This Simple Truth About Leadership Might Just Surprise You

Jokingly, I would say to myself, “what else is there to learn about leadership?” Then, I found myself learning something new about the art of leadership versus the role of management.

When my wife and I left Phoenix in April 2020 to take a 2,200-mile drive to shelter from the coronavirus epidemic in our new home in Savannah, we were not sure what to expect.

We knew that we would be able to take long morning walks along the beaches of Tybee Island and Hilton Head. We also knew that with only two prior visits to Savannah while celebrating wedding anniversaries at the Pink House, we would now have the time to learn more about this part of the United States. We were eager to learn more about the people who live in the parts of the U.S. that are affectionately called, the “Coastal Empire” and the “Low Country.”

However, to my surprise, after my retiring from my 34-year corporate career twelve years ago, and becoming both a full-time entrepreneur and a published author, I found myself learning something new about the art of leadership versus the role of management.

You see, since I retired as a corporate technology executive and from leading major organizations within Fortune 500 companies, I have focused most of my literary work on writing about what I had learned and practiced during my opportunities to lead organizations, people and change over three decades. These were decades which included the development and commercialization of digital technology, personal computers, cell phones and the internet.

Jokingly, I would say to myself, “what else is there to learn about leadership?”

But, as I spent a day attending the inaugural Southeast Georgia Leadership Conference in Savannah last week, I learned a simple truth --- or at least a new way to express it --- that I feel is worthy of sharing with the present group of industry leaders, as well as, those in line to replace them in the future. This is an insight that can only be valued when you grow to truly understand the art of leadership.?

The purveyors of this simple truth included the authors of the books in the photograph above, as well as the Honorable Michael Thurmond, CEO of Dekalb County Georgia, Dr. Kyle Marrero, President of Georgia Southern University and Ms. Kimberly Ballard-Washington, J.D., President of Savannah State University.

Collectively, during the day, these eight talented and skilled communicators spent over three hundred minutes, not just speaking to the large audience, but opening up their minds and pouring out their hearts, in their own way, to convey this simple truth.

What is this simple truth, you ask?

The Simple Truth

Good Managers, focus their time and energy on the X(s) and the O(s), while Incredible Leaders, focus their time and energy on the Jill(s) and the Joe(s).

The level of success, and the significance of the outstanding contributions of these eight leaders to their communities, and to American society as a whole, helped me to finally, galvanize this simple truth in both my mind, and in my heart.