Life on our planet flourishes through feedback. If life forms don't develop feedback loops and get good information about how well they are interacting with their world, the world eventually kills them.

This holds true with leaders. Leaders must get feedback as to how they're doing -- otherwise they won't be leaders for long.

One kind of feedback is results. After all, leaders do nothing more important than get results. You should understand the kinds of results you're getting, if they are the right results, and if you are getting them in the right ways.

This article was published in the Nov. 2003 edition of Hamilton, Ontario's BIZ Magazine under the title "Leadership's Triple Crown" LM

There can be no doubt that the ancient author of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu, was a man of unique wisdom whose writings continue to influence people of different backgrounds and faiths.

Many leaders then and now get wrapped up in selfish ambition. They would do well to listen to what Lao-Tzu had to say on the subject of leadership.

There are several English translations of the Tao Te Ching available on-line. The following selections are from a translation by C. Ganson.

Leaders Work Humbly

History teaches that when people needed to do great things, a leader first had to gather them together and speak from the heart. This heartfelt speech was often connected to defining and reinforcing a dream shared by both the leader and the people.

Drill down through goals and aims and aspirations and ambitions of the people you lead, and you'll hit the bedrock of human motivation, the dream.

For instance, Martin Luther King did not say, "I have a goal." Or "I have an aim." The power of that speech was in the "I have a dream".

Have you ever considered that everything you want in life comes from someone else? The greatest minds in any field are keenly aware of the value of working with and involving others in life plans, business, work and personal commitments.

Many potential leaders in business sabotage themselves and their organizations out of fear of empowering others. In 21st Century Leadership: Dialogues with 100 Top Leaders, Lynne McFarland, Larry Senn and John Childress assert, the empowerment leadership model shifts away from position power where all people are given leadership roles so thy can contribute to their fullest capacity. John Maxwell confirms this in his work on leadership, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Leadership is motivational or it's stumbling in the dark. The best leaders don't order people to do a job, the best leaders motivate people to want to do the job.

The trouble is the vast majority of leaders don't delve into the deep aspects of human motivation and so are unable to motivate people effectively.

Drill down through goals and aims and aspirations and ambitions and you hit the bedrock of motivation, the dream. Many leaders fail to take it into account.

The Army defines seven values that soldiers should strive to emulate in their daily lives. These core values establish a standard of conduct; they form the foundation of personal behavior that defines the person, as well as the expectations soldiers have of one another. These values are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.

Leadership is not about getting people to do what they want. If they did what they want, you wouldn't be needed as a leader. Instead, leadership is about getting people to do what they don't want to do (or don't think they can do) and be ardently committed to doing it.

This paradox lies at the heart of all great leadership.

Unlike management, which involves simply the care and feeding of your organizational elephant, great leadership gets that elephant to jump.

We need to engage our listeners and transform them into excited, willing and committed supporters of the vision - for the duration of delivery!

Logic, our intellect, doesnt know how to do this. It knows how to present the facts. Facts are important but they dont excite others, or attract them.

Our limbic brain the part that remembers and stores emotionally charged events does and, can cooperate and deliver! Its all about emotional excitement. You want them committed as much as you are. This is the most challenging and sort after achievement.