lesson. This one is called "Leaders Make Mistakes" and it comes from a book called Leadership by Tom Peters.
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Leaders Make Mistakes Main Text
Hello, this is AJ, welcome to the next lesson. This one is called "Leaders Make
Mistakes" and it comes from a book called Leadership by Tom Peters.
Tom Peters is one of my favorite business writers. The reason I like Tom Peters is
that he's very passionate. He's not a boring businessperson. Most business books
are boring, but not Tom Peters. His books are excellent and they're full of passionate,
emotional language and words and emotional passionate ideas about how to make
business into something more, something special, not just greedy little people trying to
get more money, but really trying to contribute and help people and do great things.
So that's what Tom Peters writes about and it's why I really like him. He's got a great
Website TomPeters.com and he's got a lot of great books. And this book that I'm
talking about today is called Leadership. And there's a little section and the section is
called "Leaders Make Mistakes", so l'm going to read this small section and then l'll
talk about it more. So here we go.
"Leaders make mistakes and they make no bones about it. On the wall of my writing
studio in Vermont hangs a quotation by David Kelly, "Fail faster, succeed sooner."
Next to that quote hangs another by Diane Arbus who told her students “Learn not to
be careful."
In placid times leaders may think they have all the answers. In turbulent times leaders
must have the best questions, questions that encourage others to undertake voyages
of mutual discovery and the essence of that process is letting people screw up. If you
try new stuff you screw up. If you try a lot of new stuff you screw up a lot. In fact, the
best leaders make big mistakes.
Mistakes are not enough, big mistakes are mandatory.
My all-time favorite PowerPoint slide is this 'Reward excellent failures, punish
mediocre successes.' These tumultuous times beg for bold initiatives. While
thoughtless recklessness is not to be applauded, the word reckless must be examined
carefully.
Most people who change the world -- Martin Luther King, Galileo, and Picasso -- they
were indeed reckless, but not thoughtless. The Martin Luther Kings of the world, the
Galileo's, the Picasso's, the Churchill's, the de Gaulle's, they attempted to create an
United States
