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Recommended Reading
Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership
by Howard Gardner
Basic Books, 1995
ISBN: 0-465-08280-7Howard Gardner is Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education and co-director of Project Zero at Harvard University. In this book, through eleven brief biographies of great leaders, he provides powerful examples of leadership and defines characteristics of great leaders as their having:
• a tie to a community or audience
• a rhythm of life that includes both isolation and immersion
• a relationship between the stories they tell and the traits they embody
• arrival at power through the choice of the people rather than by brute force.Gardner notes that "a leader is an individual (or rarely, a set of individuals) who significantly affects the thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors of a significant number of individuals. Most acknowledged leaders are "direct."' They address their public face-to-face. But I have called attention to an unrecognized phenomenon—indirect leadership: In this variety of leading, individuals exert impact through the works that they create.
"Whether direct or indirect, leaders fashion stories—principally stories of identity. It is important that a leader be a good storyteller, but equally crucial that the leader embody that story in his or her life. When a leader tells stories to experts, the stories can be quite sophisticated; but when the leader is dealing with a diverse, heterogeneous group, the story must be sufficiently elemental to be understood by the untutored, or "unschooled," mind."
Gardner ends his preface with a quote from Jean Monnet, who declared, "I regard every defeat as an opportunity." The individuals portrayed in Leading Minds certainly have their flaws, but I believe that both ordinary citizens and aspiring leaders can also draw inspiration from their lives and their stories."
Although this book is not directly focused on leadership in education, leaders in the educational community can learn much from and be inspired by Gardner's "teaching stories."
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