Margaret Thatcher
Introduction
“Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become…habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become.”
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
“If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you”
“Being a leader is like being a lady. If you have to remind people you are, you aren’t.”
Those are my favorite quotations from the Iron Lady, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died on the 8th of April, 2013. She understood that leadership is not about titles or photo ops or posturing. True leadership is about authenticity, standing up for principles, even in the face of strong opposition.
To her admirers, Margaret Thatcher was an iconic national heroine who ended Britain’s post-World War II cycle of decline. Her angry critics saw her as a destroyer of industry. But no one doubted her dedication and resolve of Britain’s major problems.
Unfortunately, much of today’s psychobabble about leadership has the wrong focus. A lot of the training and development in our corporations focuses on learning about things. People learn what to think, not how to think. They learn what to do, not how to be. They learn what to achieve, not how to achieve. They learn all about things, but very little about the nature of things. And these are the characteristics which she demonstrated the most…“How to” instead of “What to”.
Popular definitions of leadership also tend to be externalized. Many of the definitions focus on the outer manifestations of leadership—such as vision, judgment, creativity, drive, charisma, podium presence, etc.—rather than getting to the essence of leadership itself.
This external pattern continues at the
“Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become…habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become.”
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
“If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you”
“Being a leader is like being a lady. If you have to remind people you are, you aren’t.”
Those are my favorite quotations from the Iron Lady, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died on the 8th of April, 2013. She understood that leadership is not about titles or photo ops or posturing. True leadership is about authenticity, standing up for principles, even in the face of strong opposition.
To her admirers, Margaret Thatcher was an iconic national heroine who ended Britain’s post-World War II cycle of decline. Her angry critics saw her as a destroyer of industry. But no one doubted her dedication and resolve of Britain’s major problems.
Unfortunately, much of today’s psychobabble about leadership has the wrong focus. A lot of the training and development in our corporations focuses on learning about things. People learn what to think, not how to think. They learn what to do, not how to be. They learn what to achieve, not how to achieve. They learn all about things, but very little about the nature of things. And these are the characteristics which she demonstrated the most…“How to” instead of “What to”.
Popular definitions of leadership also tend to be externalized. Many of the definitions focus on the outer manifestations of leadership—such as vision, judgment, creativity, drive, charisma, podium presence, etc.—rather than getting to the essence of leadership itself.
This external pattern continues at the