Читать книгу Leading With NLP: Essential Leadership Skills for Influencing and Managing People - Joseph O’Connor - Страница 7

How do you think of ‘leadership’? What comes into your mind? Try it now.

What are the qualities of your mental picture?

Is it still or moving?

How far away does it appear to be?

Is it in colour or black and white?

Are you in the picture?

How do you feel about your picture?

‘Leadership’ an abstract noun and for many people the word conjures up a still picture, a frieze of troops on the battlefield or sometimes a symbol.

Now think of ‘leading’.

What comes into your mind?

What are the qualities of your mental picture now?

How are they different?

How do you feel about this picture?

‘Leading’ is a verb and that means action, movement.

Your mental pictures can spring to life.

When you think about ‘leadership’, remember the reality behind the word – leaders act. They move towards something. They excite action; they transform people and change how they think. Leadership as an abstract noun languishes as a theoretical concept with no life or movement – interesting, but kept safely at arm’s length like a museum exhibit.²

Think of a leader. Who comes to mind? A military leader like the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon, Winston Churchill or General Schwartzkopf? A political leader like Tony Blair, President Kennedy, Margaret Thatcher or Bill Clinton? Or a religious leader like Christ, Mohammed and the Buddha? What of the humanitarian leaders like Mother Teresa and Albert Schweitzer, popular charismatic figures like Princess Diana, or film stars, music stars or top figures in the world of fashion?

Leaders form a very varied group, all strong characters who arouse passions both for and against. Yet they all have something in common that defines them as leaders – they have influence. They move people.