Leadership

Jessica Quattrucci
Leadership 2001
Response Paper #2


After reading the article Timeless Leadership I have a different feel towards leadership. This article focuses on David McCullough and his views on leadership.   The article helped me realize how I viewed leadership and didn’t even realize it.
McCullough believed that leadership shouldn’t be measured on how book smart you are. Leadership is about common sense. It’s about picking out what’s special about people and helping them use it to their advantage. Being a good leader shouldn’t have anything to do with your GPA or your looks.   Being a leader means being passionate about what you’re leading people in. If you’re not passionate about it, no one’s going to follow in your shoes.
Some of this country’s greatest leaders weren’t the smartest, or the greatest looking characters. Their followers weren’t even the smartest, but they believed in what they were doing and that’s what made them incredible leaders. I am a strong believer that belief and faith are stronger than anything.
I agree with almost all of the points that this article makes except for maybe one in particular which is the luck. I don’t believe that luck has anything to do with leadership, good luck in my opinion is only good fate. The most important point made was to listen to people. To qualify as a good leader you need to understand people. In order to understand them you need to listen to them.
Someone in my life that reminds me of these particular leaders would certainly be my mother. My mother is an incredible leader, not only in her work place where she is the manger but in her every day as well. Ever since I was a little girl I can remember her telling me to always stand up for what I believe in, that if I was passionate about what I believed in, then other people would be too. I have tried, and hopefully succeeded at doing that.