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Why a Leader's Beliefs Are Like Dirt

June 19, 2007

"Triumphant leaders - hopeful leaders - communicate meaning by virtue of their beliefs.  Leaders' beliefs are the soil in which we plant our aspirations.  In this way, your beliefs are like dirt.  You gotta dig 'em up now and then.  As a leader, you must show those who look to you for leadership not only what you believe but also why you believe it.  Because coincidentally, what we cannot see in our leaders, like what we cannot see in dirt, turns out to be what is most important.  Just as most tree failures are caused by problems with the soil, too many team failures are the result of a leader's mismanagement of beliefs.  When people fail to believe in their leaders or when leaders fail to believe in their followers, they lose not only games but hope as well.  And when people lose hope, they leave.  Therefore, to make things grow - dreams, people, earnings - you must tend to your outlook as much as your intellect.  You must believe as much as you think (Razeghi, 2006, p. 15)."

Reference:  Razeghi, A. (2006).  Hope: how triumphant leaders create the future.   San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.

Hope is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page http://164.107.48.88/winnebago/index.asp?lib=???

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Created: 2008-02-28, Updated: 2009-02-26