[April 11, 2017] I’ve been involved with leadership for decades and yet one of the more frustrating things I’ve faced is a consistent narrative that goes something like this, “If you want to learn about leadership, then learn it from a senior leader.” Frankly, nothing could be further from the truth, and today I have a special treat that demonstrates the absurdity of this claim.
Occasionally I stumble upon great works by people who never held senior leadership positions but who have taken their intellect, time, and energy to search for those particular traits and circumstances that make for truly great leaders. Ted Catranis1 is one of them. He is a retired school teacher from a small town in rural Pennsylvania. Something motivated him to write about leadership and what it means (who isn’t looking for that answer?).
Ted is the kind of man that you can go to and expect him to be part of the solution. He’s does what he says he’ll do and doesn’t make empty promises. That comes out in his book, What is Leadership: Reflections on Personal Growth and Leadership.2 He confirms much of what is written here in theLeaderMaker.com and discusses character traits like: humility, integrity, mentoring, readiness, simplicity, manners, etc.
Don’t expect the normal from Ted. He also goes directly to the heart of leadership in his discussions of individual importance, shepherding, professionalism, healthy emotions, and the like. In his book, he talks about how and what he’s learned from people he disagrees with and asks us the question, “What have you learned from people with whom you have disagreed?”
If you want to truly see what someone has learned about leadership, then go ahead and take a look at this book.3 Highly recommended.
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- As a matter of disclosure, I’ve known Ted Catranis for more than 25 years. He’s written a book here and I’m not trying to sell it or endorse it … but it is a fantastic book! He can do that himself and promote it through his network. My intent is to reinforce a consistent theme of mine and that is that leadership is 1) learned, 2) inspiring, and 3) can be found anywhere there are good people. Ted’s book is however a truly extraordinary piece of work that explores leadership in a positive and fundamental way.
- See his Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/CatranisLeadership/
- Don’t forget my Reading List page located here: https://www.theleadermaker.com/reading-list/