Winning Spirit Magazine January - February 2013 January - February 2013 | 页面 3

pass it on to the next generation to use as a foundation that
they can build on, adding their own knowledge to improve
on what we have done. This is our reward for our efforts—a
stronger, more complete “whole.” Sharing what we have
learned makes us all stronger and better equipped to move
into the future as new opportunities come our way.
The next natural step to learning and teaching is becoming
a leader. We need good leaders! As David McCullough has
said, “We need leaders in every field, in every institution,
in all kinds of situations. We need to be educating our
young people (our young employees) to be leaders. And
unfortunately, that’s fallen out of fashion.”
Douglas Southall Freeman once said that leadership comes
down to three qualities: “Know your stuff, be a man, look
after your men.”
‘Knowing your stuff” refers to having expertise
and experience and knowing what you’re
talking about. You have to do the hard
work necessary to know your subject. It
also has to do with being able to analyze
problems and learning to do things by
“doing” them. You can’t learn to play the
piano by reading a book about it; you
learn to play the piano by playing the
piano. You lean to write by writing. You
learn to be a leader by leading people.
“Being a man” means having courage,
backbone, resilience and strength of character.
These traits help you to see the strengths in others
and allow you to be counted on when the going gets tough.
To “look after your men” means to take care of your
employees. Take a genuine interest in them; treat them
well. Know something about them. Never ask your
people to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself. Lead
by example and listen. Hear what they have to say. A
good leader has the ability to get people to do what
they ought to do without having to be told.
Last year is in the history books and this year is a
clean slate. Take time to plan for your future. Live up
to your own high standards. Build bridges for others
to cross while planning for your own success. A wise
man once said, “There is no limit to the good you can
accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” May
we individually and collectively have a prosperous and
happy New Year. WS