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James Strock

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M S Rao | Meka Ramakrishna Sayee

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The article below is a special posting from international leadership guru, Professor M. S. Rao, of Hyderabad, India. He writes passionately about the accomplishments and promise of his son, Meka Ramakrishna Sayee. I hope you will find, as I do, actionable inspiration from what can truly be called a leading family. —JMS

Meka Ramakrishna Sayee formal photo orange background www.servetolead.org

To be the best in the world necessitates your drawing upon all your capacities. In the doing, you will draw on what is unique in yourself.
No one can replicate it. ―James Strock

We study the lives of great leaders to refill our inspiration. Authors often turn to notable international leaders such as Abraham Lincoln and Barrack Obama to engage their readers.

In addition to eminent personalities, we must also take examples of otherwise ordinary individuals who overcame hardships and financial challenges to excel as extraordinary leaders in their own right.

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Stauffenberg Family | Hostages to Fortune

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Claus and Nina von Stauffenberg candid smiling at www.servetolead.org

Nina and Claus von Stauffenberg | Bundesarchiv Bild via Wikipedia

There was a time when they were simply a beautiful young couple in love. Nina and Claus von Stauffenberg were favored by fortune. They were aristocrats. They were patriots, dedicated to the nation from whom they sprung.

Through twists of fate they could never have imagined, Claus von Stauffenberg would become a historic figure. If anyone merits characterization as a “hero,” even in our post-heroic age, it’s he. No less a personage than Winston Churchill rendered the verdict that none could overturn: Stauffenberg was the “bravest of the best.”

It takes nothing away from Stauffenberg’s example to note that he was not alone in his heroism. In the run-up and follow-up to his crowded hour, Stauffenberg’s journey was undertaken with his family. Those who would learn from his example may benefit from the larger picture.

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Reckenrich & Anderson | Jeff Koons and the Art of Leadership

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Jeff Koons smiling microphone public domain cc 4.0 at www.servetolead.org

credit | Bengt Oberger | Creative Commons 4.0 via WIkipedia

This piece is written by Professors Joerg Reckenrich and Jamie Anderson of the Antwerp Management School. More information and links to the authors can be found below.

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Leadership is of central importance in today’s business world. After analyzing, conceptualizing and evaluating, executives have to implement and get the company moving in the right direction. And here leadership comes into play. How can managers affect the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of a significant number of individuals in a way that strategies are flawlessly and passionately executed across an organization? Leadership also extends beyond the organization—it relates to how an individual manager can become recognized as a leader in their chosen field of business.

In this blogpost we will discuss Jeff Koons, a successful and highly controversial contemporary artist, and explore the way in which storytelling linked to his artwork has been a key element of the way he has projected himself as a credible leader in the world of contemporary art. We suggest that Koons’ use of storytelling, and the manner in which he has come to embody the themes and concepts that he seeks to communicate through his artworks, present powerful lessons for managers as to how they can manage their own leadership projection.

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Would You Have Signed Declaration of Independence?

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Boston Massacre Redcoats firing on Americans at www.servetolead.org

Which side would you have been on?

Would you have signed the Declaration of Independence?

Before you look up from your relaxing holiday rituals in appalled disbelief that anyone would manifest such egregious effrontery as to ask such a question, reflect on it:

Would you have signed the Declaration of Independence?

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James Strock

Serve to Lead | The Four Questions

Who Am I Serving?
How Can I Best Serve?
Am I Making My Unique Contribution?
What Am I Learning?

Benjamin Franklin

Morning: "What good shall I do this day?"
Evening: "What good have I done today?"

Charles De Gaulle

"History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a handful of free men breaks through determinism and opens up new roads. People get the history they deserve."

Theodore Roosevelt

"Do the best you can, with what you have, where you are."