(I'll be covering as much of this talk that I can. I'll be heading to a lunch meeting in about 15 minutes.)
(So David Gergen is pretty much the man. According to the video, anyway.)
(Hybels is interviewing Gergen.)
(Hybels and Gergen are sharing mutual respect.)
"Leadership is a journey and each one of us much take our own path, our own way."
"We need to be helped along that path with a mentor, leader, a friend."
"We're probably all hocking books here..." (Way to go Gergen, for naming the rampant product-peddling!)
"Make people aware of the principles of leadership."
"If you're in a leadership role in a church, the important question is can you create a culture? A culture where they aspire to lead and serve."
"I don 't care if you're born with leadership or not. You have to constantly learn to get better."
"Be a reflective practitioner. You really learn leadership out in the area, doing it. But also reading."
"Not every reader is a leader. But every leader is a reader."
"Ask, 'where did I go wrong?' 'What could be done differently?'"
"It's easy to confuse motion with progress as a leader." (That is a HUGE insight. Pay attention churches!)
Peter Drucker: "At beginning of the year, write down what you want to accomplish. Come back after it's over and write down what went wrong and right."
"When you're down on the dancefloor dancing, it's important to occasionally go to the balcony and look down."
(I'm realizing the weight of this man's words. He speaks plainly, but his words carry great weight and authority. Advisor to four presidents... That's not small potatoes.)
"Go fishing more often."
Hybels: What was the most admirable quality of the Presidents you served?
"Nixon: Strategist"
"Ford: Decent. One of the only ones where you didn't need to keep your back to the wall in the White House."
"Nice guys finish last? I don't think that's true."
(I like Gergen's laugh. It is awkward, sweet and genuine.)
"Clinton: Very bright. Quick mind. But very resilient."
"Reagan: Thought he was a superb leader. One of the biggest qualities I appreciated about him was a contagious optimism about life."
"Reagan: Had the sense that we could make it. There was buy-in. A sense that we could build something."
"Sometimes the right hand does not know what the FAR right hand is doing!"
"Nixon: Glad I read Machiavelli before I went to work for him!" (HA!)
(Alright gang, I have to head to a lunch meeting. I'll be back live-blogging after the jump. So check back here at 2pm CST. If you want to read more live-blogging coverage, check out Tony's blog here:
tonymorganlive.com)
