COM 1290
Oakland Community College, Auburn Hills
Professor Moon
Book Report: On Becoming A Leader
Chapter One: Mastering the Context
There is a trend of real leadership in the world today from the Kennedys, FDR, to Gandhi. There is a necessity to have leaders. A couple reasons are they are accountable for companies, organizations, and the running of a nation. People need to be led. There was a study done at the University of Michigan that talked argued that there are ten dangers to society. One was the obvious nuclear war. Another one was disease and famine, and finally the third is quality of management and the leadership of our institutions. It’s very evident that the world needs a leader. In the 18th and 19th century, there was a big power shift from the nations of Europe to the United States. The 18th century was the era of the genius. The 19th century brought about the era of inventors, scientists, writers and adventurers.
The author explains the ongoing tension between the individual rights and the common good of society. Warren Davis as quoting James Madison wrote, “Public virtue, the public good, is the supreme object to be pursued” (Davis, On Becoming A Leader). Problems in leadership are rising due to terminal egocentricity, or as some people call it “cocooning”. It’s a way to keep the outside world’s issues at bay by denying its existence. I would say it’s mainly the negative matters.
As ‘businesses and government expanded, legislators imposed rules and regulations on business, and corporate managers countered by flooding Washington with lobbyists, causing a stalemate’ (Davis, On Becoming A Leader).
First step to being a leader is declaring your independence. Having character is critical. A leader also has vision. These are repeated throughout the book frequently. The author interviews numerous successful people for this book. One such person is Norman Lear. He talks about listening to your inner-voice and how having people