Leadership

First, forgive me Luis and Lou and all ABD fans for using the Duke AD as a source.

Kevin White, Duke’s Athletic Director, when describing what it takes to be a successful coach said leadership was the main trait.  White said he looks for four dimensions of leadership; task orientation, passion, situational flexibility and empathy.  It was his mention and discussion of empathy that caught my attention. At the end of the day, he said it was caring about the people you lead that makes all the difference.  And, without true, authentic, genuine caring, a leader is not really a leader in the fullest sense of the word.

Despite the source, I found myself drawn to go through my own personal list of leaders — Lincoln and Ghandi for example — and having to agree. Without genuine caring heart, a person in a position of leadership will ultimately fall short. So will the rest of us. So I say first and foremost in selecting leaders look to the heart, not to intellect or experience.

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About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.