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Naked Leader Week 907 – 25 January 2021

Time to read: 80 seconds

A Letter From The President – Years Ahead Of Its Time

 

Today, various definitions of ‘leadership’ include ‘be kind’ ‘nurture people’ ‘wellbeing’ etc.

The days of leadership ‘because I am more senior to you’ are numbered – leadership is no longer a position, it is a behaviour.

President Joe Biden understood this years ago, and there are many examples of why his team would follow him anywhere.

The most famous of these is a letter he sent to his staff in 2014, when he was in his second term as Vice President:

‘To My Wonderful Staff

I would like to take a moment and make something clear to everyone.

I do not expect nor do I want any of you to miss or sacrifice important family obligations for work.

Family obligations include but are not limited to family birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, any religious ceremonies such as first communions and bar mitzvahs, graduations, and time of need such as an illness or a loss in the family.

This is very important to me.

In fact, I will go so far as to say that if I find out that you are working with me while missing important family responsibilities, it will disappoint me greatly.

This has been an unwritten rule since my days in the Senate.

Thank you for all the hard work.’

With my love and best wishes to you all

David

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