Authentic Leadership

I was reading this book "Authentic Leadership" by Bill George, and came across this quote which I find interesting.

The first thing a leader must do is to define reality. The last thing that a leader should do is to say thank you. In between, the leader must be a servant and debtor. That is Authentic Leadership.

I cannot agree more. The first and last things are the easiest to do. It is the in-between process that challenges you as an authentic leader. To become a servant and debtor, one must possess a lot of humility and high integrity. It is definitely not something easy, especially if the team members are not committed.

I can't say that I am such a leader, but when I read this quote, I am relieved that my approach in my leadership is along this line.

Suddenly I thought of a person. She is a leader in a similar organization, but holding a leadership post that is of higher seniority. Her leadership basically can be defined as this:

The first thing that a leader does is to scold. The last thing that a leader does is to scold louder. In between, the leader scolds and scolds. That is Scolding Leadership.

Wow. Isn't that inspiring?

Ha ha.