David Gergen

8/6/2009
David Gergen
Leadership is a journey that each have their own path and way. There are people that can help with that. Role models.
Can you create a culture of behavior to both serve and lead.
Some are born with gifts but you have to learn to get better. To be a reflective practioner.
Reflective practice-you learn by doing and reading. The only president that didn't go to college was Truman. Not every reader is a leader but every leader is a reader.
Don't confuse motion for action.
Effective executive book. Beginning of a period of time, write down what you hope to accomplish, what did you do right or wrong. Don't fool yourself. And defensive. You have to be willing to wrestle like Jacob.
When dancing sometimes you have to go up in the balcony and reflect.
Roosevelt went fishing and helped come up with Lend lease program with Britain and Churchill to beat Hitler.
Nixon was the best strategist of the future and try to bend it to fit our interests. Churchill said someone who can look farther back can see further ahead. Weakness-Machivelli, when you became closer the vales started to come off and there was more of a dark side.
Ford was the most decent. In todays society we pride people who are decent because they are so rare. Weakness, sometimes naïve.
Clinton was quick and bright. He was very resilient. Always got back up. Weakness-charachter questions. Should've been straight and asked for forgiveness.
Reagan-best since Roosevelt. Strong beliefs and contagious optimism. Always get higher. Weakness-dettachment problems, he would let others take the wheel and sometimes they weren't qualified.
Inspection is often as important as respect.
Great leaders carry with them great flaws theory. Not all of them. Come to grips on them. Self-awareness. Integrate the two so we are authentic. Adam and Eve had flaws. A lot of people are not going to conquer flaws but have to keep them in check.
We need an alignment between our private and public lives. Get up every day and try and be better.
We should be more forgiving and less invasive but very demanding in their public lives.
Leadership does not have to be lonely. The day of the lone ranger is over. They need great teams. A leader of other leaders. Even partnering with others. We build things together. If you want to go fast go alone if you want to far go together.
Leadership is about trust and communication. Role modeling. Symbolic things. Branding.Ganhi wore a loin cloth so he could show he was like others. Reagan on a horse.
Who the speaker is speaks more loudly than what he says. We are so bombarded with words the key is who are we going to listen to. Do you trust them, does he know what he's talking about. Rooted. Clear and simple.
Aristotle wrote a book about rhetoric, logos, ethos, and pathos. Ethos, credibility. Logos, compelling logic. The pathos is the emotion.
There should be a rhythm. 15-20 mins. More than 30 only ¼ learns. If they don't know you you need to establish who you are. Workout their minds but give them rest. Make sure to leave them with some emotion.
Personal habits-they matter a lot. Self-discipline. Regular habits. Control of your life, be phycically fit. Flabby body flabby mind. Endurance for the hard tests. Time in the day to reflect. Spend time with the people you cherish.
What do you hope happens when you go to church? 3 things: 1. inner peace 2. learn something 3. the younger generation is on a search for their spiritual well being. Having a moral compass taking you forward. The church provides good anchors. Don't fly too close to the sun you'll burn your wings. You need to stay humble and realize that there are so many things bigger than you. We are part of grander schemes.
Be the change you want to see in the world. Each of us have warmed our hands around a fire, we should be bringing a log to help future generations have it.