In closing, we recognize that speaking truth to power does involve career risk, but it can also involve great personal reward when seniors appreciate the considered advice of their juniors.The tools described here will hopefully minimize risk while maximizing the potential benefit.
[Excerpt] The year is 1968 – two years after I enlisted in the United States Navy as a reservist – and the place is a man-made island built in the ‘30s in San Francisco Bay for the Golden State International Exposition: Naval Station Treasure Island. I was berthed temporarily at Treasure Island, awaiting orders and assuming I was about to get shipped off to Vietnam. Instead, and much to my surprise, I was sent to the brig where I learned invaluable lessons in leadership.
Patience, Approachability, Tolerance, Independence, Empathy, Nurturing Nature, Confidence, and Endurance represent the fundamental characteristics demarcating genuine leadership and principled decision-making. Author Ritch K. Eich provides illustrations of both past and present leaders in fields spanning from sports to civil rights — whose own brand of leadership incorporated one or multiples of these tenets in their respective careers.
