DOING WHAT WE WERE MEANT TO DO

Any discussion about leadership and how natural-born leaders respond to leadership challenges must start with an understanding that to be really good at something we must possess the corresponding level of innate talent. Within our unique set of inherited talents, we have the ability to excel at these activities, but because each person is unique, everyone cannot excel at everything. We don't like to face this truth, because we were raised believing that if we want something badly enough, are willing to work hard to get it, and receive training or coaching in the subject, then we can be anything we want to be. This is a false dream. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state, said, "That's what you really have to look for in life, something that you like and something that you think you're pretty good at. And if you can put these two things together, then you're on the right track and just drive on." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German statesman and writer, also said regarding this topic, "The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it." In other words, do what you are passionate about and good at, and that will allow your natural talents to express themselves.

Consider the women and men who represent their countries in the Olympics. For everyone who competes, there are thousands of competitors who do not have the level of talent required to make the final cut and win the right to compete in the Olympics. Those women and men who are unsuccessful in the preliminary competitions have the desire, commitment, and training, but at some level of competition they fell short, while others who possess more talent made it to the Olympics. Further, out of all those who represent their countries, only an elite few actually win medals.

The Olympics is just one example among many where some individuals have their dreams and aspirations realized, but the cold, hard reality is that most do not; they simply run out of talent at some lower level of competition. An argument can be made that injuries play a role or one coach may be a little better than another, but that does not change the overall conclusion that talent and the degree to which a person possesses it are the determining factors in how accomplished that person will be in a particular activity.

Likewise with leadership, heredity bestows upon us none, some, or a high degree of leadership talent. We need to do a good self-examination of our own talents and stop kidding ourselves that we can do or be anything we want. Instead, we must look inward and aim to discover what talents we actually possess. Good leaders know that the more we can align our careers, lives, or some aspect of them with the talents with which we were born, the more content and successful we will become, because we will be doing something we were meant to do — what we were born to do. We won't turn into intolerable bosses who clearly lack the innate leadership talent to be good leaders. But if we insist that gurus and formulas can make us all into leaders, then we will continue to mass-produce nonleaders who will not answer this nation's call for real leadership.

GOOD LEADERSHIP DRIVES AN IMPERFECT DECISION

Good leaders in all segments of American society recognize that they have a responsibility to establish an environment and culture that become the generators of invention, innovation, and informed decision making. Good leaders don't just make decisions; they make decisions better. Good leaders are the catalysts who bring divergent points of view to the table for discussion, who ensure that all interests are represented, and who define the issues and set the parameters for the decisions to be formulated. From this crucible, there will emerge the ingredients for an informed, collaborative decision. How these ingredients are blended together by the leader is an art and will ultimately determine if a consensus can be reached.

Good leaders understand that each person or group supports their own "perfect" proposals on the issues and will argue for adoption with only minor modifications. They believe that their proposals represent the perfect solution, the right decision. Good leaders realize that any absolutist stance is the precursor of gridlock and paralysis. It takes skillful leaders to...