Paralysis of leadership is due in part to the unseen grip of the special interests.
Interpretation
Leadership can be hindered by external influences that are not directly visible.
John W. Gardner highlights the challenges leaders face when powerful, unseen interests can influence decision-making, leading to a lack of action or 'paralysis' in leadership. This quote suggests that effective leadership requires awareness of these hidden pressures and the courage to overcome them to serve the greater good.
In practice
During a leadership conference, you might use this quote to discuss the impact of special interests on effective governance.
More and more Americans feel threatened by runaway technology, by large-scale organization, by overcrowding. More and more Americans are appalled by the ravages of industrial progress, by the defacement of nature, by man-made ugliness. If our society continues at its present rate to become less livable as it becomes more affluent, we promise all to end up in sumptuous misery.
Storybook happiness involves every form of pleasant thumb-twiddling; true happiness involves the full use of one's powers and talents.
Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities. There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage.
We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure-all your life.
I think that all human systems require continuous renewal. They rigidify. They get stuff in the joints. They forget what they cared about. The forces against it are nostalgia and the enormous appeal of having things the way they always have been, appeals to a supposedly happy past. But we've got to move on.
What leaders have to remember is that somewhere under the somnolent surface is the creature that builds civilizations, the dreamer of dreams, the risk taker. And remembering that, the leader must reach down to the springs that never dry up, the ever-fresh springs of the human spirit.
We love those who can lead us to a place we will never reach without them.
The power of a person derives not from the office he occupies but from a clear sense of direction and aspiration and from a willingness to struggle for his ways and beliefs.
For me, I've learned that the best thing is to focus on the team you play for and yourself and what you need to do.
Nelson Mandela, a better man, not a bitter man, made our world a better place in which to live. His life and leadership exemplify the highest courage, dignity, and dedication to human liberation.
My dad was one who - he was nonpartisan, first of all. He learned to work with whatever administration was in office.
Deep down, your players must know you care about them. This is the most important thing. I could never get away with what I do if the players feel I didn't care for them. They know, in the long run, I'm in their corner.
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