Wednesday, March 02, 2005

To Lead is to Follow

"To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less."

- Andri Malraux, "Man's Hope"


When I read this quote it made me reflect about the 'leaders' I worked for in my 35 year healthcare management career.

  • Those who inspired me always made me feel special and valued.

  • They had a knack of encouraging me to experiment and try new things.

  • It seemed to me they put my development and learning before theirs.

  • They always made the effort to speak to me and make eye contact - even on those awful mornings when they had the 'troubles of the world' on their shoulders.

Sadly, not all my superiors portrayed these qualities.

My conclusion?

Only truly great leaders have these qualities - as Andri Malraux says they see their role simply as 'serving.'

What a fabulous role model to follow!!

5 comments:

Rocky said...

I don't know where you get all your ideas, but they are always right on the money! I look forward to reading your postings each day. You have apparently been mentored by some great leaders and have been able to learn valuable lessons from those that were less than great. I am looking forward to your next book. could this blog possibly the beginnings of the outline?

Trevor Gay said...

Thanks Rocky

I guess we learn as much from bad experiences as well as good ones.

Truly outstanding leaders are few in my experience. I can only think of one in my career - Professor George Giarchi - and he was not my boss!

Fabulous idea about the book by the way - I wil give that serious thought!!

Title could be "Reflections of a Baby Boomer Blogger"

Any other title suggestions?

Trevor

Anonymous said...

The Gay way to Blogging

It´s a joke. That´s a good idea Trevor. I´ve been thinking about it too. Blogging helps to put ideas in order. It´s great exercise for the mind.

Trevor Gay said...

Maybe Roacky, Felix and I should write a joint book - how about it guys?

Trevor

Anonymous said...

That´s a great idea Trevor. I have some ideas to work on. Leadership, Blogging, there are many things to be told in an original way.