That's John," said Reilly. "Have you ever met someone and said, 'I like what he's doing and I want to follow him'? That's John. Have you ever met someone who can energize a group that's lethargic? That's John. We might call it character, we might call it leadership. When you are in contact with John Stanford, you are immediately drawn to him. Where he's going, you want to go. And it's always the right place to go."
All that we learned of John's public service was impressive, but it was his answer to one of our interview questions that most influenced our own understanding of leadership. We asked John how he'd go about developing leaders, whether in colleges and universities, in the military, in government, in the nonprofit sector, or in private business. He replied,
When anyone asks me that question, I tell them I have the secret to success in life. The secret to success is to stay in love. Staying in love gives you the fire to ignite other people, to see inside other people, to have a greater desire to get things done than other people. A person who is not in love doesn't really feel the kind of excitement that helps them to get ahead and to lead others and to achieve. I don't know any other fire, any other thing in life that is more exhilarating and is more positive a feeling than love is.
"Staying in love" isn't the answer we expected to get - at least not when we began our study of leadership. But after numerous interviews and case analyses, it finally dawned on us how many leaders used the word love freely when talking about their own motivations to lead.
Of all the things that sustain a leader over time, love is the most lasting. It's hard to imagine leaders getting up day after day, putting in the long hours and hard work it takes to get extraordinary things done, without having their hearts in it. The best-kept secret of successful leaders is love: staying in love with leading, with the people who do the work, with what their organizations produce, and with those who honor the organization by using its products and services.
Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart.
- James Kouzes & Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge
