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This was compiled as a set of leadership qualities set forth by former U. S. President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt.
1. The first prerequisite of true leadership is a happy home. The private life is the proving
ground for the public life.
2. Leadership must be modelled on some tangible, practical, and realizable ideal. Leaders
have mentors. They are disciples. They comprehend the notion of legacy.
3. Leaders are those who make the most of every moment, every opportunity, and every
available resource.
4. Leadership is the art of pursuing the ideal in the midst of a world that is something less than ideal.
5. If you want to lead, you must read.
6. A leader cannot lead a nation if he cannot vividly portray the path which he wishes to
take.
7. True leadership is a life committed to good deeds.
8. A leader’s goal, first and foremost, is to reach the goal.
9. A leader is an idealist who is simultaneously blessed with a strong dose of
reality.
10. The role of the leader is primarily to serve as a moral compass - pointing others
toward the north of justice and righteousness.
11. A leader knows that what is really important in life rarely puts on airs of
importance.
12. There is little extraordinary about the achievements of a genius, a prodigy, or a
servant. Inevitably, a great leader is someone who overcomes tremendous obstacles and
still succeeds.
13. The essence of leadership is the ability to maintain great strength without any
impulsive compulsion to use it. That strength is to be held in reserve, until and unless it
becomes necessary to use it for the cause of right.
14. A wise leader always uses whatever resources are placed at his disposal -but he never
confuses the means with the ends.
15. A leader will always attempt to unite others’ disparate and distinctive legacies - and in
so doing, help begin the vital process of healing.
16. A leader has the ability to take any circumstance and see it through the lens of happy
providence. He is living proof of the fact that laughter is indeed the best
medicine.
17. The efficacy of leadership depends, to a large degree, on the leader’s incognizance of
the negative consequences of doing right.
18. A leader understands that failure is the backdoor to success.
19. A leader is able to maintain a wide circle of relationships through a generous
application of the social graces, but simultaneously guards his private affairs - maintaining
genuine intimacy only with those whom he can trust implicitly.
20. No commendation is greater than the condemnation of one’s fiercest sworn
enemies.
21. Social movements need far more than a gifted popular leader. They need a consensus
wrought by a common worldview and a common faith.
22. A leader will always prefer to be faithful than famous.
23. A leader invariably lives his life as a sincere imitator of the best attributes of others.
Heroes always have heroes.
24. The responsibilities of leadership demand positive clarity of expression - and exclude
any possibility of crass abasement.
25. Because all leadership is in the end moral leadership, a leader’s faith must be firmly
established.
26. True leadership must always be accountable to that set of unchanging principles - ones
that are not affected by the movement of the clock or the advance of the
calendar.
27. The essence of leadership is to move people in a direction that they would not
ordinarily go of their own accord - but in which they must go if they are to attain to their
own peculiar calling.
28. Great leaders understand the very critical notion that ideas have
consequences.
29. Leaders must have a sanctuary in which to retreat. There is indeed no place like
home.
30. With great privileges come great responsibilities. Blessings bring with them duties.
And the joy of liberty is the most sober obligation ever entrusted to men or
nations.
[George Grant, CARRY A BIG STICK, THE UNCOMMON
HEROISM OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Elkton, MD: Highland Books, 1966; pp.
205 - 207.]
- LEADING by SERVING, Issue #6
[Edited by Doug Nichols, International Director, Action International Ministries]
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