Steve, I agree. There are many, many leaders laboring in relative obscurity, supporting the development and growth of good organizations. We’ve been bombarded with so many super negative examples in the past few years, that it is easy to lose track of the many less visible positive examples.

Bret, you were in part the inspiration for this feature with your very provocative post on top leadership. It sounds like the negative experiences have left some scars! You’ll have to repay some of those less than effective leaders by continuing to spread the word of what it means to get it right! You are off to a great start.

Mary Jo, perhaps we can start a trend here. I suspect that we would all learn a lot more if the news regularly reported on great leaders and great businesses. That editorial theme might even drive ratings! Thanks for your inspiration…I definitely caught on to your outstanding theme/formula at your blog.

Best to all! -Art

Every post I write has at least one great leader behind it. Someone who reminded me of how tough it is, yet how they’ve been able to walk the high road. I just don’t say it quite that way. But I learn from each and every one of them, and I feature many (albeit behind the scenes).

Thank you for taking the high road and including this new feature that may open a few eyes (and hearts) to the fact that “leader” isn’t a bad word.

At my first academic job, things were less than stellar. I felt is was very important to give all job candidates a realistic job preview – the good, the great, the bad, and the ugly – when they spent their 20 minutes with me. I considered it a professional obligation, especially since no one had the courage to tell me the whole truth when I went through the process. After a while, leadership stopped bringing people to see me. So the “truth” they got was distorted and they never knew it.

Better stop while I am (almost) ahead. Keep up the great work, Art! Bret

A persistent cultural theme right now is to denigrate anything related to business and capitalism. Writing first-hand about visibly well-run companies will hopefully at least force those who are wondering “What is business about?” to question powerful voices with an anti self-responsibility agenda.

Look forward to future stories. . .