October 30, 2010

Dear Attendees,

It was a pleasure to have you join Unbound Ideas and Howard Morgan for Jim Kouzes’ October 26, 2010 webinar, “Enduring Leadership Truths for Turbulent Economic Times.” Thank you for being part of the discussion and providing feedback on the event.

A year ago, Jim spoke at Unbound Ideas about this topic while still engaging in his research. That research culminated in Jim’s latest book, co-authored with his long-time research and writing partner, Barry Posner, The Truth About Leadership: The No-fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know, published by Jossey-Bass in August 2010. Once again, Howard Morgan, top executive coach and founder of Leadership Research Institute, moderated the discussion.

Perhaps the essence of Jim and Barry’s book could be summarized by an anecdote. Speaking on a leadership development panel with Ken Blanchard, Jim mused about the amazing consistency of their leadership research findings over the course of 30 years. As Jim said, “I don’t know what you call something that shows that much consistency…” Before he could complete his thought, Ken Blanchard interrupted and said, “I’d call it the truth.” Therein came the title of the new book.

Based on thirty years of research, and more than one million responses to Kouzes’ and Posners’ leadership assessment instrument, The Truth About Leadership represents both a crystallization and an affirmation of what defines and comprises leadership, across generations, cultures, and eras. Even more importantly, it shows emerging leaders, and organizations in need of leadership, what it takes to be effective in leadership throughout a career and a lifespan.

Backed by fascinating examples from their research, Jim’s discussion detailed ten truths of leadership.

1.    Leaders make a difference
2.    Credibility is the foundation of leadership
3.    Values drive commitment
4.    Focusing on the future sets leaders apart
5.    Leaders can’t do it alone
6.    Trust rules
7.    Challenge is the crucible of greatness
8.    Leaders either lead by example, or don’t lead at all
9.    The best leaders are the best learners
10.  Leadership is an affair of the heart

Replete with examples, stories, and statements from and about leaders in the field, Jim’s talk was rich in insight, and affirming as to the good that leaders can do (indeed, by definition, that they do do). This seemed to be an especially important message today, when organizations remain hobbled by economic difficulties, and lack of resources, and when only leadership provides the answers and the way forward.

Jim left us with a story that got to the heart of leadership. As Michael Hogan, the president of the University of Connecticut put it, “An attitude of ‘yes’ is how you will be able to go forward in these uncertain times.” To which Jim added, “You have to say yes to making a difference, to integrity, to your beliefs, to big dreams, to collaboration, to trust, to difficult challenges, to setting the example, to learning, and to your heart.” And then asked the audience: “Are you ready to say Yes?”

Once again, Howard Morgan’s own experiences added greatly to the insights of the discussion, as did the terrific questions and comments from the audience.

While you wait for your copy of Kouzes’ and Posners’ new book, we encourage you to start reading by viewing these excerpts. You can also watch Jim speak about leadership in this video excerpt.

On behalf of Jim Kouzes and Howard Morgan, we thank you again for joining us, and look forward to the next occasion.

Warm Regards,
Unbound Ideas