| Westbury
Manor, 1 November 2005
One highlight of October for me came on 31
October, when I spoke at the Mansion House, in the presence
of the Lord Mayor of London, the First Sea Lord and a company
of some 350 others, on the theme of 'The Leadership of Nelson'.
Using the body of knowledge about leadership that has
now taken shape through my work, I sketched out what having
a genius for leadership means.
Nobody taught Nelson the three-circles. Yet he applied
the model with consummate mastery. But he added to it
that elusive x factor of charisma, that personal magnetism
or charm enabling one to inspire or influence other people.
As Nelson's superior Admiral Lord St Vincent once wrote
to him:
"I never saw a man in our profession who posessed the
magic art of infusing the same spirit into others which inspired
their own actions - all agree there is but one Nelson."
If you want to read a case study of how the Royal Navy today
uses the three-circles Adair philosophy as the foundation
of it's leadership development, see my new book Effective
Leadership Development . In fact I led the first two-day
ACL Course for the Royal Navy in 1969, and 36 years later
they are still using my work with enthusiasm and skill. Truth
never goes out of date: it is always timeless and timely.
'It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to
discover ability in others is the true test'
Elbert Hubbard
'You do not lead by hitting people over
the head - that's assault not leadership'
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"I heard" is not as good as
"I saw"
Chinese proverb
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